To be taught Nov 30.
From Michael Ruse:
Is the confession of a Christian’s sins an ancient Church practice? It was connected to baptism and it was connected to bringing individual Christians back into communion with the Church itself. It was exactly what Jesus did with many of his miracles on earth, and so too it can be said forgiveness in confession and repentance that follows is a miracle. Confession was a matter of personal salvation and unity with the entire Orthodox Church and everyone in the local church community.
Metanoia is the Greek New Testament word for repentance. It means more concretely a turning of one’s mind. Repentance is a mind-changer. Metropolitan Hilarion brings together two concepts that are very closely related, but not always accepted in certain individuals or religious Christians. That repentance and the literal confession of one’s sins to Christ before a priest in the Church as a witness go together. The idea that we have to do something physical, confession, parallels the topics covered on baptism and the use of chrismation oil. Our whole body and soul are involved in salvation. Most Christians don’t take issue with “repentance,” in itself as an idea but many do have various beliefs about practicing the confession of sins.
There are not a few ancient Christian sources that illuminate for us how confession was done and what was expected come from Scripture itself, the Didache, the Psalms, Church Fathers like St. Cyril of Alexandria, and the Apostolic Constitutions.
Metropolitan Hilarion brings up an important point that seems to go counterclockwise from our common American, Protestant culture. He says that the beginning of our repentance happens when we confess our sins (expectedly more than once in a lifetime), and with those confessions Jesus Christ continues to purify and bring us to new life.
Other more practical questions are addressed as well. For instance, how often and how much detail should I include in a confession? How should I organize my confession? One way of organizing one’s confession mentioned in the chapter is to follow the Ten Commandments, which came from God. The order of confession is a rich section of the chapter because it includes the prayers that go along with our confession and help open our heart to the powerful cures that Jesus Christ has given to his Apostles, bishops, and priests in His Church for our healing. Just as Jesus healed the body of many people during his ministry, so too he has given this power of forgiveness to us who confess them before Christ Himself.