GIFT or A. P. Morrison CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/confessionabsoluOOmortrich CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE AND PRAYER BOOK BY THE REV. ALFRED G. MORTIMER, D.D. RECTOR OF S. MARKS, PHILADELPHIA; AUTHOR OF "HELPS TO MEDITATION," "CATHOLIC FAITH AND PRACTICE," ETC. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW. LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1906 Copyright, 1906, by Alfred G. Mortimer. All rights reserved GIFT OF ^ . The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S. A. rh TO THOSE DEAR SOULS FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED, WHO ARE NOW TIED AND BOUND BY THE CHAIN OF THEIR SINS, WITH THE EARNEST PRAYER THAT THEY MAY COME TO KNOW THE POWER OF HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, THESE PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. M94374 PREFACE Last summer a well-known layman of New York, the Hon. Elbridge T. Gerry, who happened to have read a sermon of mine on Absolution,^ urged me to work out its argument more fully than the limits of a sermon allowed, and to add to it answers to some of the objections commonly brought against Confession and Absolution. This little book is the outcome of his request. Mr. Gerry had made a collection of nearly all the books, large and small, on this subject, which had been published of late years in the Anglican Communion, and we went over them together. Some were excellent from the historical and theo- logical standpoint, but too exclusively dogmatic. Others, again, took a line so apologetic (in the common sense of the term) as to render them quite useless for the purpose we had in view, namely, to provide a Manual which could be placed in the hands of lay people desirous of informing them- selves in regard to the doctrine and practice of Confession in our Church. »In "Life and Its Problems" (the World's Pulpit Series), Masters & Co., 78 New Bond Street, London. viii PREFACE It seemed to us that the most practical treatment of the subject would take the form of an investiga- tion of the teaching of the Bible and Prayer Book in the light of CathoKc theology, and that this should be sufficiently simple in method to appeal to any intelligent layman. Further, that the work should be constructive in that it should present a coherent view of the doctrine of Holy Scripture as interpreted by the declarations of the Book of Common Prayer, and that it should be uncon- troversial except where it was necessary to answer objections ordinarily brought against Confession and Absolution. Bearing in mind the popular idea that only youthful enthusiasts and sentimental women used Confession, it seemed to me that some weight might attach to the testimony of two men, neither of them young, one a layman well known in his own country ^ as a man of affairs, for forty-five > As he is probably not known to people in England I append, without his knowledge, the following extract from the Encyclo- pedia Americana, Vol. VIII: "Gerry, Elbridge Thomas, Ameri- can lawyer and philanthropist: b. New York, 25 Dec. 1837. He was graduated from Columbia in 1857, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and was a member of the State constitutional con- vention of New York, 1867. Subsequently he became an asso- date of Henry Bergh in the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of which he was for many years vice- president. In 1874 he was the leading organizer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, of which he was the PREFACE ix years a member of the New York bar; the other a priest who for nearly forty years has himself used Confession, and for more than thirty years has been called by God's Providence, not only to hear Confessions, but to devote a large part of his minis- try to this work. Mr. Gerry's interest in the book manifests his desire that others should come to know a means of grace, which has been to him so full of blessing. For myself I am thankful to bear witness that my own first Confession was the direct and imme- diate cause of my vocation to the Priesthood, and that of the many thousands of Confessions I have heard there have been but few that have not borne fruit unto increased holiness of life. It is with extreme reluctance that I refer to a matter so en- tirely personal, but as many of the objections to Confession rest solely upon the opinion of those who have had no personal experience of it, it seems president in 1876-91, and which became so closely identified with his name as often popularly to be termed the Gerry Society. He was chairman of the commission on capital punishment which substituted execution by electricity for that by hanging, in New York State (1886-8). He also held many important oflBces of trust, and became known for his interest in yachting aflFairs, having been commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1886-93. He is a grandson of Elbridge Gerry ('Governor of Massachu- setts, Vice-President of the United States, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ')." X PREFACE only right that some who have should be willing to give their testimony on the other side. A. G. M. S. Mark's, Philadelphia, Epiphany, 1906. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Forgiveness of Sins 1 II. The Malice op Sin 17 in. Absolution 31 IV. Contrition 50 V. Confession 60 VI. Satisfaction 75 Vn. How TO MAKE A GoOD CONFESSION .... 84 VIII. Objections to Absolution 96 IX. Objections to Confession 116 X. Conclusion 133 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION • * CHAPTER J, . . . • , J o o * J J THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS The most momentous question for each of us, when we come to die, that on which our eternity is depending, will be. Are my sins forgiven? For if there be one doctrine accepted alike by all Chris- tians, and probably by all who believe in a here- after for the soul, it is that no man can be saved by his sinlessness; that all have sinned, and need the forgiveness of God; that the greatest saint as well as the greatest sinner, when standing face to face with God's judgment, must plead for mercy. We say in the Creed that we believe in "the forgiveness of sins." In a sense this is, indeed, the most precious truth of our religion, it is revealed in the God-given name of Jesus, Saviour, and stands on the first page of the Gospel; for the angel, in making known to Joseph the mystery of the Incarnation, said, "Thou shalt call His name 1 2 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." * It is the most intensely personal article of the Creed; for a belief in all its other articles would be of little avail unless we believed in the forgiveness of sins. The devils believe in God, and tremble ;2 ' ' : hnt they; ^a not believe in their own capacity for c 'lorgivfn^sfii' : «Xt« is, therefore, scarcely possible to : .; lay .too< -«4. » 9, Sam. xii. 13-14. SATISFACTION 77 When, therefore, we speak of making Satisfaction, we do not mean that anything we can do oj ourselves can possibly make Satisfaction to the justice of God. Our Lord made this Satisfaction for us once for all; but, as members of His body, we are called to share in some small degree in that work of Satisfaction. Our Lord bore the Cross for us; and yet He has told us that unless we take up our cross daily and follow Him we cannot be His disciples. Our Lord now in Heaven "ever liveth to make intercession" for us;* and yet He has told us to pray, and taught us that on our prayer must depend very largely the gifts and blessings which we need. As, then, we have to share in His work of intercession, and yet He is our only Mediator, so we are to make Satisfaction for our sins, although He made **a full, perfect, and sufficient . . . satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." We may look upon our work of Satisfaction as twofold: First, that which as members of Christ we make for the sins of the Church; for S. Paul writes to the Colossians, **I . . . rejoice in my suflFerings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflic- tions of Christ in my flesh for His Body's sake, which is the Church." ^ And, secondly, that temporal penance for post-baptismal sin which God sees fit iHeb. vii.25. » CoL i. 24. 78 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION to inflict upon us for our own good, and for the satis- faction of His justice. Two ejffects follow upon every mortal sin com- mitted against grace (that is, after Baptism): guilt and punishment. The guilt is remitted through Absolution, when the soul is cleansed from all sin by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ; and the eter- nal punishment due to sin is also then remitted. But a certain amount of punishment, varying accord- ing to God's will, and called the temporal punish- ment of sin, is left to be borne by the penitent sinner either in this world or in the Intermediate State. The debt of this temporal punishment can be paid, however, much more readily in this life than here- after, because here we can merit, and in the Inter- mediate State we cannot merit. For here we can do good works, and endure evil voluntarily, and the essential value of our offering depends upon its being a voluntary one. In the Intermediate State the wills of those who are saved are absolutely con- formed to God's will; and they are confirmed in grace. Since, therefore, there can be no further temptation, and no possibility of choice or of sin, suffering there cannpt be meritorious like that which we willingly endure in this life. The penance which is imposed by the priest in the Sacrament of Penance is, of course, only a part of the Satisfaction which we have to make, the real SATISFACTION 79 penance being sent us by God in the crosses and pains, the disciplines and difficulties of our life. The penance which a priest gives is frequently remedial; that is, it helps us to overcome sins which have been confessed; and it is a test of our obedience to the laws of God and of His Church, our sins, of course, having all been the result of disobedience. As this book is intended primarily for those who have not been to Confession, it may be well to say that the sort of penances given are generally acts of devotion, such as the recitation of prayers, the say- ing of certain Psalms, the reading or making of meditations on portions of Scripture, — all in- tended to be helpful, either in bringing to the penitent a greater sense of the evil of his sin, or else in showing him how he may overcome it. We shall, however, perhaps get a more practical view of Satisfaction if we examine some of the ele- ments which go to make up our conception of it. The most prominent among these is the idea of amendment, both positive and negative. No peni- tence can be of any value which does not involve real amendment, not only the negative abandon- ment of sin, but the positive doing of duties which we have left undone. It is not enough to deter- mine that we will not again fall into some grievous sin which we have confessed, if we are purposing to leave undone many positive duties of Christian 80 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION life. Christian life must be the imitation, though imperfect, of Christ's life. In His life, however, there was no sin. Therefore it is quite evident that Christian life cannot be merely abstinence from sin. It must be the doing those duties which our Lord taught by precept and example, duties to God and man, to our neighbour and to ourselves. And no amendment can be regarded as adequate which stops short of the attempt at least to do these. The next element of Satisfaction to be considered is restitution. This is an absolutely essential part of Satisfaction ; for though God has committed great powers to His Church, not even the Church can remit the duty of restitution where the sinner has it in his power to make it. By restitution we mean not only restoring goods of which we have robbed another, for with many of us stealing probably has not been one of our sins, but restoring the good name of which we have robbed a person by scandal or gossip or perhaps even malicious untruth, and apologizing for wrongs done or injuries inflicted — in a word, by endeavouring, so far as we are able, to undo or make reparation for all wrongs done to our neighbour. A third element of Satisfaction is penance^ not only the performing carefully the penance imposed by the priest at the time of our Confession, but also the bearing patiently the pains and sufferings and SATISFACTION 81 temptations which are the temporal punishment of our sins. This is a very important matter, and de- serves careful consideration. After the guilt of sin has been forgiven there are consequences left as punishments, which we must bear patiently, recog- nizing their justice, and lovingly, because we know they are intended for our good. We find this symbolized in two of our Lord's miracles: the healing of the sick of the palsy, when Christ said to the sick man, " Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house " ; ^ and the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, when He said unto him, " Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." ^ For many a weary year the bed had carried the sick man. Now for a short time he was to carry the bed. For many a year, perhaps, our sins have carried us wherever they would. After they are absolved we have to carry the consequences of our sins, sometimes in the weakness which they have left, sometimes in the temptations to which they have rendered us liable. Sin wounds the memory, and especially certain kinds of sin. That wound in the memory may lead to frequent returns of temptation which we must meet bravely, and bear patiently as part of the penance of our sin. There are occasions when the consequences of sin bring humiliation upon us, 1 S. Matt. ix. 6. 2 S. John v. 8. 82 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION or temporal loss, such as poverty or ill-health. In such cases we must remember that God allows these punishments to befall us in this world, partly as a discipline to strengthen us, and partly that we may not have to bear greater sufferings in the Intermediate State. In the miracle of the healing of the impotent man at Bethesda, the carrying of his bed on the Sabbath day was the cause of hu- miliating criticisms on the part of his neighbours that he was breaking the Sabbath. So the result of our sins, when we are trying to overcome them, may bring upon us the criticisms of those who feel that our amendment of life is a reproach to them. This also we must bear patiently and humbly. The last element of Satisfaction on which we shall touch is reparation. If we are truly penitent we shall desire to do something to show God our penitence. Restitution requires us to make repara- tion to those of our neighbours whom we have wronged. But surely we shall try to find something by which we can make reparation for the wrong that we have done to God, and inasmuch as by our sins we have dishonoured Him, we should try to find something by which to add to His accidental glory. Under this head would come: 1. Works of mercy — labouring for the poor and sick and ignorant and sinful. SATISFACTION 83 2. Special offerings made for the work of the Church. 3. Great zeal in helping other souls, and especially in trying to bring sinners to repentance. It has been truly said that probably no one ever came to God in penitence alone; that is, no one ever repented, and so learned the blessing of God's pardon, with- out being the means of leading some other soul to experience the same blessing. 4. We shall have a very great horror and detesta- tion of sin, both in ourselves and in others. As the Psalmist says, "Mine eyes gush out with water: because men keep not thy law." * » Ps. C3dx. 136. CHAPTER VII HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION As this little book has been written chiefly for those who have not used Confession, a chapter on the method of making a Confession may be helpful to many. The first step in your preparation must, of course, be a careful self-examination to enable you to find out the sins of your life which you have to confess. This self-examination should be begun with earnest prayers for the help of the Holy Spirit, whose ofllce it is not only to show you what your sins have been, but to make you feel how great they are. You must earnestly pray Him to give you light to see your sins, and, more than this, grace to sorrow for them with that "godly sorrow which worketh repentance." In preparing for your first Confession it is well to divide your hfe into periods, and to examine your- self by each period separately : your childhood, your school-days, the different places where you have lived. You should try also to recall scenes and companions; for they will often help you to remem- ber sins. And then, invoking God's Holy Spirit, 84 HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 85 you should go through questions on the Command- ments, asking yourself in regard to them and under each period of your life: "Have I ever committed this sin, and if so, how often? Has it been suflS- cently often to become a habit ? and if a habit, when did it begin, when did it end, or is it still going on in my life ? " Then further ask yourself, " Have there been any aggravations of this sin ? Was it ever done specially against the voice of conscience, or after solemn resolutions to give it up, or immediately after Communion ? " It will be well in this work to use questions upon the Ten Commandments or upon the Seven Deadly Sins. Such questions are not supplied here, because they may be found in many books of devotion.^ In your self-examination it is well not to do too much at one time. Each sin that you discover should be written down on paper. It is not necessary to write it out in full, but put down a few words, sufficient to recall it to your memory; and when you have been over your whole life with these questions, and have written down what you have found in your self- examination, kneel down and read it over in the presence of God. Is it not terrible? Think of ^ The author ventures to refer to his little pamphlet " The Way of Penitence," which contains very full self-examination ques- tions for a first Confession, compiled from several of the best known manuals, and published by Longmans, Green, & Co. 86 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION yourself as looking over the page in the Book of Judgment, on which the Recording Angel has written down your life, and, as you read it, realize that for one mortal sin you have deserved to forfeit Heaven, and have merited Hell. Then begin humbly to ask God's pardon for these sins; ask especially for the gift of Contrition, and say many short prayers in your own words. Read over on your knees the fifty-first and the one hundred and thirtieth Psalms, which are the great Psalms of penitence. In preparing your Confession you should dis- tinguish between sins which are mortal and sins which are venial. All sins are not mortal; for S. John tells us that there is *' sin unto death " and ** sin not unto death." ^ Mortal sin is so called because it cuts the soul off from grace, and so separates us from God. While we are in mortal sin we cannot please God; we are in a state of guilt, and if we should die in this state we should be lost. The characteristics of mortal sin are three: (l) There must be "weighty matter"; (2) Consciousness of guilt; and (3) Con- sent of the will. 1. ** Weighty matter" is the term used in the Order for the Visitation of the Sick. Most Protes- tant sects refuse to recognize any difference in sin, and represent all sins as equal. But surely our moral sense cannot admit this; for it would require 1 1 S. John V. 16-17. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 87 the anger of a little child to be as great an act of sin as the violence of a man who commits murder, since both are breaches of the Sixth Commandment. However, S. John tells us clearly that while "all unrighteousness is sin," there is " sin not unto death " as well as " sin unto death " ; so that con- sidered j)er se, the difference between mortal and venial sin is to be found in the gravity of the act itself. 2. Then, too, for a sin to be mortal it must not only have weighty matter, but there must be a con- sciousness of guilt. At the time the sin was com- mitted you must have known that you were doing wrong; for no sin committed in ignorance can be V' mortal. 3. Lastly, to make a sin mortal there must be consent of the will. So that an act of sin, however grievous in itself, if done unintentionally, cannot be mortal. For instance, if a man, who is driving, accidentally runs over and kills a child, though the death of the child is' weighty matter, the sin is not mortal, because there was no intention to do it. It is to be hoped that in your self-examination you will find but few mortal sins. The greater number of our sins are venial; but we must not therefore think that they are of no consequence in God's sight. The word venial means ** pardonable," and is applied to such sins as do not possess the characteristics of 88 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION mortal sin ; that is, to such as may be found in souls that are united to God, and in a state of grace, loving God and desiring to obey Him. Nor are venial sins merely temptations to sin, as some people think. For temptations to sin are not sin at all; indeed, if resisted, they enable us to acquire merit and many other good things. Venial sins are rather those sins of infirmity or surprise into which every one at times is apt to fall. They do not necessarily require the grace of Abso- lution, but can be remitted through prayer and acts of Contrition. As S. John says, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death." ^ Venial sin, however, greatly hinders the progress of the soul, and grieves the Holy Spirit. Again, in your self-examination you must not be content merely to look for sins of commission, but also for sins of omission. Duties omitted are in God's sight as much sins as actual transgressions of the Commandments; indeed, our Lord's teaching in His parables seems to show that sometimes they are worse. The man with one pound, the man with the one talent, the five foolish virgins, and those at the left hand in the parable of the sheep and goats, were all among the lost, and yet not for the commis- 1 1 S. John V. 16. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 89 sion of any actual sin.^ In every case it was for the omission of some duty. God did not create you, and endow you with all your splendid gifts of body, mind, and soul, merely that you might do no harm, but that you might do good; and if your life has been a wasted life, in God's sight it has been a sinful life. Therefore, in your examination be careful not to pass over duties which have been neglected, duties both to God and your neighbour, duties of prayer and work, and acts of charity. As we have already indicated, you should mention in your Confession whether a sin is habitual or only occasional; and if it be a habit, how long it has con- tinued, how often it has been broken off, and whether it still has a hold upon you. Lastly, we must remember that all sin can be committed in three ways : in thought, word, and deed. Some people suppose that they are not responsible for sins of thought, or at least that sins of thought which are not carried out into action are not sins at all. Nothing can be more untrue; for our Blessed Lord, in giving that terrible list of sins in the fifteenth chapter of S. Matthew, puts ** evil thoughts " at the very head of the list : ** For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, » Cf. S. Luke xix. 22; S. Matt. xxv. 26; xxv. 12; xxv. 41-46. 90 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION thefts, false witness, blasphemies." ^ And again, in the Sermon on the Mount, He shows that the Sixth and Seventh Commandments can be broken in thought and feeling as well as in act;^ and in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in the Temple, He points out that it is possible to commit mortal sin in thought; for the Pharisee had lived a most exemplary life in respect to the external observ- ance of the law, but he was not ** justified " because of a sin of thought — pride.' You must distinguish between sins of thought and temptations of thought. These latter only become sins when they have been consented to. The devil may have power to suggest to us a train of thought which tends in a wrong direction, and such thoughts may be in our minds for some minutes without our being conscious that they are wrong. If we put them away the moment that conscience tells us they are wrong, there is no sin. If, however, after con- science has spoken, we go on with the train of thought because it is pleasant, then we commit sin in thought. It is scarcely necessary to say more about sins of word than to remind you of our Blessed Lord's warning: "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." * We need often to pray with the » S. Matt. XV. 19. 2 cf. S. Matt. v. 22, 28. 3 S. Luke xviii. 10-15. * S. Matt xii. 36. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 91 Psalmist, " Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth : and keep the door of my lips." ^ In the case of the more serious sins of your life, your besetting sins, or sins which have become a habit with you, it is sometimes helpful to trace them to their source, and in your Confession to mention how they began. It is well to keep in mind three things in Confes- sion. You are required (l) to tell all your sins, (2) to give some idea of the number of times the sin was committed, and at least to say whether it was occa- sional or habitual, and (3) to say whether it was aggravated by any circumstances. You should always avoid mentioning the name of any other person in your Confession, or of alluding to their sins excepting in so far as they may be inferred from your own sin. Having made your self-examination, and so pre- pared your Confession, you should make an appoint- ment with the priest you have selected to hear your Confession. For a first Confession it is better to make a special appointment, and not to go at an hour when ordinary Confessions are heard, because the first Confession, of course, requires more time than ordinary Confessions, and the priest should have ample time at his disposal to help you with his sympathy and advice. This appointment may be made by letter, for it is not at all necessary to see » Ps. cxli. 3. 92 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION the priest before you make your Confession ; indeed, it is often expedient not to do so. He can help you better after he has heard your Confession. Before that he can at most only say some general words of encouragement, which ought not to be necessary. In choosing the priest to whom you will go, it is best to select one whom you know to have had experience in hearing Confessions, and in whose judgment you have, therefore, confidence. On the day appointed go to the church sometime before the hour named, and spend that time in prayer. When the priest is ready he will show you where to kneel to make your Confession, and will first give you a blessing or say a prayer, after which you begin by sajdng : " In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." ** I confess to God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, before the whole company of Heaven, and to you, my father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, of my fault, of my own fault, of my own great fault; especially } I confess that I have committed these sins." ^ Then confess as simply as possible the sins which you have noted down on your self-examination paper (which you should bring with you) ; and when you have come to the end of your list of sins, finish the form of Confession in these words : HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 98 *' For these, and all my other sins which I cannot now remember, I am heartily sorry; I firmly purpose amendment; I most humbly ask pardon of God; and of you, my father, I beg for penance, counsel, and Absolution. Wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy upon me and to forgive me, and you, my father, to pray for me to the Lord our God. Amen." During your Confession the priest will ask you some questions about any point which he does not quite understand. Always answer quite simply and clearly. It may be, too, that there are some things which you have noted down in regard to which you are not sure whether they are sins or not. In that case you should ask the priest whether they are sins, telling him that you are doubtful about them. Or, there may be some which you do not know how to confess. Tell the priest that this is so, and he will help you. After you have finished the list of your sins, you can ask for counsel upon any point on which you need advice. Always try to be very definite, and to confine your questions strictly to spiritual matters connected with your own soul. If you need counsel or explanation as regards doctrinal or ceremonial matters, do not bring these into your Confession, but ask to see the priest some other time, that he may instruct you in these matters. I 94 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION In your Confession you ask for penance, counsel, and Absolution. We have said much about penance and Absolution. In regard to counsel, remember that no one can be more able to advise you than the priest to whom you make your Confession, not only from his training in the spiritual life, but because no one else knows as he does the circumstances of your sins, and because you may well believe that God will guide him specially in the advice he gives. You need to come to your Confession with great sorrow for your sins; with faith in the power of the Blood of Christ to cleanse you from all sin ; and with entire sincerity, desiring to tell all your sins; for to be insincere is to be sacrilegious, since it is lying, not unto man, but unto God the Holy Ghost, as Ananias and Sapphira did.^ But you must also have a firm purpose of amendment of Hfe; for without this there can be no true penitence. And you must come with hope of pardon. This last was what the Confession of Judas Iscariot lacked. It was full and entire; but he had no hope that he could be forgiven. You must come not only hoping but believing in God's promise that "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crim- son, they shall be as wool." ^ After your Confession you should make a most earnest and careful thanksgiving for the inestimable 1 Cf. Acts V. 3. 2 Is. i. 18. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION 95 blessing you have received. Try to realize that to obtain your Absolution God was made man, lived on earth, and died on the Cross. The Te Deum, the Magnificat, and some of the Psalms (especially Psalms 30, 32, 40, 103, and 107) supply excellent material for thanksgiving. You should make your Communion as soon after your Confession as practicable. You will probably be happier than you have ever been in your life; indeed, the testimony of most earnest souls after their first Confession is that their happiness is like a foretaste of Heaven ; for it is the happiness of union with God, and of the consciousness of His love. (S> CHAPTER Vin OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION There remains for us, in our concluding chapters, to consider and to meet the principal objections which are brought against Confession and Abso- lution. And we shall begin with those against Abso- lution, because this logically comes first, though not in order of time; since Confession precedes Absolu- tion, as its necessary condition. But the real question which this little book has attempted to deal with is not so much whether Confession is beneficial, as whether God has provided a means by which sin may be absolved; for, if He has, the conditions upon which we may obtain absolution become only of secondary importance. The first objection to Absolution is put forth by those who deny that God has provided any sacra- mental means by which sin may be forgiven, and who teach that the sinner can obtain the forgive- ness of his sins from God directly (as the Prodigal Son did from his father), and without any interven- tion of or assistance from the Church; that, indeed, the only thing needed is that he should desire to be forgiven. 96 OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 97 Those who hold this view, to be logical, have to reject the efficacy alike of Baptism and the Holy Communion, and most of them do reject it, at least thus far, that they hold Baptism to be a mere out- ward sign of admission into Church privileges, a sign which conveys no special grace; while they regard the Holy Communion only as a memorial of Christ's death. The special grace of Baptism is regeneration. This, however, these make to depend not upon Bap- tism but upon conversion. So that, according to their view, it requires no objective act, but follows on a subjective change in the sinner's soul. The Church, however, teaches that regeneration and con- version are absolutely different things; that regen- eration is the result of the Sacrament of Baptism, and can take place but once in a man's life, since a man can only be bom once; and that while conver- sion is indeed a subjective moral change, the turning of the will to God, it is only the first step towards the forgiveness of sins (since repentance must begin by turning to God); and that penitence involves many other steps — going to God as the prodigal went to his father, and using the means provided by God in His Church. For the father, after his son's confession, directed his servants to put on him the first robe. It is not the best robe as in our transla- tion, but the first robe (crroX'^v t^v Trpdrrjv), that is, 98 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION the robe which he possessed before he left his father's house, and which belonged to him as a son. In other words, the putting on him of the first robe is the restoration of the privileges of sonship; and while this takes place at the father's command, his servants or ministers are the instruments ap- pointed by him to carry out his loving purpose in restoring to his son what he had lost when he left his father's house. Similarly the priests by Absolution, at God's command, restore to the penitent sinner the grace of his baptism, which he has forfeited by sin, and put on him the first robe — the robe of righteousness with which he was clothed in baptism. Thus we see that in the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is generally quoted as the great authority for rejecting all ministerial intervention or assistance in the work of repentance, is contained an episode which, if it means anything at all, implies precisely what the Church teaches about Absolution, namely, that, while God alone can forgive sins. He uses the ministry of His Church to impart to the penitent that Absolution which is both the assurance of for- giveness, and the restoration of the former grace (the baptismal robe) which had been forfeited by sin. We may frankly recognize that there is nothing illogical in the position, that a sinner can go direct to God for forgiveness, that there are no sacra- OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 99 mental means of grace in the Church, her ordinances being merely outward symbols, of no use as con- veying grace, but of value as witnessing before the world to a subjective moral change in the recipient. There is nothing illogical in this view. The only question is whether it accords with the teaching of Holy Scripture, and with the unanimous testimony of Christendom for the first fifteen hundred years of her history (that is, until the rise of sectarianism), and with the belief of the immense majority of Christians since then. This view also necessarily demands the rejection of the Holy Communion as an objective means of grace. According to most sectarian teaching its only value is to remind the recipients of our Lord's death, and by this remembrance to stir up in them certain emotions of love for Christ and for one another; and, further, to witness to their Christian fellowship. Here again we have the questions. Is this consistent with our Lord's words in Holy Scrip- ture, and is it in accord with the teaching of His Church ? To both of which we must reply emphat- ically. It is not. For our purpose in this chapter we may divide Christians into two classes: those who reject all sacramental ordinances, that is, who deny that they are necessary means of grace; and those who accept them as ordained by Christ Himself as the ordinary 100 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION means whereby the fruits of His Incarnation and Atonement are imparted to individual souls. We have endeavoured to show in chapter three that the evidence, both in the Bible and in the Church, for Absolution stands on much the same ground as the evidence for Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, and our answer to the first class, who deny that there is any such power as Absolution given by Christ to His Church, is contained in that chapter, wherein we show step by step the authority for it in the Bible, in the Church at large, and in our own Prayer Book. The second class of objectors, for whom this book is specially written, are those members of our own Communion, who, while accepting in theory a doc- trine of Absolution, evade its practical application by putting an unnatural explanation upon the teach- ings of Holy Scripture and of our Prayer Book. To the consideration of their objections we shall now address ourselves. These persons again fall into two classes: those who think that all sin, however grievous, is absolved in the public services of the Church, and that the Confession and judicial Absolution provided in the Order for the Visitation of the Sick of the English Prayer Book is either a relic of Romanism, or at most is a provision for persons with morbid con- sciences or disturbed by very grievous sins. OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 101; The other class timidly ventures a step further,' and admits that our Prayer Book does provide a judicial Absolution, but claims that it limits it to those who are in most grievous sin, and whose consciences refuse to be quieted by the means which satisfy ordinary persons, or to people on their death-bed. So that the use of Confession, according to these, ought to be most exceptional, and practically put off until face to face with death. Let us examine how far such objections are sus- tained by the teachings of the Prayer Book and of common sense; and first let us consider the position of those who hold that all sin, however grievous, is absolved in the public services of the Church. These services contain two forms of Absolution : one in the Order for Matins and Evensong, the other in that for the Holy Communion. The form in Matins and Evensong is as follows: "Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live; and hath given power, and commandment, to His Ministers, to declare and pronounce to His people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remis- sion of their sins: He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel. Wherefore let us beseech Him to grant us true repentance, and His Holy Spirit, that 1Q2. , , , CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION those things may please Him, which we do at this present; and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure, and holy; so that at the last we may come to His eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord." If we examine this form, we find that it consists of three parts: 1. A declaration that the power of Absolution has been committed to God's Ministers: ''Almighty God, . . . hath given power, and com- mandment, to His Ministers, to declare and pro- nounce to His people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins." 2. A statement that the Absolution depends for its eflScacy on the peni- tence and faith of those who seek it : ** He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeign- edly believe His holy Gospel." 3. An exhortation to all so to repent that they may be entitled to this grace: ''Wherefore let us beseech Him to grant us true repentance, and His Holy Spirit." In this form we have the most emphatic assertion that God has given power and commandment to His Ministers to absolve; but there is not one word in it which suggests that the sins of those present are absolved. On the contrary, after stating the conditions of forgiveness, "He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent," the conclu- sion is drawn that we are to pray God to give us the grace of true repentance that we may receive what only the truly penitent are entitled to — Absolution. OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 103 The words are, " Wherefore let us beseech Him to grant us true repentance." Now, if the words which contain the condition of Absolution, "He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent," really convey, as some sup- pose, that Absolution, it would be a stultification of the gift just received to go on to pray that we may have true penitence. For example : in the Baptismal OflGice, immediately after the act of Baptism the priest is directed to say, " Seeing now that this child is regenerate.'* He is not ordered to pray that he may be regenerated. The act which eflFects regen- eration has been accomplished; and therefore he says, "Seeing now that this child is regenerate." Similarly, if the words " He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent " convey Absolution, there ought to follow some such statement as " Wherefore seeing that we have been absolved, let us show our thankfulness in our lives," not " let us beseech Him to grant us true repentance." This Absolution follows a general Confession of sin, in which the whole congregation acknowledge that they have committed sins both of omission and commission. Whereupon the priest is directed to assure them that God has given to His Ministers power and commandment to absolve, and to exhort them so to repent that they may be able to come and obtain this Absolution. 104 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION The Absolution in the Communion Office is, how- ever, of a more definite character. It is as follows : " Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Who of His great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto Him; Have mercy upon you; pardon and deliver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness; and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord." Here, after the declaration that Almighty God has promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto Him, there is the prayer that God may *' have mercy upon you; pardon and deHver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness; and bring you to everlasting Ufe." But to whom is this Absolution addressed ? It is preceded by a general confession; and the rubric before tliis is: **Then shall this general Confession be made, in the name of all those that are minded to receive the holy Com- munion." It is, therefore, as clear as words can possibly make it, that this Confession and Absolu- tion are limited to those who are minded to receive the Holy Communion, and that they do not apply to any one else. But preceding this rubric we have four separate forms of exhortation; in the first of which we are reminded of " the great peril of the unworthy receiv- OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 105 ing thereof" (i.e., of the Holy Communion), and are directed ** so to search and examine our (your) own consciences, . . . that we (ye) may be received as worthy partakers of that holy Table." Then follow directions for a most thorough self-examination, leading up to the declaration, ** Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, an hinderer or slanderer of his Word, an adulterer, or be in malice, or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to that holy Table." And, in explanation of the way in which this repentance is to be practised, we are told that " if there be any of you, who by this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other dis- creet and learned Minister of God's Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of God's holy Word he may receive t?ie benefit of absolution,^ to- gether with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quiet- ing of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness." In effect this exhortation says that you must not come to the Holy Communion without most care- ful self-examination. If your self-examination re- veals that you have upon your conscience "any grievous sin," you must so repent that your con- 1 This last clause is omitted in the American Prayer Book, but the direction to " open his grief " is retained. lOa CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION science shall be satisfied, and if you have any doubt about it, you are to come to some priest, ** open your grief," that is, make your Confession, and receive the ** benefit of Absolution." The Prayer Book asserts that you must come to the Holy Communion with a quiet conscience; there- fore, that if you are able to quiet your own con- science, you may come. But who can quiet his own conscience when his self-examination reveals to him that he is in mortal sin ? There are some doubtless who can do this, but in their case very often a quiet conscience means only a dead conscience. It is the quiet of death, not of life. They have forgiven themselves; but this is no assurance that God has forgiven them, when they are neglecting the very means of grace, appointed for that purpose by Christ Himself and referred to in the next section of the exhortation: *'If any man cannot quiet his own conscience, let him come to me, and open his grief, and receive the benefit of Absolution." Is it not a fair inference from this exhortation to say that it tells us to examine ourselves carefully, and, where we are in mortal sin, to go to a priest and seek the benefit of Absolution, but that where we are not in mortal sin, we can come to the Holy Com- munion, and in the precatory Absolution therein provided receive the remission of venial sin ? This is precisely in accord with the teaching of OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 107 S. John, to which we have already referred; for he says : *' If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them which sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death : I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin : and there is a sin not unto death." ^ Here S. John indicates that prayer is sufficient for the remission of *' sin not unto death," that is, of venial sin; hence, for those who are only in venial sin, the priest prays that God may have mercy upon them, pardon and forgive them all their sins. S. John, however, very carefully points out that ** there is a sin unto death " ; in regard to which he remarks, " I do not say that he shall pray for it " ; that is, he implies that something more than prayer is needed for the remission of mortal sin. The third form of Absolution, found in the Visi- tation of the Sick,2 is judicial. In this the priest, as Christ's representative, judges of the sins confessed, and pronounces the sentence of acquittal; and, as this is a Sacrament, it conveys the grace of Absolu- tion. Observe that the difference is not in the form of words. Probably the form in the Communion Service would be sufficient, as until the twelfth cen- tury the precatory form was used both in the East and the West, and in the East its use continued to be universal until quite recently. The great difference » 1 S. John V. 16-17. » See page 44. 108 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION is that one form is an integral part of a Sacrament, and the other is not. For it is of the essence of a Sacrament that it should be administered to an individual; and one might as well assert that a clergy- man, by reading the Baptismal Service, baptizes all in the congregation who happen to be unbaptized, as think that by saying a form of Absolution over them he absolves all those who are in mortal sin. A very little thought will convince us that no Sacra- ment can be administered en masse. We have to come as individuals to be baptized, to be confirmed, to receive the Holy Communion ; and we must come as individuals to receive the Sacramental grace of Absolution, that is, the grace which remits mortal sin; for, as S. John says, prayer is sufficient for the forgiveness of venial sin. If our Church taught, as some think, that the Absolution of mortal sin could be obtained in the public services of the Church, the exhortation we have been considering would have directed persons, after examining themselves **by the rule of God's commandments," and confessing to Almighty God, ** with full purpose of amendment of life," to go to Church and get absolved when the Absolution was pronounced in the Communion Service; but it does nothing of the kind. It does not suggest in any way that they can get absolved at Church. It tells them that they are to make sure that their consciences OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 109 are quiet before they come to Church. If there is any question about it, they are to make their Confession to a priest, and obtain from him the benefit of Abso- lution. There can be very little doubt respecting the intention of those who drew up this exhortation. It was to tell those who did not believe in Sacra- mental Confession and Absolution, to manage their own penitence the best way they could; but if they found that this was not a success, to go and make their Confession. Our Church undoubtedly does not compel her children to use Sacramental Confession. She leaves them free to make their peace with God in their own way, only warning them that it is requisite that they should come to Communion "with a quiet con- science " ; that is to say, that before Communion their peace with God must have been made. Nowhere, however, does she imply anything so absurd as that a public prayer said over those "who are minded to receive the Holy Communion" can give them Sacramental Absolution from mortal sin. To those who accept the position that a doctrine to be Catholic (and therefore binding upon us) needs only to have the three characteristics of universality ^ antiquity, and consent, there can be no question about the matter; for there was no public Absolu- tion in any Eucharistic Service of the Church until 110 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION the sixteenth century, and no public Matins and Evensong. There was in the Breviary OflSces, from the time of S. Basil, a prayer for pardon; but these Oflfices were Monastic, often said by laymen, and there was no idea that this prayer conveyed any remission of mortal sin. In the service of the Holy Eucharist in the Western Church, the first proof of any such Absolution dates from the Third Council of Ravenna, A.D. 1314. It was then ordered that throughout the Province of Ravenna the Confiteor should be said in a form very similar to that used in the Roman Church at the present time; and since the publication of the Missal of Pius v., who died A.D. 1572, this has been the use of the Roman Church. The theory, therefore, that people can be sacra- mentally absolved apart from the Sacrament of Pen- ance has neither universality, antiquity nor consent to recommend it. Such a theory was quite unknown until the sixteenth century, and is still alike foreign to both the Roman and Greek Communions. Either our reformers invented a new Sacrament, which is absurd, or our Absolution in the Communion Office is merely a prayer for the Remission of venial sin. We have still to consider the objection of the other class in our Church, who, while admitting that our Prayer Book does provide a judicial Absolution, limits it to those whose consciences refuse to be OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 111 quieted by the means which satisfy ordinary persons, or to people on their death-bed. These would say that the Offices of the Visitation of the Sick in the English Prayer Book, and for the Visitation of Prisoners under sentence of death in the American book, only refer to such exceptional cases. If, for the sake of the argument, we were to admit that this were true (which we do not), we should have to choose between the horns of a dilemma: either (l) that since the Prayer Book does enjoin Confession and Absolution in sickness or before death, it certainly ought not to be put off until then, lest on these occasions we should be deprived of the opportunity of making our Confession, and receiving Absolution; or (2) if this be not admitted, then we must accept the teaching that our Church believes only in a death-bed repentance, and encourages her children to put off repentance until their death. It will be observed that the first position really grants our contention, that, since Confession and Absolution should be used in sickness or before death, therefore we should not wait till then, but should avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity of placing our souls in such a state that death may not find us unprepared. The second horn of the dilemma is nothing less than monstrous. Most certainly we must believe in the possibilities of a death-bed repentance, but 11« CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION only under exceptional circumstances. There is one such case in the Bible, that of the penitent robber; but, as has often been observed, only one. One, that no one may despair; only one, that no one may presume. The case, too, of the penitent robber was most exceptional. He seems to have been a man who had lived a wild life of robbery and violence, and who probably had never really come in contact with religion until he met our Blessed Lord. He was converted by Christ Himself, and proved the thoroughness of his conversion by bearing a most terrible punishment, not only with heroic patience and resignation, but with the confession that it was just; for he said, ** We receive the due reward of our deeds." ^ Further, he manifested wonderful faith in his prayer to Christ : *' Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Few persons, if any, who wilfully put off their repentance till their death-bed could expect at that time the grace of so wonderful a conversion and repentance. But, quite apart from this, it is un- reasonable to put off till our death-bed anything of importance; for we know well that in most cases there is no opportunity of attending to it at the time of death, or, if there is, we are not Hkely to be in a condition to avail ourselves of it; for death is gen- erally preceded by much physical weakness and pain, 1 S. Luke xxiii. 41. OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 113 when the memory is so clouded that it is not possible to make an examination of our whole life; and even if we could do this, the effort to confess all our sins would probably be beyond our strength. Moreover, we know that the family are often in ignorance of the lethal condition of the patient, and, where they know it, from motives of false kindness, do their best to conceal it from him. Further, in our times the custom of the medical profession (with some notable exceptions) is to give anaesthetics, which, while they allay pain, render the patient totally incapable of any mental effort; so that a large number of persons are sent drugged into eternity. If, however, this should not be our case, and by the mercy of God we should be in possession of our faculties, and know that we are dying, there is still the great diflSculty of making a first Confession when we have never been taught how to prepare for it, and there is, therefore, the danger that our Confes- sion will be very superficistl and inadequate, and, what is still worse, that the motives of our penitence will be fear of the consequences of our sins, not sar- row for them from the love of God. We have already pointed out that a man to be for- given must be forgivable, that there must be in him possibilities of a moral change. What possibilities of a moral change are there on one's death-bed? We have also shown that it is not every sort of 114 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION sorrow which worketh repentance, certainly not that sorrow which is caused by fear of punishment or remorse at what we have lost. Altogether, therefore, we may repeat, without fear of contradiction, that the teaching which would lead us to delay till our death-bed our Confession and Absolution, if these things are really important, is indeed a monstrous doctrine, and that it most cer- tainly is not the teaching of our Church. If the direction to move the sick man to a special Confes- sion of his sins, and to absolve him, is only found in the Visitation of the Sick, it is because that is the only Office in the Prayer Book in which there is pro- vision for a priest ministering to an individual soul. The other services deal with his public ministra- tions. But in the only one in which the Prayer Book provides for the needs of an individual soul in penitence, there is the explicit direction that there shall be a special Confession of sin and a judicial Absolution. There are many who may persuade themselves that their consciences are not troubled with any weighty matter; that is, that they have never com- mitted a mortal sin; and such may take the ground that they do not need Absolution. There are, however, few who have been through life without committing one mortal sin. There are very few, therefore, who can safely neglect altogether the OBJECTIONS TO ABSOLUTION 115 means of grace specially instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and enjoined by His Church, for the remission of sins. To say again and again in the Creed, " I believe in the forgiveness of sins"; to pray many times a day, "Forgive us our trespasses," and to refuse to use the only revealed means by which we can have any assurance of the forgiveness of sins, is a position which a conscientious and thinking man must decline to defend. CHAPTER IX OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION In dealing with objections to Confession we find ourselves on very different ground to that occupied by the objections to Absolution ; for these latter were chiefly matters which could be decided by an appeal to the written letter of Holy Scripture, to the Prayer Book, and the Canons of the Church. The objec- tions to Confession, however, to a great extent are of a different character, for they are largely based on private opinion or prejudice. But fair-minded persons must admit that such objections must be judged by the testimony of two classes only — those who have used Confession and those who have heard Confessions; for it is not unreasonable to rule out of court the evidence of those whose opinions or prejudices are absolutely unsupported by any prac- tical experience of the subject. At the outset we may affirm, without fear of contradiction, that every priest who has heard Con- fessions, and almost every one who has been to Confession, would testify to its spiritual benefit, and to the baselessness of the charges brought against it. 116 OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 117 I say almost every one, because there may be some who have come to Confession without penitence, or even from wrong motives, who have therefore failed to experience its benefits. We would press upon the reader to keep carefully in mind, and to give due weight to the fact that all such evidence as would be accepted in a court of law — that is, the evidence of those who have practical knowledge of the sub- ject — is in its favour, while almost all that is brought against it is the mere opinion of those who have had no personal experience in the matter, and is therefore evidence entirely inadmissible in law; in other words, that the facts are all in its favour, and that it is only theories which are brought against it. With this proviso we shall proceed to a consideration of the chief objections found in Protestant writers. I. The first is that Confession to a priest obscures the great doctrine of the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ, that He is the one Mediator through Whom we can go direct to God, and that to make our Con- fession to a priest is inconsistent with this funda- mental truth. There are three distinct answers to this : 1. It is true that there is but *'one Mediator be- tween God and men, the Man Christ Jesus;" ^ and yet we find that one Mediator appointing a priesthood, and instituting Sacraments. Nor is this 1 1 Tim. ii. 5. 118 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION inconsistent with the experiences of ordinary life; for we may say there is but one king who rules over a country, but that king appoints ministers to carry on dijfferent parts of the government. Similariy, priests are God's ministers and ambassadors.^ To this it may be objected that ministers and am- bassadors have their powers distinctly defined by the sovereign whom they represent. This is quite true; and we find the definition of the powers of the priesthood in our Lord's commission to them : "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. . . . Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." ^ If the exercise of this power interferes with our Lord's mediatorial office, at least it was our Lord Himself who gave the power and enjoined its use. 2. Are not the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist liable to the same objection .^ If you can go straight to God, why use the ministra- tions of a priest to be baptized or to receive the Holy Communion ? We say in the Creed that we believe in *'one Baptism for the remission of sins." But a person cannot baptize himself; and the minister who baptizes, and thus remits sins according to Christ's appointment, is in exactly the same position as the priest who absolves. 1 Cf. 1 Cor. iv. 1; 2 Cor. v. 20. ' S. John xx. 21. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 119 Precisely the same difficulty arises in regard to the Holy Communion. We cannot obtain it without a priest. But does this interfere with our Lord's mediatorial office? If not, then why should we think that Absolution does ? Let us be consistent, and either give up Baptism and Communion, or accept all the Sacramental ordinances ordained by Christ Himself. 3. People say that the Bible teaches that we can go direct to God, and obtain from Him forgiveness, without any human intervention. In reply we would ask. Where does it teach this ? Can you point out one single instance in Holy Scripture which justifies this statement ? Probably many would refer to the parable of the Prodigal Son,^ who went to his father and said, '* Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee." But, as we have already shown, he made his confession in the presence of the servants, and it was to the servants that the father gave the command, **Put on him the first robe." ^ In the same manner. Sacramental Confession is made directly to God, but in the presence of the priest, to whom God has given power and commandment to declare and pronounce the absolution and remis- sion of sins. II. The second objection we shall notice is often stated somewhat as follows : Holy Scripture nowhere » S. Luke XV. 11-32. ^ gee page 98. 120 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION tells me to confess my sins to a priest, but it does bid Christians confess their sins to one another. Here again two answers are required : 1. Holy Scripture did tell the Jews that they were to confess their sins to a priest; for we read that **the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty; then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the prin- cipal thereof . . . unto the Lord, even to the priest ; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atone- ment shall be made for him." * Again we find, "And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing. . . . And the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin." '^ But the priest could not make an atone- ment unless he knew what the sin was, since different sins required different sacrifices for atonement. This Confession, which was enjoined by the Mosaic law, was practised by Achan to Joshua;^ by David to Nathan;* and in the New Testament by the Jews to S. John the Baptist.® Our Blessed Lord 1 Num. V. 5-«. « Lev. v. 5-6. « Jos. vii. 19. * 2 Sam. xii. 13. 5 S. Matt. iii. 6. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 121 must have observed it frequently in the Temple courts, yet He never said one word to discourage it; and after His Ascension we find the Ephesians con- fessing to S. Paul.* So the first part of the objection, that the Bible does not tell us to confess our sins to a priest, is scarcely borne out by the facts. 2. The second part is that the Bible does bid Christians to confess their sins to one another. This evidently refers to the passage in S. James beginning " Is any sick among you ? let him call for the elders of the church. . . . Confess your faults one to an- other, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." ^ The only persons who are mentioned are the elders or presbyters of the Church, that is, the priests. Further, we would ask, Are you in the habit of con- fessing your sins to one another? It will certainly do you a great deal of good, even though you do not get Absolution. If you are not, then you are clearly disobeying the very command in Holy Scripture to which you refer. III. Confession to a priest was not the primitive rule of the Church. In the early Church, Con- fession was made in public, and Absolution was given in public. 1 Acts 3dx. 18. 3 S. jam. v. 14-16. 1«« CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION This is quite true, as we have already pointed out,* and there can be no objection (except on your own part) to your making your Confession in public, and receiving the Absolution publicly, only you must observe that in the primitive Church the priest or bishop who absolved publicly had heard the Con- fession, and knew what the sins were which he was absolving. This objection can have no force what- ever unless you are prepared in your own case to substitute for the private Confession to a priest the public Confession of the primitive Church. IV. We now come to a different class of objections — those which are based entirely upon private opinion or prejudice. First among them we will consider the charge that Confession weakens the will and diminishes the sense of personal respon- sibility. This, of course, must be decided solely upon the evidence of those who have used Confession; since it is quite certain that those who have not used it cannot know whether it weakens the will or not. But the testimony of those who go to Confession is pre- cisely the opposite, that it strengthens their will to resist sin, and that this is the reason they use it. Furthermore, they would also bear witness that it deepens their sense of responsibility. For priests frequently hear from the lips of lapsed penitents 1 See page 40. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 12S the statement, I cannot come to Confession and go back and do the same things, which is equivalent to saying that the coming to Confession awakens such a sense of personal responsibility that, while one who does not use Confession may go on committing the same sins, one who does use it dare not do so. V. Another charge brought against Confession is that it fosters a morbid craving for sympathy. The reply is quite simple : Those who have a morbid craving for sympathy will most certainly strive to satisfy it, and it is far less dangerous for them to go to a priest who is a skilled physician of souls, and who will endeavour to correct what is morbid in them, than that they should go to some sym- pathetic friend, who, with the best intentions, would encourage that morbidness. VI. Confession gives a priest an undue influence in a person's life. This requires careful consideration. In the first place we may observe that this applies equally to one's physician and one's lawyer; that the knowl- edge of the diseases of our body, and of the diffi- culties in which our estate is involved, undoubtedly does give to the physician and to the lawyer a cer- tain influence with us; indeed, we go to them that they may influence us by their advice. It would be very absurd to go to a lawyer for advice, having predetermined that we will not be influenced by 124 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION what he says. Certainly the affairs of our soul are of equal importance to the health of our body or the prosperity of our estate. And since we go to a physician or to a lawyer, believing that their advice will influence us in the right direction, there is no reason why we should assume that a priest will in- fluence us in the wrong direction. The power of influence is one of the greatest powers in the world. But God has willed that it should be so. He means us to influence one another for good; and He will hold us responsible for our influ- ence. The sternest utterance of our Blessed Lord was, ** Woe unto the world because of offences " * (that is, stumbling blocks). And probably the great- est stumbling blocks arise from evil example, that is, from evil influence. But because some influence is evil that is no reason why we should reject all influence; and, if we have a right to expect good influence from any one, it surely is from a priest of God, administering one of the most solemn Sacra- ments of the Church. We must remember, too, that in our own Con- munion we are entirely free to choose our own confessor; and if we have any reason to suppose that he is trying to exercise an undue influence over us, we are quite at liberty to go to some one else, and never to go to him again. 1 S. Matt, xviii. 7. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 126 So that this objection is not really very practical; and, like the two previous ones, it must stand or fall upon the evidence of those who have used Con- fession, since those who have not can have no knowl- edge whether a priest exercises undue influence or not. VII. The next objection generally takes this form, that only benighted Romanists go to Confession, and a few in our own Church who had better be Romanists. This charge, of course, can be answered best by statistics, and our objectors will probably be a little surprised to hear that Confession has commended itself to and is used by the great majority of Chris- tians in the world; for, if we turn to any census of the world's religions, we shall find that Christians belonging to the Roman, Greek, and Anglican Communions comprise more than three fourths of all who profess the name of Christ. The figures vary in diflFerent census-tables; but this variation does not really affect the proportion I have stated. Counting in amongst Protestants every sect which calls itself " Christian," however slender may be its claim — Mormons, Christian Scientists, Dowieites, and those members of our own Church who would reject this doctrine — they scarcely make up one quarter of the Christian world. The census-tables of M. Foumier De Flaix, lite CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION quoted as the most recent competent authority by the American Statistical Association, gives: Roman Catholics . . . Orthodox or Greeks Anglicans Abyssinian Church . . Other Eastern Churches Protestants of every Sect Total of Christians . 230,866,533 98,016,000 29,200,000 3,000,000 1,960,000 114,037,625 477,080,158 From these tables we shall see that it is not only *' benighted" Roman Catholics who use Confession, but Orthodox Greeks to the number of ninety-eight millions, Abyssinians, three millions, other Eastern Churches almost two millions, besides a consider- able number of our own Communion. Further, we would draw attention to the fact that the Greek Church is even more opposed to the Roman Church than we are, and yet they are quite as strict as the Romans in requiring Confession of their communicants. The fair inference to be drawn from these statistics surely is that Confession has commended itself and does commend itself to the great majority of Chris- tians, that is, practically to all who have used it; and that those who reject it are mostly persons whose prejudices have prevented them from having any OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 127 experimental knowledge of the subject, so that their opinions are quite worthless, and by all laws of evi- dence should be ruled out of court. If the effects of Confession had proved harmful, it is extremely unlikely it would have continued so many centuries, and still more unlikely that in the great Catholic revival in our own days it would have found such a ready acceptance by the most earnest laymen as well as priests, both in England and America. VIII. Some persons object to Confession because, they say, it is contrary to the principles of the Refor- mation. I suppose that all will admit that the prin- ciples of the Reformation are best expressed in the English Prayer Book which the Reformation pro- duced, and in the writings of the Reformers them- selves. To begin with the Prayer Book, we find in the First Prayer Book of Edward VI., 1549, in the Communion Office, the following statement about Confession : ** And if there be any of you, whose conscience is troubled and grieved in any thing, lacking comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned priest, taught in the law of God, and confess and open his sin and grief secretly, that he may receive such ghostly counsel, advice, and comfort, that his conscience may be relieved, 128 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION and that of us (as of the ministers of God and of the church) he may receive comfort and absolution, to the satisfaction of his mind, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness: requiring such as shall be satisfied with a general confession, not to be offended with them that do use, to their further satisfying, the auricular and secret confession to the priest; nor those also which think needful or con- venient, for the quietness of their own consciences, particularly to open their sins to the priest, to be offended with them that are satisfied with their humble confession to God, and the general confes- sion to the church." In the Second Prayer Book, 1552, we have almost precisely the exhortation of the present English Prayer Book; and this is found in Elizabeth's Prayer Book, 1559, and that of James I., 1604. It is, there- fore, quite certain that in every English Prayer Book the duty of Confession under certain circumstances has been plainly taught. Let us turn now from the Prayer Book to the writings of individual Reformers. The three most celebrated, I suppose, are Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, since they were selected for commemora- tion in the Martyrs' Memorial at Oxford. I shall give one extract from each, though it would be very easy to find many more passages in their writings bearing upon Confession. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 129 Cranmer says : " God dothe not speake to us with a voyce soundynge out of heaven. But He hath given the kayes of the kingdom of heaven, and the authoritie to forgyve synne, to the ministers of the Churche. Wherefore let him that is a sinner go to one of them, let him knowledge and confesse his synne, and praye him that, according to God's com- mandmente, he will gyve him absolution, and com- forte him with the word of grace and forgiveness of his sjmnes. And when the minister dothe so, then I ought stedfastly to believe that my synnes are truly forgiven me in heaven." ^ Bishop Ridley says: "You have known me long indeed : in the which time it has chanced me, as you say, to mislike some things. It is true, I grant: for sudden changes without substantial and necessary cause, and the heady setting forth of extremities, I did never love. Confession unto the minister, which is able to instruct, correct, comfort, and inform the weak, wounded, and ignorant conscience, indeed I ever thought might do much good to Christ's con- gregation, and so, I assure you, I think even at this day." 2 Bishop Latimer says : " But to speak of right and true Confession, I would to God it were kept in Eng- 1 Cramner's Catechism, p. 202. 2 Letter to Master West, his chaplain. See Eccles. Biog. Vol. iii. p. 67. 130 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION land; for it is a good thing. And those which find themselves grieved in conscience might go to a learned man and there fetch of him comfort of the Word of God, and so come to a quiet conscience. . . . And sure it grieveth me much that such con- fessions are not kept in England." ^ Canon 113 of the Church of England, put forth in 1603, refers thus to the sacramental seal in Con- fession : " Provided always, That if any man confess his secret and hidden sins to the Minister, for the unburdening of his conscience, and to receive spirit- ual consolation and ease of mind from him; . . . we do straitly charge and admonish him, that he do not at any time reveal and make known to any person whatsoever any crime or offence so committed to his trust and secrecy (except they be such crimes as by the laws of this realm his own life may be called into question for concealing the same), under pain of irregularity." " Irregularity," we may explain, not only deprives a man of all spiritual promotion for the present time, but makes him utterly incapable of any for the time to come, and therefore is the greatest penalty, except degradation from the priesthood, to which a priest can be subject. Between the years 1619 and 1679 a series of Visi- tation Articles were set forth by certain bishops, ten 1 Sermon on the 3d Sunday after Epiphany, Vol. ii. p. 852. OBJECTIONS TO CONFESSION 131 of whom (Bishops Overall, Andrewes, Montague, Lindsell, Dee, Duppa, Juxon, Wren, Fuller, and Gunning) inquired: 1. As to the persons excommunicated and of their obtaining their Absolution. 2. Whether the Minister exhorted those troubled or disquieted to open their grief, that they may by the Minister receive the benefit of Absolution. 3. Whether the Minister revealed any crimes or offences, so committed to his trust and secrecy, con- trary to the 113th Canon. It would be quite easy to multiply the names of bishops and divines in the Church of England, from the Reformation down to the present day, who have taught the importance of Confession to a priest, and have themselves practised it; but those already given are surely sufficient to prove the point, including, as they do, such saintly and representative men as Andrewes and Overall, and such thorough-going reformers as Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. To this objection, therefore, we may reply that, so far from the Reformers objecting to Confession, they explicitly declared their entire agreement with it. IX. The last objection we shall notice is that Confession has been abused. This is, perhaps, true; but certainly such abuse has been very rare in the Church of England, and not nearly as fre- 132 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION quent as abuse of similar confidences between patient and physician, or lawyer and client. It is very doubt- ful whether those who bring forward this objection could show one instance within their own knowledge in which Confession had been thus abused. But since our Church leaves her children free to go to whomsoever they please for Confession, she has pro- vided a simple and adequate remedy; for no one need go a second time to any priest whom he thought took a wrong advantage of his office in administering this Sacrament. As a matter of fact and experience, the real danger is not in going to Confession to a priest in the open church, with all the protection of sacramental solemnity; but in long, confidential talks in a private room, with no such safeguard. These have led again and again to scandal, and are to be avoided. They minister often to a morbid craving for sym- pathy, and they lead to nothing of any value, since the priest is sought, not for the benefit of Absolution, but at best only for advice. CHAPTER X CONCLUSION We are now in a position to gather up the results of our investigation; and they may be stated some- what as follows: We are taught in the Creed to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and in the Lord's Prayer to pray for this. We find that forgiveness flows from God's love, and belongs to His nature; so that His ** nature and property is always to have mercy and to forgive." And we learn from our Lord Himself that, in regard to this forgiveness, there is no limit either to its frequency or to its extent. In response to a question of S. Peter's, Christ tells us that we are to forgive not "until seven times," but ** until seventy times seven " ; and in this He is proposing for our standard nothing less than the long-suffering and mercy of God Himself. Further, in the parable which follows. He contrasts the com- passion of the king, who freely forgives the enormous debt (ten thousand talents) which no servant could pay, with the petty exaction of the unmerciful servant 133 134 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION in cruelly enforcing the payment of so paltry a sum as one hundred pence. In this very passage, however, which so fully sets forth the frequency and extent of God's mercy, our Lord draws attention to the fact that this mercy has its conditions; that the individual who seeks it, in order to obtain it must be forgivable; that is, that God must see in him possibilities of moral change and improvement, and that these possibilities must be realized on his part by true repentance. Having thus satisfied ourselves that the forgiveness of sins involves repentance, we further find that our Lord has provided in Holy Scripture and in His Church a means by which the sinner may manifest his penitence and receive the assurance of the forgiveness of his sins, this assurance being con- veyed to him, together with the forgiveness of sins, by Absolution, and his penitence being manifested by Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. All this we have seen is set forth in Holy Scripture, and clearly taught in our Prayer Book. Our Church, however, throws the responsibility for using this means of grace upon each individual, refusing to make the practice of Confession and Absolution compulsory, but providing that all shall be daily reminded that God has given power to His ministers to absolve, and daily exhorted to pray for true repentance. CONCLUSION 185 This general teaching we find specially applied to individual needs in three other Offices in the Prayer Book. In the Ordination of Priests the forgiveness of sins is specified as the peculiar function of the priesthood. In the Communion Office, in the in- struction on the manner of preparation for Holy Communion, we are taught that, because it is requisite that no man should come but with a quiet conscience, therefore, if any man cannot quiet his own conscience, he is to go to a priest and make his Confession to him, and receive Absolution. In the order for the Visitation of the Sick, which is the only provision in the Prayer Book for the private minis- tration of a priest to an individual soul, the priest is directed to move the person to a special Confession of his sins; and a very solemn and direct form of Absolution is provided, in which the authority to absolve is claimed and exercised. We are taught that in order to obtain Absolution we must be penitent, and that penitence consists of three parts: Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction; although Confession and Satisfaction are really con- tained in Contrition, and are the fruits by which it is manifested. Lastly, we have considered all the principal objec- tions brought against Absolution and Confession, and have found that there is not one of them which cannot be easily met and answered; and that Con- 186 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION fession has commended itself to, and is used by, the great majority of Christians throughout the world. Here our work ends; and the writer would only add that he would much regret to see Confession made compulsory in our Church; that he would advise those who do not desire to use this Sacrament by all means to stay away from it, but that he com- mends to the prayerful consideration of all who are conscious of sin, and who earnestly desire forgiveness, the facts set forth in this Uttle book, and the testi- mony of those who have used Confession. Laus Deo Works by the Rev, Alfred G. Mortimer, D.D. Rector of S. Mark's, Philadelphia HELPS TO MEDITATION. Sketches for Every Day in the Year. Vol. I. 17th edition. Advent to Trinity. 8vo. 7s. Qd. Vol. II. 14th edition. Trinity to Advent. 8vo. 75. 6d. CATHOLIC FAITH AND PRACTICE. A Manual of The- ology. In two parts. Crown 8vo. Part I. Fourth edition, revised, pp. xlvi + 362. 7s. 6d. Part II. Second edition, revised, pp. Ixxi + 556. 9*. THE EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE. 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