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"A sentence of absolution ... authoritatively uttered"

In his 1820 Notes on the Book of Common Prayer, Richard Mant - quoting from a range of late 17th and 18th century Anglican sources - emphasises the efficacy of "The Absolution or Remission of sins ... pronounced by the Priest alone" at Mattins and Evensong.

The penitent, having been thus humbled for his sins, doth now deserve and need some comfort. And since our Lord hath endued his ambassadors with the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Cor. v. 18, they can never have a more proper occasion to exercise it than now ... Jesus came to unloose these bonds, Isa. lxi. 1; and actually did so to divers, when he was upon earth, and left this power to his apostles and their successors, when he went to heaven; and this unloosing men from the bond of their sin is that, which we properly call "absolution," and it is a necessary and most comfortable part of the priest's office - Dean Comber A Companion to the Temple: The Morning and Evening Prayer (1676).

The absolution is an act of authority, by virtue of a "power and commandment" of God "to his ministers," as it is in the preface of this Absolution: and as we read in St. John's chap. xx. 22, 23, "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted" ... holy Scripture is clear, as in the passage just cited from St. John. For the power of “remitting sins” was not to end with the apostles; but is a part of the ministry of reconciliation, as necessary now as it was then, and therefore to continue as long as the ministry of reconciliation, that is, to the end of the world, Eph. iv. 12, 13. When therefore the priest absolves, God absolves, if we be truly penitent - Bishop Sparrow A Rationale Upon the Book of Common Prayer (1655).

The Church of England ... maintains, that some power of absolving or remitting sins, derived from the apostles, remains with their successors in the ministry; and accordingly, at the ordination of priests, the words of our Saviour, on which the power is founded, are solemnly repeated to them by the bishop, and the power at the same time conferred. We do not pretend it is in any sort a discretionary power of forgiving sins; for the priest has no discernment of the spirits and hearts of men, as the apostles had; but a power of pronouncing authoritatively, in the name of God, who has committed to the priests the "ministry of reconciliation," his pardon and forgiveness to all true penitents and sincere believers - Peter Waldo A Commentary, Practical and Explanatory, On the Liturgy of the Church of England (1772).

The term used to express the priest's delivery of the Absolution is a very solemn one: for the Latin "pronuncio," whence it is taken, signifies properly to pronounce or give sentence: and therefore the word “pronounced,” here used, must signify that this is a sentence of absolution or remission of sins, to be authoritatively uttered by one who has received commission from God - Wheatley A Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer (1722).

This consistent, classical teaching is the root of the 19th century High Church insistence against the Tractarians and Ritualists that private confession and absolution is not necessary precisely because it administers no greater grace than that bestowed in the Absolution at Mattins and Evensong.  To deny that that is so removes the exercise and grace of priestly absolution from the regular, routine life of the parish.  For the High Church tradition, then, a catholic understanding of the gift of priestly office and the ministry of reconciliation is undermined, not strengthened, within Anglicanism by the Tractarian and Ritualist insistence on a particular grace (only ever experienced by a small minority) bestowed through private absolution, rather than - as in classical Anglican teaching - such grace being the regular experience of the parish in Mattins and Evensong.

Comments

  1. Anonymous Anglican27 November 2019 at 19:37

    "We do not pretend it is in any sort a discretionary power of forgiving sins; for the priest has no discernment of the spirits and hearts of men, as the apostles had"

    There's a teaching I never heard before. With the possible exception of Peter's encounter with Ananais, I can think of no Scripture which suggests the apostles had been endowed with the power to discern the secrets of the heart.

    In any case, the Reformers were certainly right to make corporate confession and absolution the normative discipline for participation in the sacraments, while reserving private confession as an option for those whose consciences were grievously burdened.

    Wheatley's point is a good one. The pronunciation of absolution and the remission of sin is latent with the grace of God to restore and forgive, not because of the priest, whose authority is that of a divinely appointed dispenser of the mysteries of the gospel, but in the words themselves. They are Christ's own words, because he is speaking them to the baptized faithful in the mouth of his chosen ambassador.

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    Replies
    1. laudable Practice29 November 2019 at 17:29

      It is also noticeable how the penitential rite in the BCP Holy Communion is much fuller than that in many contemporary rites, ensuring that we have access to a deeper experience of confession and absolution.

      As you suggest, Wheatley really does capture the significance of the absolution in the Prayer Book tradition. While private confession and absolution is, of course, available in particular circumstances, it should not be presented in such a way as to detract from the efficacy of the general absolution. Your summary of the priestly ministry in general absolution is perfect on this. This, no less than private confession and absolution, is the ministry of reconciliation.

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    2. Anonymous Anglican29 November 2019 at 22:54

      The Reformed practice emphasizes the corporate and liturgical function of reconciliation, over against its sequestration to the confessional booth. The latter normalizes the exercise of keys to the individual penitent, apart from the Body of Christ in the corporate act of liturgical worship. There is a counterpart to this in the practice of Benediction, which devotes the sacrament to extra-sacramental purposes of a highly individualistic character.

      It is also of interest that in the 2nd Book of Homilies, Bp. Jewel does not deny the reality of reconciliation and its place in the Reformed English Church. But he does deny it the title "sacrament", since it lacks a sign ordained by Christ, even though it has the same promises that are annexed to the signs of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

      Delete
    3. laudable Practice6 December 2019 at 20:00

      That is a really good point regarding the similarities between the confessional and Benediction, rendering Reconciliation and Eucharist as individual rather than communal practices.

      Also key is the frequency of the Prayer Book's provision of corporate Confession and Absolution, ensuring that we experience Reconciliation on a very regular basis.

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