![ArticleXIOfConfession](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/ArticleXIOfConfession.JPG)
In the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
Church,
Confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
(also called Holy Absolution) is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the
Large Catechism
''Luther's Large Catechism'' (german: Der Große Katechismus) is a catechism by Martin Luther. It consists of works written by Luther and compiled Christian canonical texts, published in April 1529. This book was addressed particularly to cler ...
, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy
Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
.
Beliefs
The Lutheran Church practices "Confession and Absolution"
eferred to as the Office of the Keyswith the emphasis on the absolution, which is God's word of forgiveness. Indeed, Lutherans highly regard Holy Absolution. They, like Roman Catholics, see and as biblical evidence for confession.
An explanation of The Small Catechism
' Confession and absolution is done in private to the pastor, called the "
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.[act of contrition
An Act of Contrition is a Christian prayer genre that expresses sorrow for sins. It may be used in a liturgical service or be used privately, especially in connection with an examination of conscience. Special formulae for acts of contrition are ...]
, as the pastor, acting ''
in persona Christi
''In persona Christi'' is a Latin phrase meaning "in the person of Christ", an important concept in Roman Catholicism and, in varying degrees, to other Christian traditions, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism. A priest is ''In persona Christi'' ...
'', announces the formula of absolution. Prior to the confession, the penitent is to review the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
to
examine his or her conscience. In the Lutheran Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, the pastor is bound by the
Seal of the Confessional.
Luther's Small Catechism
''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pr ...
says "the pastor is pledged not to tell anyone else of sins to him in private confession, for those sins have been removed." If the Seal is broken, it will result in
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
.
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, weekly private confession became less expected; at the present time, it is, for example, expected before partaking of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
for the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
time. It is also encouraged to be done frequently in a year (specifically before Easter). In many churches, times are set for the pastor to hear confessions.
In line with Luther's initial statement in
his Large Catechism, some Lutherans speak of only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist, although later in the same work he calls Confession and Absolution "the third sacrament." The definition of sacrament in the
Apology of the Augsburg Confession
The ''Apology of the Augsburg Confession'' was written by Philipp Melanchthon during and after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg as a response to the ''Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession'', Charles V's commissioned official Roman Catholic r ...
lists Absolution as one of them. Luther went to
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
all his life. Although Lutherans do not consider the other four rites as sacraments, they are still retained and used in the Lutheran church.
Philipp Melanchthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...
speaking about the Confession in the Lutheran Church, claims that "we do not wish to sanction the torture
he tyranny of consciencesof the Summists, which notwithstanding would have been less intolerable if they had added one word concerning faith, which comforts and encourages consciences. Now, concerning this faith, which obtains the remission of sins, there is not a syllable in so great a mass of regulations, glosses, summaries, books of confession. Christ is nowhere read there".
Martin Luther on Confession
In his 1529 catechisms,
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
praised confession (before a pastor or a fellow Christian) "for the sake of
absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pra ...
", the forgiveness of sins bestowed in an audible, concrete way. The Lutheran reformers held that a complete enumeration of sins is impossible and that one's confidence of forgiveness is not to be based on the sincerity of one's contrition nor on one's doing works of satisfaction imposed by the confessor (
penance
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...
). The Roman Catholic church held confession to be composed of three parts: ''contritio cordis'' ("contrition of the heart"), ''confessio oris'' ("confession of the mouth"), and ''satisfactio operis'' ("satisfaction of deeds"). The Lutheran reformers abolished the "satisfaction of deeds," holding that confession and absolution consist of only two parts: the confession of the penitent and the absolution spoken by the confessor. Faith or trust in
Jesus'
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
complete active and passive satisfaction is what receives the forgiveness and salvation won by him and imparted to the penitent by the word of absolution.
Form of Confession
![Luther-kirkko, rippituoli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Luther-kirkko%2C_rippituoli.jpg)
Lutheran confession (in the same manner as
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
) can be done in the church chancel with the penitent kneeling at the
altar rail
The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and oth ...
and the pastor sitting in front of them, in the privacy of the pastor's office, or sometimes in a
confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but sim ...
. The words below, taken from the
Lutheran Service Book
''Lutheran Service Book'' (''LSB'') is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing Hou ...
and used in most confessions, say:
The penitent begins by saying:
Here, the penitent is to confess whatever they have done against the commandments of God, according to their own place in life. The penitent continues.
The pastor continues:
The penitent will say:
The pastor places his hand on the head of the penitent and says the following:
The pastor dismisses the penitent.
The penitent responds:
Another suggested form for Confession was outlined by Luther himself in the
Small Cathechism of 1529 (Part V. HOW THE UNLEARNED SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO CONFESS):
You speak unto the confessor thus:
Proceed!
''A master or mistress may say thus:''
And whatever else he has done against God's command and his station, etc. But if any one does not find himself burdened with such or greater sins, he should not trouble himself or search for or invent other sins, and thereby make confession a torture, but mention one or two that he knows. Thus:
Let this suffice. But if you know of none at all (which, however, is scarcely possible), then mention none in particular, but receive the forgiveness upon the general confession which you make before God to the confessor.
Then shall the confessor say:
Furthermore:
Answer:
Then let him say:
But those who have great burdens upon their consciences, or are distressed and tempted, the confessor will know how to comfort and to encourage to faith with more passages of Scripture. This is to be merely a general form of confession for the unlearned.[Bente, Gerhard Friedrich and William Herman Theodore Dau. Concordia Triglotta The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, German-Latin-English. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921. pp. 555-556.]
References
{{Lutheran Church
Martin Luther
Sacraments
Lutheran sacraments and rites