'He of his mercy pardon and forgive thee': Taylor's alternative to the indicative form of absolution

On previous occasions, laudable Practice has noted both Jeremy Taylor's critique of the indicative form of absolution ('I absolve thee') and how this was reflected in 18th century High Church caution regarding this form of absolution in the BCP's Visitation of the Sick, as seen in the comments of Secker and others.

One of Taylor's most famous works, Holy Dying (1651), demonstrates his desire for a form of absolution in private confession after the declaratory and precatory forms:

Then let the sick man be called to rehearse the articles of his faith; or, if he be so weak he cannot, let him (if he have not before done it) be called to say Amen when they are recited, or to give some testimony of his faith and confident assent to them.

After which it is proper (if the person be in capacity) that the minister examine him, and invite him to confession, and all the parts of repentance, according to the foregoing rules; after which he may pray the prayer of absolution.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hath given commission to his church, in his name to pronounce pardon to all that are truly penitent, he of his mercy pardon and forgive thee all thy sins, deliver thee from all evils past, present, and future, preserve thee in the faith and fear of his holy name to thy life's end, and bring thee to his everlasting kingdom, to live with him for ever and ever. Amen.

The significant differences with the 1662 indicative form are immediately obvious.  Above all, 'I absolve thee' is removed. Phrases from the absolutions at Morning and Evening Prayer and from the Holy Communion replace the indicative form with a text combining these declaratory and precatory forms. Also noteworthy is the more temperate and reserved "who hath given commission to his church", contrasting with 1662's "who hath left power to his Church": the judicial overtones of "power" give way to the rather more pastoral emphasis of "commission".

Mindful that Taylor recommended the ministry of private confession in particular circumstances - described in Ductor Dubitantium as "so pious and useful a ministration" - there is surely good cause to suggest that the form of absolution set out in Holy Dying is that which he used in this ministry. Indeed, if not, why include this form in Holy Dying?

What makes this suggestion all the more significant is the Episcopalian and Royalist conviction - stated in the preface to the revision of 1662 - that the laws enjoining the use of the BCP were "never yet repealed", as the bill passed by the House of Commons did not receive the Royal Assent. While it is true that Taylor produced a series of offices for divine service in order to circumvent the Commonwealth's prohibition on the use of the BCP, private use of the form of absolution from the Visitation of the Sick was highly unlikely to ever come to the attention of the authorities. Despite this, however, Taylor included in Holy Dying a revised form of the absolution, when he could just as easily have not provided a text, assuming that Episcopalian clergy knew the BCP form. 

The form of absolution provided by Taylor, therefore, not only coheres with his critique of the indicative form; it also suggests that Taylor used the form he proposed when exercising the ministry of private confession and absolution.

This also provides a sound precedent for those Prayer Book revisions which removed the indicative form. For example, PECUSA's 1789 revision removed the indicative form, retaining the precatory collect which followed it in 1662: "And forasmuch as he putteth his full trust only in thy mercy, impute not unto him his former sins, but strengthen him with thy blessed Spirit". While this falls short of the absolution provided by Taylor, it nevertheless echoes its themes. The Church of Ireland's 1878 revision, mindful that - in the words of its Preface - "The Special Absolution in the Office for the Visitation of the Sick has been the cause of offence to many ... a form unknown to the Church in ancient times", replaced the indicative form with the absolution from the Holy Communion. Considering that Taylor's absolution drew on that from the Holy Communion, the Irish approach has much to commend it.

As the 1878 Irish Preface implied, the ministry of private confession and absolution was certainly not dependent upon a form of absolution that was unknown throughout the first millennium of Christianity. A form of absolution which tended to undermine this ministry, through an exalted view of the role of the ordained minister when pronouncing absolution, is also more likely to commend the usefulness of private confession in the very particular contexts recognised by the Prayer Book. (Note, too, that TEC's BCP 1979 offers a Taylor-like alternative to the indicative form of absolution in its 'Reconciliation of a Penitent'.)

We might also add that BCP 1662 and its variants do not state the form of absolution to be used when those approaching the Lord's Supper "requireth further comfort or counsel", and as there is no rubrical authority for using the form provided by 1662 outside the Visitation of the Sick, if the wise Irish model is not adopted, Taylor's form is certainly worthy of use if the "Minister of God's Word" is called upon to exercise this ministry.