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Definition:
During the periods of persecution at the hands of Roman officials, Christians were given the
option of performing the required sacrifices to the Roman gods and thus avoid torture
and death. If they did this, they would get a special certificate saying that they had done
their duty and should be treated well. A few managed to buy fake certificates and thus
avoid facing that choice and others went along with the Roman demands.
However a person obtained their certificate, they were regarded as "lapsed" Christians, which meant that they were now outside the Christian community. Historically, this term tended to be used primarily for those Christians who had to deal with the Decian persecutions between 249 and 251. Once the persecutions stopped, what was to be done with them if they wanted to become members of the church again and who was to make that decision? Confessors thought they should decide, because they heard people's confessions and normally decided upon issues of penance. Bishops thought they should decide, because they were responsible for order and stability in their churches.
Some people were willing to re-admit the lapsed on relatively easy terms, but many others insisted that their "crime" was so great that much harsher measures should be taken. In large part because of this disagreement there developed an official system of penance, with pre-determined consequences for each sin or crime.
This conflict raised issues about the very nature of the church itself. It was easy to exclude the lapsed Christians on the assumption that the church was for "pure" believers and they were not longer pure. However, some believed that the church was designed to spread the message of God's grace and love to everyone, which excluded purity from being a requirement for membership or holding office. Disagreements about this lead the to the Donatist controversy.
Also Known As: lapsi (plural of the Latin lapsus, "fallen")
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
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