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The Confession at Mattins and Evensong: "whole head sick, whole heart faint"

Continuing the consideration of the general Confession in John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to words which can seem like a spiritually unhelpful exaggeration of the fallen condition: "there is no health in us". This, of course, explains the phrase being omitted from, for example, Rite One Morning and Evening Prayer in TEC's BCP 1979. 

Shepherd, however, points to the phrase as having a twofold purpose. Firstly, it expresses the reality - testified to in scripture, affirmed by our experience - of the sickness of sin infecting all aspects of our humanity. Secondly, the phrase draws us to recognise that God alone saves. In other words, rather than a gloomy declaration of total depravity, the phrase has a robust realism and is a profoundly comforting theological truth.

Having thus confessed our iniquities, we acknowledge, that 'There is no health in us'. In the language of scripture, the diseases of the body represent the distempers of the soul. The humble penitent, having examined himself, and being made sensible of his condition, confesses to the great physician of souls, his total want of health. He finds, that his whole head is sick with evil devices, and his whole heart faint with following evil desires, (Isa.1.5, 6.) and that from the sole of the foot even to the crown of his head, there is no health, nor soundness in him. Wounds and bruises distract his conscience, and putrifying sores, arising from internal corruption, overspread his whole frame. The words likewise imply, that we have no means of help and salvation. We have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, and "no man may deliver his brother." (Ps. XLIX. 7.) In vain do we look for help, "to the hills and mountains," to the high and mighty. (Jer. III. 23.) "Salvation is of the Lord." (Ps. III. 8.) To the Lord our God we therefore turn with weeping and supplications, and in the remaining part of the confession make our petitions to him for help and deliverance.

As a footnote, the excellent Earth & Altar also addressed this phrase in a brilliant post on the general Confession:

We finally hit rock bottom. If this line had been included [in TEC's BCP 1979 Rite One MP & EP] and this confession updated to modern language, perhaps “health” would be rendered as “wholeness” instead. Not only have we failed to do what we should have done and done what we shouldn’t have done, we were never going to do otherwise. Of course we have erred and strayed, followed too much our own devices and desires, offended against God’s laws, and just generally done all the wrong things - it was basically inevitable. I mean, have you looked at us? 

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