Vnum necessarium. Or, The doctrine and practice of repentance.: Describing the necessities and measures of a strict, a holy, and a Christian life. And rescued from popular errors. / By Jer. Taylor D.D.

§. 8.

14. [unspec 15] IN the making Confession of our sins, let us be most careful to doe it so, as may most glorify God, and advance the reputation of his wisdome, his justice and his mercy. For if we consider it, in all Judicatories of the world, and in all the arts and vio∣lences of men which have been used to extort confes∣sions, their purposes have been that justice should be done, that the publick wisdome and authority should not be dishonoured; that publick criminals should not be defended or assisted by publick pity, or the voice of the people sharpned against the publick rods and axes, by supposing they have smit∣ten the innocent. Confession of the crime prevents all these evils, and does well serve all these good ends.

Gnossius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna, Castigátque audítque dolos, subigítque fateri:

so the Heathens did suppose was done in the lower regions. The Judge did examine and hear their crimes and crafts, and even there compell'd them to confess, that the eternal Justice may be publickly acknowledg'd; for all the honour that we can doe to the Divine attributes, is publickly to confess them, and make others so to do; for so God is plea∣sed to receive honour from us. Therefore repen∣tance being a return to God, a ceasing to dishonour him any more, and a restoring him (so far as we can) to the honour we depriv'd him of; it ought to be done with as much humility and sorrow, with as clear glorifications of God, and condemnations of our selves as we can. To which purpose,

15. [unspec 16] He that confesseth his sins, must doe it with all sincerity and simplicity of spirit, not to serve ends, or to make Religion the minister of design; but to destroy our sin, to shame and punish our selves, to ob∣tain pardon, and institution; always telling our sad story just as it was in its acting, excepting where the manner of it and its nature or circumstances require a vail; and then the sin must not be concealed, nor yet so represented as to keep the first immodesty alive in him that acted it, or to become a new tem∣ptation in him that hears it. But this last caution is onely of use in our confessions to the Minister of holy things; for our confession to God as it is to other purposes, so must be in other manners: but I have already given accounts of this. I onely adde, that

16. [unspec 17] All our confessions must be accusations of our selves, and not of others. For if we confess to God, then to accuse another may spoil our own du∣ty,

but it can serve no end; for God already knows all that we can say to lessen, or to aggravate the sin: if we confess to men, then to name another, or by any way to signify or reveal him, is a direct defamation; and unless the naming of the sin do of it self declare the assisting party, it is at no hand to be done, or to be inquired into: But if a man hath committed in∣cest, and there is but one person in the world with whom he could commit it; in this case the confes∣sing his sin, does accuse another; but then such a Guide of souls is to be chosen to whom that person is not known; but if by this or some other expedient the same of others be not secured, it is best to con∣fess that thing to God onely, and so much of the sin as may aggravate it to an equal height with its own kinde in special, may be communicated to him of whom we ask comfort, and counsel and institution. If to confess to a Priest were a Divine Commande∣ment, this caution would have in it some difficulty, and much variety; but since the practice is recom∣mended to us wholly upon the stock of prudence, and great charity; the doing it, ought not in any sense to be uncharitable to others.

17. [unspec 18] He that hath injur'd his neighbour must confess to him; and he that hath sinn'd against the Church, must make amends and confess to the Church, when she declares her self to be offended. For when a fact is done which cannot naturally be undone, the onely duty that can remain is to rescind it morally, and make it not to be any longer or any more. For as our conversation is a continual creation, so is the perpetuating of a sin a continuation of its being and actings, and therefore to cease from it, is the death of the sin for the present and for the future; but to confess it, to hate it, to wish it had never been done, is all the possibility that is left to annihilate the act which naturally can never be undone; and therefore

to all persons that are injur'd, to confess the sin, must needs be a duty, because it is the first part of amends, and sometimes all that is left; but it is that which God and man requires, before they are willing to pardon the offender. For until the erring man con∣fesses, it does not appear who is innocent, and who is guilty, or whether the offended person have any thing to forgive. And this is the meaning of these preceptive words of S. James, * 1.1 Confess your sins one to another; that is, to the Church who are scandali∣zed, and who can forgive and pray for the repenting sinner; and confess to him that is injur'd, that you may do him right, that so you may cease to do wrong, that you may make your way for pardon, and offer amends. This onely, and all of this is the meaning of the precept. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, say the Greek Commentaries upon Acts 19.18. Every faithful man must declare or confess his sins, and must stand in separation that he may be repro∣ved, and that he may promise he will not doe the same again, according to that which is said, Do thou first de∣clare thy sins, that thou mayest be justified; and again, A just man in the beginning of his speech is an accuser of himself. No man is a true peni∣tent, if he refuses or neglects to confess his sins to God in all cases, or to his brother if he have injur'd him, or to the Church if she be offen∣ded, or where she requires it; for wheresoever a man is bound to repent, there he is bound to Confession; which is an acknowledgement of the injury, and the first instance and publica∣tion of repentance. In other cases, Confessi∣on may be of great advantage; in these it is a duty.

18. Let no man think it a shame to confess his sin; or if he does, yet let not that shame deter him from it. There is indeed a shame in confession, be∣cause nakedness is discovered; but there is also a glory in it, because there is a cure too: there is re∣pentance and amendment. This advice is like that which is given to persons giving their lives in a good cause, requiring them not to be afraid; that is, not to suffer such a fear, as to be hindred from dying. For if they suffer a great natural fear, and yet in despite of that fear die constantly and patiently, that fear as it increases their suffering, may also acciden∣tally increase their glory, provided that the fear be not criminal in its cause, nor effective of any un∣worthy comportment. So is the shame in confes∣sion; a great mortification of the man, and highly punitive of the sin; and such that unless it hin∣ders the duty, is not to be directly reproved: but it must be taken care of that it be a shame onely for the sin, which by how much greater it is, by so much the more earnestly the man ought to fly to all the means of remedy and instruments of expia∣tion: and then the greater the shame is which the sinner suffers, the more excellent is the repentance which suffers so much for the extinction of his sin. But at no hand let the shame affright the duty; but let it be remembred, that this confession is but the memory of the shame, which began when the sin was acted, and abode but as a handmaid of the guilt and goes away with it: Confession of sins opens them to man, but draws a vail before them, that God will the less behold them. And it is a mate∣rial consideration, that if a man be impatient of the shame here, when it is revealed but to one man, who is also by all the ties of Religion & by common Honesty oblig'd to conceal them; or if he account it intolerable that a sin publick in the scandal and

the infamy, should be made publick by solemnity to punish and to extinguish it, the man will be no gai∣ner by refusing to confess, when he shall remember that sins unconfessed are most commonly unpar∣don'd; and unpardon'd sins will be made publick before all Angels, and all the wise and good men of the world, when their shame shall have nothing to make it tolerable.

19. [unspec 20] When a penitent confesses his sin, the holy man that ministers to his Repentance, and hears his Confession, must not without great cause lessen the shame of the repenting man; he must directly en∣courage the duty, but not adde confidence to the sinner. For whatsoever directly lessens the shame, lessens also the hatred of sin, and his future caution, and the reward of his repentance; and takes off that which was an excellent defensative against the sin. But with the shame, the Minister of Religion is to doe as he is to doe with the mans sorrow: so long as it is a good instrument of repentance, so long it is to be permitted and assisted, but when it becomes irregular, or dispos'd to evil events, it is to be taken off. And so must the shame of the peni∣tent man; when there is danger, lest the man be swallowed up by too much sorrow and shame, or when it is perceiv'd, that the shame alone is a hin∣derance to the duty. In these cases, if the penitent man can be perswaded directly and by choice, for ends of piety and religion to suffer the shame, then let his spirit be supported by other means; but if he cannot, let there be such a confidence wrought in him, which is deriv'd from the circumstances of the person, or the universal calamity and iniquity of man, or the example of great sinners like himself, that have willingly undergone the yoke of the Lord, or from consideration of the divine mercies, or from the easiness and advantages of the duty, but

let nothing be offer'd to lessen the hatred, or the greatness of the sin; lest a temptation to sin here∣after, be sowed in the furrows of the present Re∣pentance.

20. [unspec 21] He that confesseth his sins to the Minister of Religion, must be sure to express all the great lines of his folly and calamity; that is, all that by which he may make a competent judgement of the state of his soul Now if the man be of a good life, and yet in his tendency to perfection, is willing to pass under the method and discipline of greater sinners, there is no advice to be given to him, but that he doe not curiously tell those lesser irregulari∣ties which vex his peace, rather then discompose his conscience: but what is most remarkable in his in∣firmities, or the whole state, and the greatest marks and instances, and returns of them he ought to sig∣nifie, for else he can serve no prudent end in his confession.

But secondly, [unspec 22] if the man have committed a great sin, it is a high prudence, and an excellent instance of his repentance, that he confess it, declaring the kinde of it, if it be of that nature that the spiritual man may conceal it. But if upon any other account he be bound to reveal every notice of the fact, let him transact that affair wholly between God and his own soul. And this of declaring a single action as it is of great use in the repentance of eve∣ry man, so it puts on some degrees of necessity, if the man be of a sad, amazed and an afflicted consci∣ence. For there are some unfortunate persons who have committed some secret facts of shame and hor∣ror, at the remembrance of which they are amazed, of the pardon of which they have no signe, for the expiation of which they use no instrument, and they walk up and down like distracted persons, to whom reason is useless, and company is unpleasant, and

their sorrow is not holy, but very great, and they know not what to doe, because they wil not ask. I have observed some such; and the onely remedy that was fit to be prescribed to such persons, was to reveal their sin to a spiritual man, and by him to be put into such a state of remedy and comfort as is proper for their condition. It is certain that many persons have perished for want of counsel and com∣fort, which were ready for them if they would have confessed their sin; for he that concealeth his sin, non dirigetur, saith Solomon, he shall not be counselled or directed.

And it is a very great fault amongst a very great part of Christians, [unspec 23] that in their inquiries of Religion, even the best of them, ordinarily ask but these two questions: Is it lawful? Is it necessary? If they finde it lawful, they will do it without scruple or re∣straint; and then they suffer imperfection, or receive the reward of folly. For it may be lawful, and yet not fit to be done. It may be it is not expedient. And he that will doe all that he can doe lawfully, would, if he durst, do something that is not lawful. And as great an error is on the other hand in the other question. He that too strictly inquires of an action whether it be necessary or no, would do well to ask also whether it be good? whether it be of advan∣tage to the interest of his soul? For if a Christian man or woman; that is, a redeemed, blessed, obli∣ged person, a great beneficiary, endeared to God be∣yond all the comprehensions of a mans imagina∣tion, one that is less then the least of all Gods mer∣cies, and yet hath received many great ones and hopes for more, if he should doe nothing but what is necessary, that is, nothing but what he is com∣pell'd to; then he hath the obligations of a son, and the affections of a slave, which is the greatest undecency of the world in the accounts of Chri∣stianity.

If a Christian will doe no more then what is necessary, he will quickly be tempted to omit something of that also. And it is highly considerable that in the matter of souls, Necessity is a divisible word, and that which in disputation is not necessary, may be necessary in practise: it may be but charity to one and duty to another, that is, when it is not a necessary duty, it may be a necessary charity. And therefore it were much the better if every man without further inquiry would in the ac∣counts of his soul consult a spiritual Guide, and whether it be necessary or no, yet let him doe it be∣cause it is good; and even they who will not for Gods sake doe that which is simply the best, yet for their own sakes they will, or ought to doe that which is profitable, and of great advantage. Let men doe that which is best to themselves; for it is all one to God, save onely that he is pleas'd to take such instances of duty and forwardness of obedi∣ence, as the best significations of the best love. And of this nature is Confession of sins to a Mini∣ster of Religion, it is one of the most charitable works in the world to our selves; and in this sense we may use the words of David, If thou doest well unto thy self, men [& God] will speak good of thee, and do good to thee. He that will do every thing that is lawful, and nothing but what is necessary, will be an enemy when he dares, and a friend when he cannot help it.

But if the penitent person hath been an habitual sinner, [unspec 24] in his confessions he is to take care that the Minister of Religion understand the degrees of his wickednesse, the time of his abode in sin, the great∣nesse of his desires, the frequency of his acting them, not told by numbers, but by generall significations of the time, and particular significations of the earnest∣nesse of his choice. For this transaction being wholly

in order to the benefit and conduct of his soule, the good man that ministers must have as perfect moral accounts as he can, but he is not to be reckon'd withal by natural numbers and measures, save only so far as they may declare the violence of defires, & the plea∣sures and choice of the sin. The purpose of this advice is this; that since the transaction of this affaire is for counsel and comfort, in order to pardon, and the perfections of repentance, there should be no scruple in the particular circumstances of; but that it be done heartily and wisely; that is, so as may best serve the ends to which it is designed; and that no man do it in despite of himself, or against his will for the thing it self is not a direct service of God immediatly enjoin'd, but is a service to our selves to enable us to do our duty to God, and to receive a more ready and easie and certain pardon from him. They in∣deed who pretend it as a necessary duty, have by affixing rules and measures to it of their own made that which they call necessary, to be intolerable and impossible. Indeed it is certain that when God hath appointed a duty, he also will describe the measures, or else leave us to the conduct of our own choice and reason in it. But where God hath not described the measures, we are to do that which is most agree∣able to the analogy of the commandement, or the principal duty, in case it be under a command: but if it be not, then we are onely to choose the par∣ticulars so as may best minister to the end which is designed in the whole ministration.

21. [unspec 25] It is a very pious preparation to the holy Sacrament, that we confess our sins to the Minister of Religion: for since it is necessary that a man be examined, and a self-examination was prescrib'd to the Corinthians in the time of their lapsed discipline, that though there were divisions amongst them, and no established Governours, yet from this duty they

were not to be excus'd, and they must in destitution of a publick Minister doe it themselves (but this is in case onely of such necessity) the other is better; that is, it is of better order, and more advantage that this part of Repentance and holy preparation be perform'd under the conduct of a Spiritual Guide. And the reason is pressing. For since it is life or death that is there administred, and the great dispensation of the keyes is in that Ministery, it were very well if he that ministers did know whether the person presented were fit to communicate or no; and if he be not, it is charity to reject him, and charity to assist him that he may be fitted. There are many sad contingencies in the con∣stitution of Ecclesiastical affairs, in which every man that needs this help, and would fain make use of it, cannot; but when he can meet with the bles∣sing, it were well it were more frequently used, and more readily entertain'd. I end these advices, with the words of Origen: * 1.2 Extra veniam est qui pecca∣tum cognovit, nec cognitum confitetur. Confitendum autem semper est, non quòd peccatum supersit ut sem∣per sit confitendum; sed quia peccati veteris & anti∣qui utilis sit indefessa confessio. He shall have no pardon, who knows his sin and confesses it not: But we must confess alwayes, not that the sin alwayes re∣mains, but that of an old sin an unwearied confession is useful and profitable. But this is to be understand of a general accusation, or of a confession to God. For in confessions to men, there is no other useful∣ness of repeating our confessions, excepting where such repetition does aggravate the fault of relapsing and ingratitude, in case the man returns to those sins for which he hop'd that before he did receive a pardon.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Jam. 5.16.
• * 1.2

  In Psa. 36. hom. 1.