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taken for the whole duty itself, as it is always when it is effect ive of pardon, then the elements of it, or parts of the constitution, are fides futuri sæculi et judicii, fides in promissis et passionibus Christi, timor Divinæ majestatis, amor misericordiæ, dolor pro peccatis, spes veniæ, petitio pro gratiâ,' 'faith in the promises and sufferings of Christ, an assent to the article of the day of judgment, and the world to come; with all the consequent persuasions and practices effected on the spirit, fear of the divine majesty, love of his mercy, grief for our sins, begging for grace, hope of pardon ;' and in this sense it is true, ' Cor contritum Deus non despiciet,' will never refuse to accept of a heart so contrite.'

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SECTION IV.

Of Confession.

33. THE modern schoolmen make contrition to include in it a resolution to submit to the keys of the church; that is, that confession to a priest is a part of contrition, as contrition is taken for a part of repentance; for it is incomplete till the church hath taken notice of it, but by submission to the church-tribunal, it is made complete; and not only so, but that which was but attrition, is now turned into contrition, or perfect repentance. In the examining of this, I shall, because it is reasonable so to do, change their manner of speaking, that the inquiry may be more material and intelligible. That contrition does include in it a resolution to submit to the church-tribunal, must either mean, that godly sorrow does in its nature include a desire of confession to a priest, and then the very word confutes the thing; or else by contrition they meaning so much of repentance, as is sufficient to pardon, mean also, that to submit to the keys, or to confess to a priest, is a necessary or integral part of that repentance, and therefore of contrition. Concerning the other part of their affirmative, that attrition is, by the keys, changed into contrition; this being turned into words fit for men to speak,-such men, I mean, that would be understood,-signifies plainly this: that the most imperfect repentance towards God is sufficient, if it be brought before the church; that is,

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a little on the penitent man's part, and a little on the priest's part, is disposition enough to the receiving of a pardon: so that, provided you do all that the church commands you, you may make the bolder to leave out something of God's command, which otherwise you might not do. The priest may do half the work for you. These thus represented, I shall consider apart.

34. I. Confession is an act of repentance highly requisite to its perfection: and in that regard, particularly called upon in Holy Scripture. But concerning this, and all the other great exercises, actions, or general significations, of repentance, every word singly is used indefinitely for the whole duty of repentance. Thus contrition is used by David; “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou shalt not despise;" that is, a penitent heart God will not reject. The same also is the usage of confession by St. John: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness';" that is, if we repent, God hath promised us pardon and his Holy Spirit, that And in purhe will justify us, and that he will sanctify us. suance of this, the church called ecclesiastical repentance by the name of exomologesis,' which though it waa Greek word, yet both Greeks and Latins used it. Exomologesis est humiliandi hominis disciplina;' so Tertullian: Confession is the discipline of humiliation for a man for his sins' and St. Ambrose calls confession' pœnarum compendium,' the sum or abbreviature of penance".' And this word was sometimes changed, and called 'satisfaction:' which although the Latin church, in the later ages, use only for corporal austerities, which by way of appropriation they are pleased also to call penances, yet it was anciently used for the whole course and offices of ecclesiastical repentance; as appears in the council of Paris, of Agatho, and the P third council of Toledo. The result and effect of this observation are, that no more be put upon one part or action of repentance than upon another, to serve ends. For pardon of sins is promised to the penitent under single words; under contrition, under sorrow, under alms, under judging ourselves, under confession; but no one of these alone is sufficient for par

I 1 John, i. 9.

Lib. 1. c. ult.

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don: and when pardon is promised to any one, they must mean the whole duty; for when the whole effect is ascribed to a part, that part stands for the whole, and means more than a part.

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35. II. But concerning confession as it is a special act of repentance, the first thing that is to be said of it, is, that it is due only to God; for he is the person injured; sin is the prevarication of his laws; he is our judge, and he only can pardon, as he only can punish eternally. "Non tibi dico, ut tua peccata, tanquam in pompam, in publicum proferas, neque ut te accuses, sed ut pareas Prophetæ dicenti, Revela Domino viam tuam. Apud Deum ea confitere, apud Judicem confitere peccata tua, orans si non linguâ, saltem memoriâ, et ita roga ut tui misereatur." "I do not enjoin thee to betray thyself to the public ear, bringing thy sins as into a theatre, but obey the Prophet, saying, Reveal thy way unto the Lord. Confess to God, confess to thy judge; praying if not with thy tongue, yet at least with thy mind, and pray so that thou mayest be heard:" so St. Chrysostom.And upon those words of St. Paul, "Let a man examine himself," he saith, "Non revelavit ulcus, non in commune theatrum ac-、 cusationem produxit," &c. "He did not reveal his ulcer, he did not bring his accusation into the common theatre; he made none witness of his sins, but in his conscience, none standing by, God only excepted, who sees all things"."-And again, upon that of the psalm; 'My sin is always against me;'-" If thou art ashamed to speak it to any one, say daily in thy mind: I do not say, that thou confess them to thy fellow-servant who may upbraid thee; say them to God. ̓Αμάρτυρον ἔστω τὸ δικαστήριον, Θεὸς ὁράτω μόνος ἐξομολογού pavov. Let this judicatory be without assessors or witnesses, let God alone see thy confession.' Quod si, verecundiâ retrahente, revelare ea coram hominibus erubescis, illi, quem latere non possunt, confiteri ea jugi supplicatione non desinas, ac dicere, 'Iniquitatem meam agnosco,' &c. qui et absque ullius verecundiæ publicatione curare, et sine improperio peccata donare consuevit ";" so Cassian in the imitation of St. Ambrose: "If bashfulness call thee back, and thou art ashamed to reveal them before men, cease not, by a con

4 Psal. xxxvi. 5.

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In Ep. ad Heb. bom. 31. ⚫ Collat. 20. c. 8. In Luoæ, cap. 22. et serm. 46.

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tinual supplication, to confess them to him from whom they cannot be concealed; who, without any pressing upon our modesty, is wont to cure, and without upbraiding, to forgive us our sins." And the fathers of the council of Cabaillon advanced this duty by divers sentences of Scripture ;"Ita duntaxat ut et Deo, qui remissor est peccatorum, confiteamur peccata nostra, et cum David dicamus, Delictum meum cognitum tibi feci, et injustitiam meam non abscondi: Dixi, confitebor injustitias meas Domino, et tu remisisti impietatem peccati mei," &c. "God is the pardoner of sins, and therefore let us confess to him, and say with David, 'I have made my sin known unto thee, and mine unrighteousness have I not hid; I said, I will confess mine iniquity unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin." But this thing is pressed most earnestly by Laurentius Novarriensis, who because he was a father of the fifth age, his words are of more use, by being a testimony that the ecclesiastical repentance, which we find to be now pressed by some as simply necessary, was not the doctrine of those times. "From that day in which thou goest out of the font, thou becomest to thyself a continual font, and a daily remission. There is no absolute necessity of the priest's right hand; from thenceforward God hath appointed thee to be thy own judge, thy own arbiter, and hath given thee knowledge whereby of thyself thou mayest discern good and evil; and because while thou remainest in the body, thou canst not be free from sin, God hath, after baptism, placed thy remedy within thyself; he hath placed pardon within thy own choice, so that thou art not, in the day of thy necessity, indispensably tied to seek a priest; but thou thyself, as if thou wert a most skilful doctor and master, mayest amend thy error within thee, and wash away thy sin by repentance. The fountain is never dry, the water is within thee; absolution is in thy choice, sanctification is in thy diligence, pardon is within the dew of thine own tears. Do not thou therefore look either for John or Jordan; be thou thy own baptist, viz. in the baptism of repentance. Thou art defiled after thou art washed, thy bowels are defiled, thy soul is polluted; plunge thyself in the waters of repentance, cleanse thyself by abundance of tears, let compunction be plentifully in thy

t Cap. 33. et habetur de Panit, dist. 1. cap. 90.

bowels, and the Lord himself shall baptize thee with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and shall heap the fruits of repentance, and lay them up like wheat; but the chaff of thy sins he shall burn with unquenchable fire "." Many testimonies out of antiquity to the same purpose, are to be seen ready collected by Gratian, under the title De Pœnitentiâ.'

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36. Now if any one shall inquire, to what purpose it is that we should confess our sins to God, who already knows them all, especially since to do so can be no part of mortification to the man's spirit: for if I steal in the presence of my brother, afterward to tell him who saw me, that I did that which he saw me do, is no confusion of face:-that which will be an answer to this, and make it appear necessary to confess to God, will also make it appear, not to be necessary to confess to men, in respect, I say, of any absolute necessity of the thing, or essential obligation of the person.

37. I answer, that confession of sins, as it is simply taken for enumeration of the actions and kinds of sin, can signify nothing as to God, for the reasons now mentioned in the inquiry. But when we are commanded to confess our sins, it is nothing else but another expression or word for the commandment of repentance. For, Confess your sins,' means, acknowledge that you have done amiss, that you were in the wrong way, that you were a miserable person, wandering out of the paths of God, and the methods of heaven and happiness, that you ought not to have done so, that you have sinned against God, and broken his holy laws, and therefore are liable and exposed to all that wrath of God which he will inflict upon you, or which he threatened. Confession of sins is a justification of God, and a sentencing of ourselves.This is not only certain in the nature of the thing itself; but apparent also in the words of David; "Against thee only have I done this evil; ut tu justificeris,' that thou mightest be justified' in thy saying, and clear when thou art judg-' ed:" that is, if I be a sinner, then art thou righteous and just in all the evils thou inflictest.-So that confession of sins is like confession of faith, nothing but a signification of our conviction; it is a publication of our dislike of sin, and a submission to the law of God, and a deprecation of the con" De Pœnit. hom. 1. Biblioth. pp. tom. 2. ́

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* Psal. li. 4.

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