The confession of sin is an integral part of our common prayer and an important preparation for congregational worship, however, before the Reformation, ancient liturgies contained nothing like a general confession of sin. Repentance, when needed, was something done individually before one came to the Eucharist. The sign of reconciliation with God and one’s brothers and sisters was not a general absolution, but instead the exchange of the peace.[1] What did exist in earlier liturgies cannot be considered as a confession of the people, but rather as that of the celebrant and his ministers. The current general confession found in the Anglican and Lutheran liturgies was formulated into its present form in 1548.[2] In the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, the general confession is rendered:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.[3]
The new 2019 Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church in North America gives a closer form to Thomas Cranmer’s (A.D. 1489 – 1556) original version:
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker and judge of us all: We acknowledge and lament our many sins and offenses, which we have committed by thought, word, and deed against your divine majesty, provoking most justly your righteous anger against us. We are deeply sorry for these our transgressions; the burden of them is more than we can bear. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for your Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may evermore serve and please you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.[4]
At the beginning of the Reformation (as early as 1519), Martin Luther (A.D. 1483 – 1546) wrote on individual confession: “There is nothing in the Church which needs reform so much as confession and penance,” and in addition to occasional expressions he spoke of this reform of the confessional system in many of his writings: A Brief Instruction on How One Should Confess (1519), On the Confession (1521), Sermon on the Confession and the Sacrament (1524), Short Admonition to Confession at the end of the Larger Catechism (1529). [5] The private confessional system has become a source of financial gain for priests, and Luther not only disapproved of the system involving finances (it was essentially becoming an issue of usury), but he was also troubled by the torture of the conscience in mentioning individual sins, and because the unworthy demeanor of the medieval friars who largely controlled the confessional system was offensive to him. Regardless, he did not, however, reject confession itself, and on the contrary, considered confession and absolution as the sometimes-called “third sacrament” instituted by Christ.[6] Luther’s colleagues, Philip Melanchthon (A.D. 1497 – 1560) and Martin Bucer (A.D. 1491 – 1551), were employed by Hermann von Wied (the Archbishop of Cologne during the Reformation who adopted Lutheranism; A.D. 1477 – 1552) to draw up a book of formularies, doctrine, and the like, which was called the Consultation. Both the confession and absolution in the Book of Common Prayer owe some expressions to Hermann’s Consultation, and thus to the Lutheran reformers.[7]
One of the ways in which the Lutherans and Anglicans differ (and have for several centuries) is on the placement of the confession and absolution within the liturgy—not as a necessity, but as preference. The Lutheran Book of Worship provides a penitential order for use at the beginning of the liturgy which, in effect, places the confession and absolution at the point in the service in which the Collect for Purity would otherwise occupy, and should similarly serve as a preparation for receiving the Word as well as the Sacrament. [8] Most Anglicans instead appear to prefer a point in the service following the readings and sermon. When it is used in this section of the liturgy, it forms a part of our response to the Word, just as Isaiah’s response to God’s initiative was the acknowledgment of his sinfulness (see Isaiah 6:5).[9] However, as Galley notes, “since congregational confessions of sin did not enter the liturgy until the time of the Reformation, there is no ancient tradition to appeal to in the matter.”[10] In either case, the rubrics in both the Book of Common Prayer and the Lutheran Book of Worship allow the confession of sins at the beginning of the liturgy or at the conclusion of the intercessions before the peace. In some congregations, these are moved from the customary location during the penitential season of Lent to give the confession great prominence.
Two especially penitential forms of the general confession can be found elsewhere: (1) the special general confession found in the Ash Wednesday liturgy of both the Book of Common Prayer and the Lutheran Book of Worship, as well as (2) the extra-penitential form found in the Lutheran compline service (notice the triplicate use of the word “fault”): “I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen (emphasis mine).”[11] In the compline service, another interesting characteristic of this form can be attributed to the Lutherans as a focus on the “priesthood of all believers”: in this service, it is the only time in the liturgy that exhibits a reciprocal confession and absolution between the leader and the people. As Pfatteicher and Messerli note in the Manual on the Liturgy, “the leader makes confession before the people, who then declare God’s forgiveness. The congregation then makes confession and the leader announces God’s forgiveness to them.”[12]
The foundational understanding of confession and absolution can be found in the Book of Common Prayer, which requires that “those who come to communion shall have examined their lives, repented of their sins, and be in love and charity with all people.”[13] For parishioners who still bear a weight on their souls, it recommends individual confession with a priest/pastor. To correct an unrepentant parishioner, it provides for the refusal of the priest/pastor to feed the parishioner the body and blood of Christ as a sign of communion until such time as evidence of remorse has been shown.[14] All of these provisions are part of the normative tradition of the Church, and are clearly embedded in the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his apostles (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Matthew 18:15-17, James 5:16, and John 20:22-23).
[1] Howard E. Galley, The Ceremonies of the Eucharist: A Guide to Celebration, The Prayer Book Office Morning and Evening Prayer (Lanham, MD; Chicago; New York; Toronto; Plymouth, UK: A Cowley Publications Book, 1989), 96–97.
[2] John Henry Blunt, ed., The Annotated Book of Common Prayer, Revised and Enlarged Edition. (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1889), 384.
[3] The Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2007), 352.
[4] Anglican Church in North America, “Holy Communion: Anglican Standard Text,” in The Book of Common Prayer (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019), 112-113.
[5] Samuel Macauley Jackson, ed., The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1908–1914), 221–222.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Blunt, 384–385.
[8] Leonel L. Mitchell, Praying Shapes Believing: A Theological Commentary on The Book of Common Prayer (New York; Harrisburg, PA; Denver: Morehouse Publishing, 1985), 138.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Galley, 77.
[11] Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, Lutheran Book of Worship, (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1978), 155.
[12] Philip H. Pfatteicher and Carlos R. Messerli, Manual on the Liturgy—Lutheran Book of Worship (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1979), 287.
[13] Galley, 96–97.
[14] The Book of Common Prayer, 860, 317, 409.
Ex Vitæ Verborum 