Confession (Hastings' Dictionary)

Both the Heb. and the Gr. words are capable of the same double application as the English. To ' confess ' is to acknowledge by either word or deed the existence and authority of a divine power, or the sins .-ind ofl'ences of which one has been ^ilty. The biblical use of the verb and ita derivatives is * This IB the meaninf? of the Heb. ("ur'p) alflo, which Delitisch in his 4th e<l.

successfully defends against the substitution ol trip ' holy thing,' mode by Seclter, rerived by Gratz, and accepted by Cheyne. CONFESSION CONFIRMATION 465 about equally divided between these two — {\) pro- /esi-ion or acknowledgment of God as the true God or of Jeau) as the Christ, (2) confession or open acknowledgment of sin. (For the distinction of. further Cic. {>ru Sesliu, 51, 109.) 1.

Confession of God as their God, acknowledg- ment of iliui as tlie true God, was required of the menibera of the Chosen Family before it became a nation. It was rendered by Abraliam when he 'called upon the name of the Lord' (Gn 13* etc. ), and by him and his descendants when they claimed the covenant relationship through the rite of circi'jucision. In process of time this outward confession tended to become conventional, and only external.

The consciousness of common nationality superseded that of personal relation to God. In the subsequent reaction of individualism, men of special piety, or in special circumstances, felt constrained to make specilic confession of their personal adherence to J" (cf. I's 63', Is 44"). The passage in Isaiah shows that this confession was accompanied bv an open act of self-dedication, if not, as some think, by the cutting of some per- manent mark on the head or forehead.

At other times, after a period of national apostasy, the general repentance and return was marked by a solemn renewal of the national confession (cf. 1 K 8», 2 Ch 6^). Such confession is the natural result of deep con- viction (cf. Jn 4", Mt 12), and when Jesus had brought His disciples to the point of recognizing Him as the Christ, He drew from one of them that acknowledgment which is specilically known as St. Peter's Confession (Mt 16"').

He announced that it was on the rock of such conviction and confession that His Church should be built ; and He made tliis open acknowledgment of Himself, His dignity and authority, a sine gud non of true discipleship (Lk IS'). In tlie Apostolic Clmrcb this confession vras insisted upon as a sign of true conversion and a condition of baptism.

Its contents were at first very general, varying with the circumstances of tlie conversion and the experience of the convert, but with a growing tendency to include certain con- stant elements. From the beginning it must have included the recognition of Jesus as 'the Lord' (cf. Ito 10*, 1 Co 12'), and an expression of con- fidence and hope in Him (cf. He 3" 10-^).

Such general acknowledgment of allegiance to Christ is referred to in 1 Ti 6'=, He 3' ; but even He 4'*, ' let us hold fast our confession' (AV 'profession') does not involve a formulated confession. An acknow- ledgmentof theUesurrection doubtless founda place both early and often (Ko 10'), and prejiared the way for a confession including belief of the historical facts of Christianity.

Of theological inference there is an early trace in the interpolated confession of the Ethiopian (Ac 8"), but the early appearance of false teaching and imperfect views of Christ accentuated the necessity of more dogmatic ex- pression. Signs of this are found in the Epistles of St. John (1 Jn 4", cf. 2'^ 4^ », 2 Jn '). Here we have the necessary antithesis to gnostic docetism ; the deepened consciou.

sness of the Church corre- sponded to a fuller confession, involving both the Fatherhood of (lod and the true Sonship of Jesus. 2. Hoth in OT and NT, confession of sin before God is recognized as a condition of forgiveness, being the guarantee of genuine penitence and purpose of amendment. Thus Joshua exhorted Achan to make confession unto the Lord (Jos 7'"); the Psalmist 'acknowledged his sin' (Ps 32'; cf. 51*); Pr 28" lays it down as a general principle that ' whoso confca.

seth and forsakcth liia siii shall have mercy,' and Jesus exhibits the prodigal son as moved tjy a natural impulse to confess to his lather. Confes.sion, therefore, as at once an VOL. I.— so instinct of the heart and a principle of God's king- dom, was consistently recognized and inculcated by tlie Mosaic ritual.

It was required of the indi- vidual whenever he had committed a trespass (Lv S'" 26*''), and its necessity in regard to both individual and national sins was exhibited in the ceremony of the Scapegoat, over whose head tlie high-priest was to confess all the iniquities of the whole people (Lv 16-'). Confession of sin became the natural and regular accompaniment of prayer (cf. Ezr 10').

At the same time representative men felt themselves to be partakers in national sins of unbelief and disobedience, and bound to confess these as well as their own (Dn g-'"). The whole prayer in Dn 9 shows the nature and contents of sue 11 a confession.

The connexion between repentance and con- fession was so ingrained in the Jewish conscience that when, under the Baptist's preaching, many were led to repent, open confession accompanied their baptism (Mk 1°), and doubtless the Apostolic baptism was prefaced by a confession in tins sense as well as the other. Such a confession was under- stood to be made to God, but commonly it would be made in the hearing of men (cf. Ac 17*).

It is plain also that Christ taught the necessity of acknowledging, and obtaining forgiveness for, oU'ences committed against other men (Mt 5-, Lk 17). As to the mode of confession or the person to receive it, no instruction is given. It is clear, however, from the language of St. John (1 Jn 1') and St. James that it was specific, definite, and mutual.

In Ja 5" the reading of WH (rds atiapTtat for TK ri, irapairTuiiaTa) puts it beyond doubt that reference is made to sins against God ; but the interpretation (Chrysostom and others) which infers that the confession was to be made to the Presbyters, involves an inadmissible tautology. 'AXXtJXois can only refer to the relation of individual believers to one another, so that Cajetan from the Roman standpoint riglitly admits 'ncc hie est sermo de confessione sacramentali.' C. A. Scott.