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Contrition or contriteness〔(Free dictionary )〕 (from the Latin ''contritus'' 'ground to pieces', i.e. crushed by guilt) is sincere and complete remorse for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be ''contrite''. It is a key concept to Christianity. Through Christ, who is the mediator between God and man in most Christian religions, contrition becomes the first step towards reconciliation with God. In the Catholic Church, ordinarily absolution of sins occurs in confession to a priest of the Church; however, Protestantism, a religious movement which formed in the 16th century after breaking away from the Catholic Church, does not see confession to a catholic priest as necessary for forgiveness, while both the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations see contrition as the first step of forgiveness of sins. It is regarded as a prerequisite to divine forgiveness (see regeneration and ordo salutis). Its elements are hatred and regret for ones sin, a desire for God over sin, and faith in Christ's atonement on the cross and its sufficiency for salvation. Exhortations to the value and necessity for repentance are quite common: "I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from His way and live" (Ezekiel: 33, 11); "...But unless you repent, you too will perish." (Gospel of Luke 13:5). At times this repentance includes exterior acts of satisfaction (Psalms 6:7 sqq.); it always implies a recognition of wrong done to God, a detestation of the evil wrought, and a desire to turn from evil and do good. This is clearly expressed in Psalm 51 (1-12): Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. More clearly does this appear in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke, 18:9-13), and more clearly still in the story of the prodigal (Luke, 15:11-32): "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son". == Nature == This interior repentance has been called by theologians "contrition". It is defined explicitly by the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, ch. iv de Contritione): "a sorrow of soul and a hatred of sin committed, with a firm purpose of not sinning in the future" or also "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again".(Catechism of the Catholic Church:1451) It is also known as animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart). The Council of Trent, however, went further, and defined perfect contrition (which one repents for the love of God) and imperfect contrition (or attrition, in which one repents out of reasons other than the love of God, such as the fear of Hell). The word contrition itself in a moral sense is not of frequent occurrence in Scripture (cf. Ps. 1, 19). Etymologically it implies a breaking of something that has become hardened. St. Thomas Aquinas in his Commentary on the Master of the Sentences thus explains its peculiar use: "Since it is requisite for the remission of sin that a man cast away entirely the liking for sin which implies a sort of continuity and solidity in his mind, the act which obtains forgiveness is termed by a figure of speech 'contrition'" (In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvii; cf. Supplem. III, Q. i, a. 1). This sorrow of soul is not merely speculative sorrow for wrong done, remorse of conscience, or a resolve to amend; it is a real pain and bitterness of soul together with a hatred and horror for sin committed; and this hatred for sin leads to the resolve to sin no more. The early Christian writers in speaking of the nature of contrition sometimes insist on the feeling of sorrow, sometimes on the detestation of the wrong committed (St. Augustine in P.L., XXXVII, 1901, 1902; John Chrysostom, P.G., XLVII, 409, 410). Augustine includes both when writing: "Compunctus corde non solet dici nisi stimulus peccatorum in dolore pœnitendi" (P.L., Vol. VI of Augustine, col. 1440). Nearly all the medieval theologians hold that contrition is based principally on the detestation of sin. This detestation presupposes a knowledge of the heinousness of sin, and this knowledge begets sorrow and pain of soul. "A sin is committed by the consent, so it is blotted out by the dissent of the rational will; hence contrition is essentially sorrow. But it should be noted that sorrow has a twofold signification--dissent of the will and the consequent feeling; the former is of the essence of contrition, the latter is its effect" (St. Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvi, Pt. I, art. 1). (also St. Thomas Aquinas, Comment. in Lib. Sent. IV; Billuart (De Sac. Pœ;nit., Diss. iv, art. 1) seems to hold the opposite opinion. ) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「contrition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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