A Potion for This Holy Time of Lent, Part 3
¶ Of Confession.
PHILEMON.
AFter that ye hauehave cōceiued in your hertes such true & perfecte Contricion, as I hauehave hytherto paynted, than dothe it follow in ryght & due order, which is Confessiō. It is requisyte yt a chrystē man be not only sory for his offē ces cōmytted agaynst God, but also that he knoweledgeth and cōfessethe hys synne. For the scrypture sayth, Math … Ma…e. …. Luke. ….that they whyche came to be baptysed of Iohn, confessed theyr synnes. Lykewyse read we in the Actes of y• Actum. xix.Apostles. But in asmuch as ye scripture teacheth dyners kyndes of con fessiō, therfore wyll I here somwhat towche them all.
Fyrste the chefe & moost pryncypall The cōfes… of faithConfession, is the Confession of our fayth, wherin we confesse vnfay nedly, whatsoeuer ye holy scriptures teach of God. This cōfession is so necessary, that wythout it no man can be saued. No manacynge wordes, no imprysonmēt, no chenes, no fetters, no sweard, no faggot, no fyre ought to plucke vsus from this Confession. No tyranny ought so to be feared, ye God & hys trueth shoulde not be con fessed. For eueryevery one, sayth Chryst, ye Math. x. Mat. viii. Luke. xii.shall confesse me before mē, I shall also cōfesse him before my father which is in heauen. But he that shall deny me before men, I shall deny hym also before my father, whyche is in heauen. Of this Confession S. Paule sayth, wt the herte it is beleued vntounto Roma. …righteousnes, but wt the mouth cō fessiō is made to saluacion. Also S. i. Ioan. …Iohn. Hereby shall ye knowe the spy ryte of God. For eueryevery spyryte that confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. And eueryevery spy ryte which cōfesseth not that Iesus Christe is come in the flesshe, is not of god. And this is that spirite of An techrist, of whome ye hauehave herd, how that he should come, & nowe alredy is he in the worlde. But in asmuche as thys confession is not that parte of Penaunce, wherof we do nowe entreate, I wyll omit it at this presēt.
Another kynde of Confession is, The Confession of synnes vn to God.whiche pertayneth more nearely to our matter, for to confesse our synne vntounto God, whome we hauehave offēded. wythout thys Confessyon oure Penāce auayleth but lytle, as we maye perceyue by dyuers places of ye scripture. For though al thynges are opē to the eyes of God, & nothyng can be Heb. iiii.hyd from hym, so that he knoweth al chynges, yet wyll he that we hūblye confesse & knowledge our synnes vn to him, that by thys menes we may make hym the more mercyfull vntounto vsus. We read that a certayne blynde Luke. xviiiman cryed vntounto Christ, sayenge: Iesu the sonne of Dauid hauehave mercye vponupon me, Christ dyd knowe full well wherfore he called on hym, yet not wt standynge he sayde, what wylte yu that I do vntounto the? LORDE sayde he, that I may receyue my sight. Christ demaunded thys thynge of hym, by cause he would hauehave hym cōfesse hys infirmite & blyndnes. So is it conueniēt for vsus, yf we wyl receyue our syght, to confesse our blyndenes.
S. Iohn say the, Yf we confesse oure …. Ioan. i.synnes, God is faythful & righteous to forgyue vsus our synnes, & to make vsus cleane from all our vnryghteousnes. If we saye, we hauehave not synned, we make hym a lyer, & his worde is not in vsus. Dauid also saythe, I hauehave Psal. xxx…made my trespasse knowē vntounto the, & myne vnrighteousnes hauehave I not hydden. I sayde, I wyll confesse my vnryghteousnes to the LORDE, and thou hast forgyuen the vngodlynes of my synne. This confession follow eth a true repētant & cōtryte herte. The Prophet Daniel confesseth his Daniel. ix,synne on thys manner, we hauehave synned, we hauehave done vnryghteousnes, we hauehave wrought wickedly, we hauehave gone awaye & declined from thy cō maundementes & iudgementes. Also Eldras, I and the house of my father ii. Esd. i.hauehave synned, we were seduced wt vanite, & hauehave not kepte thy commaundementes. Lykewyse Dauid, ii. Reg. xii.whan the Prophet Nathan at yt com manndement of God, rebuked hym for his adultery & manslaughter, cō fessed his synne, & sayde, I hauehave synned vntounto ye LORDE. Agayne, O God. I hauehave synned to the alone, & euel be fore the hauehave I done. The Publican Luke. xviiialso made his confession on this mā ner, O God be thou mercyfull to me a synner. This kynde of Confession ought eueryevery christen man dayly and hourly to make vntounto God, so ofte as he is broughte vntounto the knoweledge of his synne.
Another kynde of Cōfession is to The confession of synnes to our neygh bour. Iacob. v.knowledge & confesse oure synnes to them, whome we hauehave offended. Of this speaketh S. Iames, sayeng, cō fesse your synnes one to another. Al so Christ, yf thou shalt offer thy gyft Math. v.at the Altare, & there doste remēber, that thy brother hauehave any thyng agaynst the, leaue thy gyfte there before the Altare, & go thy waye, and be fyrste reconcyled to thy brother, & than come on thy waye, & offer thy gyfte. This Confession, wherby we are reconcyled one to another, & con ioyned in mutuall amite, is so necessary, that wythout it, the other pro fyt & auayle lytle before God.
There is another cōfessiō, which is publique & open, & this is, whan The publ… que confes sion.we knowledge & cōfesse our synnes openly before the congregacion, as the manner was in the prymatyue chyrch. Of this confession speaketh Christe: If thy brother trespasse agaynst Mat. xviii,the, go & tell hym his faulte betwene the & hym alone. If he hea reth the, thou haste wonne thy brother. But if he heareth the not, thā take yet one or two with the, yt in the mouth of two or thre wytnesses eueryevery matter maye be establysshed. If he heareth not thā, tell it to the congregaciō. If he heareth not the congregacion, holde hym as an He then and Publican.
All these kyndes of cōfession are abundantly fortressed & approued by the holy scriptures.
THEO.
But we heare nothyng all this whyle of auriculare cōfession, which is chefely vsed amonge vsus at this tyme.
EVSE.
Of this we would be glad to heare.
CHRI.
I praye you expresse your mynde cōcernyng this kynde Of Ariculare confes sion.of Cōfession also. For some approue it, some agē cōdēne it.
PHI.
Why au riculare Cōfessiō shuld be cōdēned & exiled from ye boūdes of christianite I se no cause, but that it shoulde be approued, retayned, maynteyned & vsed, I fynd causes many, yea and those ryght vrgent and necessary.
CHRI.
Muche absurditie & wickednes hath both bene conspired, learned, practised, & done in this auriculare Confessiō, as histories make mencion, neyther want we expery ence of this thinge.
PHIL.
I can not denye these thynges to be true.
There is no thynge so good and of so great excellencye, but it maye be abused. The abuse therof is to be Note.taken awaye, and not the thyng it selfe. That Cōfessiō hath be… great lye abused, it can not be denyed, as many other thynges in the chyrche hauehave ben also, yet ought it not ther fore to be reiected & cast awaye, but rather restored to the olde purite & to the vse, for ye which it was fyrste instituted. And so shall it not only not hurte, but also profytte verye hyghly, & brynge much vtilite and profyt to ye christen congregacion.
THEO.
This thyng shal neuer come to passe, excepte they that sytte on confession be men of grauite, sagaci te, wisdome, discrecion, sobriete, integrite, & able to teach, istruct and informe with all godly doctryne.
EVSE.
Me thyncke it an extreme poynte of madnes for a man, y… his body be diseased, to hunte, inquire and seake aboute for a sober, wyse, mark this Simili tude.prudent & cunnynge Phisicion, yt may cure & heale it, & to be so necly gente in those thynges yt pertayne to his soule. For many care not to what preste they go vntounto, be he ler ned or vnlearned, wyse or folish, mo dest or lyght, of good conuersacion or of noughty lyuyng, so that to sa tisfy the custome they come to one, & receyue theyr absolucion, and go awaye neuer the better instructed nor with the more penitēt hertes.
CHRI.
This is a great abusion.
PHIL.
Ye say trueth. Therfore were What mā …er of men they ought to ve, that shulde be Curates.it conuenient, ye they, which should be appoynted to be Curates & ouer sears of the Christen people, into whose handes the whose lyfe & care of Christes flocke is cōmitted, shuld be of such sorte, as S. Paule descri …. Tim. iii. Titus. i.beth in his Epistles to Timothe & Titus, that is to saye, irreprehensi ble, fautles, sober, discrete, ryghteous, holy, temperate, apte to teach, & suche one as cleueth vntounto y• true worde of doctryne, that he maye be able to exorte with wholesome lear nynge, and to improue them that speake agaynste it. For this cause Leui. xxiidyd God cōmaunde in the olde Te stamēt that they should not be chosen to be preestes for to minister to him, which had ony blemysh on thē whyther they were, blynd, lame, wt an euell fauoured nose, wt any misshapen member, or yt hauehave a brokē fote or hande, croke backed, or any blemish in theyr eies. &c. What mēt God by this perfeccion of the prestes Note wel,mēbers, but only to shew that he whiche should serue him, & gyue attendance on his flocke, should be whole & sounde in all kynde of vertu & godlynes, not corrupte nor de formed wt ony iniquite, & vnclenes A preste ought to hauehave no blemysh on him, that is to saye, he ought to be pure both in his doctryne & conuersacion.
CHRI.
God graunt vsus once such Curates, that maye rule amonge vsus with suche integrite of lyfe & synceritie of doctryne, as is required of them in the holy scriptures.
EVSE.
If this might be brought to passe, than should the gospel of Christ florysshe, and the flocke of …t. xx.Christe, whome he purchased wyth his moost precious bloud, be better looked vponupon & fedde, than they are nowe a dayes.
PHIL.
Trueth it is. But I praye you marke, what I shall nowe saye vntounto you, concernyng this Auriculare Confession.
That Auriculare Cōfession is a thyng of much weight, & graue im portaunce it appeareth well, in as much as it bringeth to men diuers ample cōmodities & large profytes
THEO.
I pray you, what are those.
PHI.
Fyrst igraffeth i vsus a certayne The cōmo dities that ensewe of auriculare Confessiōhūilite, submissiō & lowlines of mid & depresseth al arrogācy and pride, whyle we humbly are contented to cōfesse to our ghostly fathers suche offences, as wherewith we hauehave of fended God, Secondly it incuteth and beteth into our hertes a shame fastnes, wherby we are so ashamed of our fautes heretofore commytted, that we vtterly abhorre them, & are wholly inflamed with y• louelove of vertue. Thyrdly, it bryngeth vsus to ye knowledge of our selues, while we heare those thinges of the prest, that are necessary to be knowen of eueryevery christen mā. Fourthly in cō fessiō we do not only lerne to know howe haynous & detestable a thīge synne is before God, but also meanes & wayes to eschewe it. Howe many, thynke you, are ther, which yf this auriculare confession were taken awaye, would not care how they lyued, neyther woulde they re garde onye parte of Christes doctrine, but liue like bruite beastes wt out ony feare of God at all, or study of innocencye, wallowynge and tomblynge them selues dayelye in synne, not once hauynge a respecte vntounto the correccion of theyr olde & wicked manners. Fyftely yf we be in doubte of ony thinge, in confessi on we maye learne the assuraunce & certente of it. Syxtely in confession the ignorant is brought vntounto knowledge▪ the blynde vntounto syght, the desperate vntounto saluacion, the presumptuous vntounto humilite, the troubled vntounto qu…ernes, the sorow full vntounto ioye, the sicke vntounto helth, the dead to life. What nede I make many wordes? Confessiō bringethe high trāqui…tte to ye troubled cōscience of a christē mā, whyle ye moost confortable wordes of Absolucion are rehersed vntounto him by the prest.
EVSE.
I praye you, what is that ab solucion.
PHIL.
Uerely a free deliue What ab Coluciō is.rauuce from all youre synnes thorow Christes bloud. How saye you is here any thynge to be condēned in Auriculare Confession.
CHRI.
No verely, alll thinges yt you hauehave rehearsed, are rather worthy hygh prayse & commendacion.
PHIL.
It is atributed & giuen vsus euen of na ture to cōmunicate vntounto other the secretes of our hertes concerninge mūdane & woridly thīges, whither they be of ioye or sadnesse, and tyll we hauehave so done, we are neuer ī rest
EVSE.
You saye trueth.
PHIL.
Whye shoulde we than not be redye to do so likewyse in spirituall affayres, & thinges pertaynynge vntounto the saluacion of our soules, excepte per ad uēture we be enemies of our owne helth. What is sweter & more pleasaunt, saythe Cicero, than to hauehave Libro de ….such one, with whome thou darest be bold so to speake al thīges, as wt thy selfe? A man hauyng a learned wyse, descrete, silent, close, & faythe full ghostly father, which louethe ye penitent, no lesse than a natural fa ther doth his childe, why should he feare to declare vntounto him the secretes of hts herte, which is redy to cō forte, to instructe, to counsayle, to tech, and to do all thinges yt should make vntounto his cōsolacion & helth. The Prophet Malachy sayth, the Mala. ii.lyppes of a preste kepe knoweledge, and men shall seake the lawe at his mouthe. For he is a messanger of ye LORDE of hoostes. If this ought to be done at all tymes, whan hauehave we a more cōueniēt & fit tyme to do it, than in the tyme of Confession, whan we maye freely talke to our spirituall fathers, what soeuer ple seth vsus?
EVSE.
It is trueth that ye saye. But what if such a ghostly fa ther doth not chastse, as ye hauehave dis cribed hertofore.
PHIL.
Uerely ye ought alwaye to resorte to the best learned mē, & to seke for suche ghost ly fathers, as both wyll and can in structe and teache you the lawe of God. But let it so be, that your Cu rate be not of ye gretest learned mē, yet is he to muche simple, yf he can bringe oute of his treasurehouse thinges neyther newe nor olde, seinge that the holy scriptures are so Mat. xiii.plenteously sette forth in oure Englysh tonge, that euen ye very ydiot maye nowe become learned in the kyngdom of God. At the leest, this commoditie shall ye enioye at hys hande, euen the benefyte of Absolucion. Therfore to make fewe wor An exho… tacion to go to Confession.des concernynge this matter, disdayne ye not to go to confession at the tymes appoynted accordynge to the ordinaunce of ye holy chyrch, and the Acte of our moost excellent kinge, yea and that with all hūble & reuerence. Declare the diseases of your soules vnfaynedly, that ye maye be healed with ye moost swete and confortable salue of Absoluciō Followe the godly & wholesome ad monicions of youre ghostly father Go vntounto him wyth such an hatred & detestacion of synne, that ye may returne from hym wyth hertes all togither enflamed with the perfyt louelove of vertu, innocēcy, & true godlynes, beyng full fixed neuer to returne …. Pet. iivntounto youre olde vomyte and wallowynge in the myre. And whā he shal rehearse vntounto you the moost Earneste faith must be gyuen to y• word… o… absolu tion.swete & confortable wordes of Absolucion, gyue earnest faythe vntounto them, beynge vndoutedly perswaded, that your synnes at yt tyme be assuredly forgyuen you, as though God him selfe had spoken them, accordynge to this sayenge of Christ: He that heareth you, heareth me. Mat. x. …uk x. Ioan. xxAgayne, Whose sinnes ye forgyue, are forgiuen them.
This hauehave I spoken concerning Auriculare confession.
THEO.
Uery godly forsothe.
EVSE.
What remayneth nowe.
CHRI,
Ye promised con sequently to entreate of Satisfaccion or amendement of lyfe.
PHIL.
Ye saye trueth. Of that mat ter therfore wyll I now intreate.