Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part 2. Concerning Confession - 2. True Confession - The Formal Aspect of Confession
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTER II
TRUE CONFESSION
As we have said, it is extremely important from the evangelical
point of view that confession be regarded as a privilege, not an
obligation. Here, above all, freedom of choice is paramount.
Nobody has the right to sit in judgment on another who honestly
believes that he must take his sins to God and God alone; or to
question the reality of the piety and spiritual integrity of a
human being because he has never confessed his sins to
another.
One thing should, however, be said: if an individual does
express a desire to confess, the spiritual adviser has a duty to
insist that it shall be a true confession. The right to demand that
a confession shall be a confession must not be renounced.
The Formal Aspect of Confession
First among the formal attributes of a true confession is that
it is a voluntary act. An extorted confession is not valid.
Crossexamination may lead a person to acknowledge a sin, but this
is not to confess it. A person can be frightened or shocked into
speaking about his innermost being, or about matters that have
weighed on his mind for a long time. Any procedure designed
to have these effects is to be condemned unequivocally. It may
happen on occasion that a person is helped by a question to
reveal his inner life, but the greatest caution should be exercised
in offering even this stimulus to self-disclosure or it may do
more harm than good.
Another characteristic of a valid confession is its simplicity
and directness. Francis George Belton! has. this in mind when
he says: ‘Confession should not contain any irrelevant details.’
It is clear evidence of a constructive attitude in the person
making a confession if the confession is clear and unambiguous,
naming sins and dealing with them as briefly as possible.
People who indulge in self-pity and wallow in their misery
usually trespass against this rule when confessing.
1 A Manual for Confessors, London, 1936.
80
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
