ssessing the same value, and that God
alone can forgive sins. The practice must on the whole have agreed with
this rule; but in the course of the latter half of the second century it
became an established custom, in the case of a first relapse, to allow
atonement to be made once for most sins and perhaps indeed for all, on
condition of public confession.[227] For this, appeal was probably made
to Hermas, who very likely owed his prestige to the service he here
unwittingly rendered. We say "unwittingly," for he could scarcely have
intended such an application of his precepts, though at bottom it was
not directly opposed to his attitude. In point of fact, however, this
practice introduced something closely approximating to a second baptism.
Tertullian indeed (de paenit. 12) speaks unhesitatingly of _two_ planks
of salvation.[228] Moreover, if we consider that in any particular case
the decision as to the deadly nature of the sin in question was
frequently attended with great difficulty, and certainly, as a rule, was
not arrived at with rigorous exactness, we cannot fail to see that, in
conceding a second expiation, the Church was beginning to abandon the
old idea that Christendom was a community of saints. Nevertheless the
fixed practice of refusing whoremongers, adulterers, murderers, and
idolaters readmission to the Church, in ordinary cases, prevented men
from forgetting that there was a boundary line dividing her from the
world.

This state of matters continued till about 220.[229] In reality the rule
was first infringed by the peremptory edict of bishop Calixtus, who, in
order to avoid breaking up his community, granted readmission to those
who had fallen into sins of the flesh. Moreover, he claimed this power
of readmission as a right appertaining to the bishops as successors of
the Apostles, that is, as possessors of the Spirit and the power of the
keys.[230] At Rome this rescript led to the secession headed by
Hippolytus. But, between 220 and 250, the milder practice with regard to
the sins of the flesh became prevalent, though it was not yet
universally accepted. This, however, resulted in no further schism
(Cyp., ep. 55. 21). But up to the year 250 no concessions were allowed
in the case of relapse into idolatry.[231] These were first occasioned
by the Decian persecution, since in many towns those who had abjured
Christianity were more numerous than those who adhered to it.[232] The
majority of the bishops, part