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'Not the act of the priest but of God': a 1796 Prayer Book commentary and the ministry of absolution

He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel. Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance ...

The absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer declares the precatory nature of absolution: the bishop or presbyter is praying that God's forgiveness would be known by the penitent. As we continue with readings from John Shepherd's discussion of absolution in A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer, Volume I (1796), we see how he points to patristic sources as confirming the precatory nature of absolution:

the Absolution was not the act of the priest but of God. In the writings of the Fathers and the decrees of councils, to the efficacy of the prayers and intercessions of the priest, is the remission of sin often ascribed.

The Prayer Book form of absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer, and at the Holy Communion, are therefore profoundly and deeply patristic:

"The priests," says Chrysostom, "absolve not only by doctrine and admonition, but also by the assistance of their prayers." And in the judgment of Austin, prayer is one especial mean, whereby the commission given to the priests is exercised in the remission of sins. He exhorts offenders to shew their repentance publicly to the church; "that the church may pray for them," and that they may obtain the benefit of absolution ... "The priests," says Ambrose, "execute the commission given by Christ (John xx.23) as intercessors by their prayers. They beseech and entreat; the Godhead forgives and remits sins."

This understanding also extends far beyond the patristic era, upheld by leading figures among 'the Schoolmen':

And that the power of the keys extends to remission of sins by way of intercession and of prayer only, and not by imparting any immediate absolution, is maintained by Bonaventure, by [the 13th century Franciscan] Alexander of Hales, and by other ancient schoolmen.

What is perhaps most striking about this is that it brings us to see something of the high dignity of this aspect of the presbyter's office, as expressed in the Prayer Book liturgies. The forms of absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Holy Communion, are not somehow lesser or inadequate form, falling far short of the truly priestly 'I absolve thee' form. No, the presbyter pronouncing absolution at Morning and Evening, or the Holy Communion, is exercising "the commission given by Christ", beseeching God's forgiveness upon the penitent. What is more, precisely because this is "not the act of the priest but of God", it further emphasises the dignity of the presbyter's office and ministry: the presbyter is proclaiming God's forgiveness.

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