Reading notes

The fundamental change brought into religion by the Reformation was the abolition of the 'penitential cycle' - the rhythmic progress through sin, confession, absolution, penance, grace, and further sin - which was at the heart of late medieval pastoral theory. The spiritual 'core' of the Reformation was the change from a justification through a great sequence of little atonements, to a justification 'draped' over the believer in a single, once for all act of redemption.

- Euan Cameron, The European Reformation, pg. 306.