Alexis Torrance - The Angel and the Spirit of Repentance: Hermas and the early monastic concept of metanoia.

The Angel of Repentance in The Shepherd of Hermas is usually read as heralding an age of leniency (the possibility of a second repentance) in an otherwise rigorist church setting. This, in turn, is normally viewed in the context of the development of penitential rites in the early church, culminating in the practice of frequent auricular confession by the High Middle Ages. In this paper, an alternative trajectory will be offered, which views Hermas not so much as a key figure on the road to the Western confessional, but as a source for early monastic reflections on the concept and meaning of repentance. This will involve noting the reverence for Hermas among the Alexandrian theologians Clement, Origen, and later Didymus the Blind, whose works helped facilitate the reception of Hermas among the early Egyptian monastic communities. Especial attention will be paid to the rare expression “Spirit of Repentance” which recurs in early Egyptian monastic texts, and which functions, it seems, as an equivalent to “Angel of Repentance”. It will be proposed that this link enriches our understanding not only of the legacy of Hermas, but also of the possible meaning of Hermas’ “Angel of Repentance” and his proclamation of a second, once-for-all metanoia. It will be concluded that the monastic appropriation of Hermas fits uneasily with a narrative of Hermas’ repentance as a step towards the later sacrament of penance (the dominant narrative). Building on the perspective proposed in this paper, the narrative might more readily be of Hermas’ once-for-all repentance paving the way not for the sacrament of penance, but for monastic profession.