The Apostles' Creed has a line "I believe in ...
"the forgiveness of sins".
The Novationist movement that David Bercot champions as a Kingdom movement, and a reform movement did not always believe in the 'forgiveness of sins." Yet Novatian, declaring the sins of others unpardonable, freely championed the sin of schism. David knows the early church horror of schism and has written about it in the earlier editions of his books, but has left that aspect of the spirit of early Christianity far behind him.
This was the original charge against Novatian. He self-promoted himself and through intrigue obtained a bogus consecration as a Bishop. The spirit of the early Church found schism horrendous, as this letter sent to Novation attests.
"An admirable reply addressed to him by St. Dionysius of Alexandria has been preserved (Eusebius, VI, xlv): "Dionysius to his brotherNovatian, greeting. If it was against your will, as you say, that you were led, youwill prove it by retiring of your free will. For you ought to have suffered anything rather than divide the Church of God and to be martyred rather than cause a schismwoul have been no less glorious than to be martyred rather than commit idolatry, nay in my opinion it would have been a yet greater act; for in the one case one is amartyr for one's own soul alone, in the other for the whole Church". Here again there is no question of heresy.""
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But yet within a couple of months Novatian was called a heretic, not only by Cyprian but throughout the Church, for his severe views about the restoration of those who had lapsed in the persecution. He held that idolatry was an unpardonable sin, and that the Church had no right to restore to communion any who had fallen into it. They might repent and be admitted to a lifelong penance, but their forgiveness must be left to God; it could not be pronounced in this world. Such harsh sentiments were not altogether a novelty. Tertullian had resisted the forgiveness of adultery by Pope Callistus as an innovation. Hippolytus was equally inclined to severity. In various places and at various times laws were made which punished certain sins either with the deferring of Communion till the hour of death, or even with refusal of Communion in the hour of death. Even St. Cyprian approved the latter course in the case of those who refused to do pennance and onlyrepented on their death-bed; but this was because such a repentance seemed of doubtful sincerity. But severity in itself was but cruelty or injustice; there was noheresy until it was denied that the Church has the power to grant absolution in certain cases. This was Novatian's heresy; and St. Cyprian says the Novatians held no longer the Catholic creed and baptismal interrogation, for when they said "Dost thou believe in the remission of sins, and everlasting life, through Holy Church?" they were liars.
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