Fasting has been well described as “the outward shell” of penitential sorrow, and is not to be confounded with its spiritual elements.  It is its accidental accompaniment, and not one of its true and essential features.  A man may “bow down his head as a bulrush,” or fast, or clothe himself in sackcloth, when he is an utter stranger to that “repentance to salvation not to be repented of.”  The hypocrite may put on the outward badges of mourning merely with a view to regain a position in the Church, whilst the sincere penitent may “anoint his head and wash his face,” and reveal to the eye of the casual spectator no tokens of contrition.  As repentance is a spiritual exercise, it can only be recognised by spiritual signs; and the rulers of the ancient Church committed a capital error when they proposed to test it by certain dietary indications.  Their penitential discipline was directly opposed to the genuine spirit of the gospel; and it was the fountain from whence proceeded many of the superstitions which, like a river of death, soon overspread Christendom.  Whilst repentance was reduced to a mechanical round of bodily exercises, the doctrine of a free salvation was practically repudiated.

In connexion with the appearance of a system of penitential discipline, involving in some cases a penance of several years’ continuance, [495:3] the distinction of venial and mortal sins now began to be recognised.  Venial sins were transgressions which any sincere believer might commit, whilst mortal sins were such as were considered incompatible with the genuine profession of Christianity.  Penance was prescribed only to those who had been guilty of mortal sins.  Its severity and duration varied with the character of the offence, and was soon regulated according to an exact scale arranged by the rulers of the Church in their ecclesiastical conventions.

About the middle of the third century a new arrangement was introduced, with a view to promote the more exact administration of penitential discipline.  During the Decian persecution which occurred at this time, many were induced by fear to abandon the profession of the gospel; and, on the return of better days, those who sought restoration to Christian privileges were so numerous that, in the larger churches, it was deemed expedient to require the lapsed, in the first instance, to address themselves to one of the presbyters appointed for their special examination.  The business of this functionary, who was known by the designation of the Penitentiary [496:1] was to hear the confessions of the penitents, to ascertain the extent and circumstances of their apostasy, and to announce the penance required from each by the existing ecclesiastical regulations.  The disclosures made to the Penitentiary did not supersede the necessity of public confession; it was simply the duty of this minister to give to the lapsed such instructions as his professional experience enabled him to supply,