In the ancient Christian church, a name given to certain presbyters or priests, appointed in every church to receive the private confessions of the people, in order to facilitate public discipline, by acquainting them what sins were to the expiated by public penance, and to appoint private penance for such private crimes as were not proper to be publicly censured. Penitentiary, also, in the court of Rome, is an office in which are examined and delivered out the secret bulls, dispensations, &c. Penitentiary is also an officer in some cathedrals, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases referred to him.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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