Download or read book Conversion Through Penance in the Italian Church of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries written by Allan Fitzgerald and published by Edwin Mellen Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study reviews penance within the context of the spirituality of 4th-and 5th-century Italy. By relating the attitudes toward penance and pardon in those days to the changing social position of the Christian community, this text reveals that a new understanding of penance developed as an integral part of the development of the role of the Church in leading sinners to healing and holiness.