Second to Fifth Century Doctrinal Changes

The following is a partial listing of departures from the faith that took place between the second and the fifth centuries. (The dates are approximate. The facts are a matter of church history.)

1. Holy water. (120 A.D.) Water which has been especially blessed and sanctified by the priests.

2. Penance. (157 A.D.) The infliction of punishment to remove sins. At first the sinner stood at services to show sorrow. Later penalties were imposed by the "bishops," to bring about contrition. This later developed into the "selling of indulgences," where the permit to commit sin was purchased from the priest. "The doctrine of indulgences, or of the authoritative remission doctrine of penances by the substitution for them of prayers, benevolent gifts, or other forms of devotion and self-sacrifice, was universally accepted." (Fisher, History of the Christian Church, page 15.) (In a later lesson, we shall learn how the "selling of indulgences" influenced the Reformation movement.)

3. Saints Day. (200 A.D.) Memory and respect for martyrs. Sometimes special contributions were given in memory of departed saints. Later, praying for the dead. Certain days began to be set aside for special occasions: Lent, Good Friday, Holy Thursday, Easter, Palm Sunday, All Saints' Day, etc.

4. Praying to Saints. (240 A.D.) (Note: Misconception about "Saints." Rom. 15:26; 16:15; 2 Cor 9:1, 12; 1 Tim. 5:10.)

5. Infant Baptism. (250 A.D.)

a. "Prominent among the early departures from the divine order was the substitution of infant baptism for that of believers. This practice originated in the third century, and grew out of the doctrine of original sin. (More on the doctrine of original sin in a future lesson.) It was contended that baptism was regeneration in the sense of washing away original sin; that infants were depraved by original sin, and could not be saved without this washing away of that sin, and therefore they baptized infants that they might be saved." (J. W. Shepherd, The Church, The Falling away and The Restoration, p. 59.)

b. Irenaeus, Tertullian and Origin (all 3rd century) wrote about infant baptism. "None is free from pollution, though his life be but the length of one ray upon the earth. And it is for that reason because of the sacrament of baptism that pollution of our birth is taken away, that infants are baptized." (Origin, Works, Vol. 1, p.65)

6. Sprinkling and Pouring for Baptism. (251 A.D.)

a. Closely connected with infant baptism was the practice of affusion (sprinkling or pouring of water over the candidate). The first case of affusion in church history was that of Novatian in A.D. 251. Novatian was seriously ill and the church leaders agreed that he could not be immersed. Since something needed to be done before his death, and baptism was essential unto salvation, the church leaders decided to pour water over him as he lay in bed. This was called "clinic baptism," for the Greek word, kline, a bed.

b. The learned Roman Catholic bishop, Karl Joseph Hefele,says: "The Church has always been tender toward the sick; she has hastened to confer baptism upon them, because it

is necessary to salvation; and for that reason she introduced clinical baptism." (History of Church Councils, p. 153.)

c. Thus, sprinkling or pouring had its origin as a substitute for immersion. From that time on, "clinic baptism," was practiced.

d. "The Roman Catholics were accustomed to holding 'councils' for the purpose of discussing and deciding questions of faith, points of order, etc. There was such a council held in Ravenna, Italy, in 1311 A.D., which is famous in history on account of its authorizing the substitution of sprinkling and pouring for immersion. This was done by making them equally valid along with immersion. Up to this time the general rule of the church had been immersion, the exceptions being, as a rule, clinic baptism; but in 1311 A.D., by the authority of the Roman Catholic Council, which met in Ravenna, Italy, sprinkling and pouring became legal baptism." (Leslie G. Thomas, The Church, The Falling Away, and the Restoration, p. 36.)

7. Monasticism. (260 A.D.) As noted in last lesson.

8. Sign of the Cross. (250 A.D.)

9. Mass. (350 A.D.)

a. Transubstantiation. (9th Century.)

b. Council of Trent (1215 A.D.). Pope Innocent III assembled 412 bishops. Among other cannons drawn up, the doctrine of transubstantiation was given a legal position in the Catholic Church. The council declared, "If any one shall deny that in the sacrament of the most holy eucharist, there is contained really, truly, and substantially, the body and the blood together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so whole Christ, but shall say he is only in it in sign, or figure, or power, let him be accursed.

"Not content with this it declares that: "If any one shall say that in the holy sacrament of the eucharist, there remains the substance of the bread and wine, together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and shall deny that wonderful and remarkable conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, while only the appearance of bread and wine remain, which conversion the Catholic Church most appropriately names transubstantiation; let him be accursed.

"The council of Tridentine says there is a whole Christ in every particle of the Mass: "If any one shall deny that Christ entire is contained in the venerable sacrament of the eucharist, under each species, and, then they are divided, under every particle of each kind; let him be accursed." (J. W. Shepherd, The Church and the Falling Away, pages 61, 62.)

10. Confessionals. (390 A.D.). The New Testament clearly teaches that one's sins must be confessed; but such a thing as secret confessions before a priest in order to receive his absolution (forgiveness) was not practiced until the year 390 A.D. At that time there was a place appointed for the sinner to stand and mourn their sins during public service, from which they were excluded. This practice continued with additions to it. Often, some were required to do penance during their whole lifetime. Others were given ten, fifteen, twenty years of penance. The priests would then absolve (forgive) them and they were received back into communion.

The Council of Trent (1215 A.D.) declared, "The Church has always understood that an entire confession of sins was always appointed by the Lord, and that it if of divine requirement necessary to all who have lapsed after baptism. Because our Lord Jesus Christ, when about to ascend from earth to heaven, left his priests, his vicars, to be, as it were the presidents and judges, to whom all mortal sins into which Christ's faithful people should fall should be brought, in order that, by the power of the keys, they might pronounce sentence of remission or retention."

The Council continued, "Every one of the faithful of both sexes, after he shall have reached the years of discretion, shall, by himself alone, faithfully confess all his sins, at least once a year, to his own priest, and strive to perform according to his ability the penance imposed upon him, reverently partaking of the sacrament of the eucharist, at least at Easter; unless perhaps, by the advice of his priest, for some reasonable cause, he should judge that for a time he should abstain from partaking of it; otherwise, let the living be hindered from entering the church, and let the dead be deprived of Christian burial. On this account this salutary statute shall be frequently published in the churches that no one may pretend as an excuse the blindness of ignorance. But if any one should wish to confess his sins to a foreign priest, for proper reasons, he must first ask and obtain a license from his own priest, since otherwise he would not be able to bind or loose him." (The Church and the Falling Away, J. W. Shepherd, pages 64, 65.)

They teach that the confession of sins to a priest is necessary to salvation; and that every mortal sin must be confessed to a priest; otherwise there can be no forgiveness from God. This includes the most secret and intimate sins. The priest thus become the judge and forgiver. The priest thus has the power to forgive sins, or the keep them bound upon the guilty, according to his wishes. The priest represents Christ in the confessional, and therefore is invested with divine powers.

11. Extreme Unction (588 A.D.). Anointing the body of those thought to be near to death. It is often called, "The Last Rites," or "The Last Sacrament." "In this Sacrament (Extreme Unction) the priest anoints the sick person with olive oil, which is blessed once a year for this Sacrament by the Bishop. The oil is applied in the form of a cross to his closed eyes, to his ears, nose, lips, hands and feet, whilst the anointing is accompanied by a prayer that God may forgive whatever sins might have been committed through these members." Father Smith Instructs Jackson, page 185.)

12. Purgatory (593 A.D.). "The Catholic Church teaches that, besides a place of eternal torments for the wicked and of everlasting rest for the righteous, there exists in the next life a middle state of temporary punishment, allotted for those who have died in venial sin, or who have not satisfied the justice of God for sins already forgiven. She also teaches us that although the souls consigned to this intermediate state, commonly called purgatory, cannot help themselves, they may be aided by the suffrages of the faithful on earth. The existence of purgatory naturally implies the correlative dogma - the utility of praying for the dead - for the souls consigned to the middle state have not reached the term of their journey. They are still exiles from heaven and fit subjects for Divine clemency." (Faith of Our Fathers, Cardinal James Gibbons, page 173.)

The Council of Trent (1215 A.D.) defined the doctrine, "There is a Purgatory, and souls there detained, are helped by the prayers of the faithful, and especially by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar."

"The Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has from Sacred Scriptures and the ancient traditions of the Fathers, taught in Sacred Councils, and very recently in this Ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar." (Council of Florence, 1439.)

13. Celibacy (3rd Century).

The Pope and the Priests are forbidden to marry.

Paul foretold of this practice in 1 Timothy 4:1-3.

14. Mechanical Instruments of Music in Worship (670 A.D.).

a. "Pope Vitalian is related to have first introduced organs into some of the churches of western Europe, about 670; but the earliest trustworthy account is that of the one sent as a present by the Greek emperor Constantine Copronymus to Pepin, king of the Franks, in 775." (The American Cyclopedia, Vol. 12, p. 688.)

b. "Sir John Hawkins, following the Romish writers in his erudite work The History of Music, makes Pope Vitalian, in A.D. 660, the first who introduced organs into the churches. But students of ecclesiastical archaeology are generally agreed that instrumental music was not used in church til a much later date; for Thomas Aquinas, A.D. 1250, has these remarkable words: 'Our church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to judaize.' " (McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia, Vol. VIII, p. 739.)

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