Sins and needles

The mid-fourth-century bishop Hilary of Poitiers is better known for his Trinitarian works and theology, but this book assesses his view of the human condition using his commentari...

The Catholic penitential tradition in colonial America was influenced by the Council of Trent (1545–63), which was itself affected in part by the polemics of the Protestant Reforma...

This chapter discusses Hilary’s doctrine of original sin (literally ‘sins of our origin’, peccata originis). This denotes a category of sin different from our individual personal s...

The chapter demonstrates how Catholic sacramental confession influenced the American legal system and expanded the notion of religious liberty in the United States. It describes a ...

The doctrine that Christ has saved human beings from their sins, with all that that salvation entails, is the distinctive doctrine of Christianity. Over the course of many centurie...

This chapter examines the spiritual theology of Symeon the New Theologian. It examines Symeon’s thought on the role of human agents in providing forgiveness of sins in the life of ...

The Blessed Virgin Mary is pre-eminent among Christian saints. Her giving birth to Jesus the God-man distinguishes her from other women, even as it draws attention to that experien...