The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-11-30 00:00:00

ABSOLUTION.

To the EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SIR,—In the excellent and telling speech delivered by
the Rev. W. Pollock, in the Amphitheatre, on Tuesday
last, he overlooked one very important point, to which,
trust, you will allow me to advert through the medium of
your widely-circulated journal, not only for the benefit of
Churchmen, but of all classes of true Protestants.
In the form of Absolution for the Visitation of the Sick
we read, that Jesus Christ " left power to His Church to
absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him."
In reference to this disputed point, 1 may be allowed to
say, that nothing is more certain to the child of God than
that there is a repentance which need not be repented of—
a repentance unto life !—a supernaturally communicated
gift of God ; known to a certainty to every subject of
divine grace, and producing within them the fruits of good
living. This, and this alone, is true repentance.
There is also described in Holy Writ a faith, which is
of the operation of the Spirit. He that receiveth it bath
the witness in himself—it is a saving faith—it works by
love, and purifies the heart. It is the " substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It is
meat to the hungry soul, and drink to the thirsty soul.
Whosoever is a partaker of it shall never either hunger or
thirst, but shall have eternal life. It communicates to the
soul of the true believer effectual grace, and, like its
twin sister, true repentance, it is supernatural in its
effects, imparting a sensible and unmistakeable knowledge
of its saving benefits to the soul of every recipient. This'
and nothing short of this, is true faith. From these
plain Scriptural truths it is quite clear that all, who truly
repent and believe, have a most sensible assurance of par-
don, absolution, and peace from God, our Father, mani-
fested to their souls, and that through Jesus Christ alone,
who ascended on high to give repentance andforgiveness of
sins. There is, therefore, not the slightest doubt from the
Absolution in the Visitation of the Sick, which distinctly
states that the minister shall absolve all such, and only
such, as truly repent and believe, that he ought fully to
satisfy himself that the sick person has obtained from

God pardon and peace, and is justified from all things
before he ventures to use the words of absolution.

The absolution of the minister is a reassurance of
God's favour by the ministration of his holy word, to
the sick person, who may be passing under some dark
cloud, or suffering through some grievous temptation.
Yours, &c., G. P.
Edge-hill, Nov. 27, 1552.

ABSOLUTION IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

To the EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SlR,—There are three forms of Absolution in the
Church of England.
The first—declarative, as in the Morning and Evening
Service.

The second—precatory, or supplicatory, as in the
Communion Service.

The third—in part supplicatory and in part absolute,
as in the Visitation of the Sick.

It runs thus :—" Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who bath left
power to His Church to absolve all sinners, who truly repent
and believe in Him, of His great mercy, forgive thee thine
offences : and, by His authority committed to me, 1 ab-
solve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
With this last only are we at present concerned.
So far as it is supplicatory, as in the first clause, no
objection can be raised against it.

With respect to the Absolute Form in the last clause,
it may be viewed as referring either to ecclesiastical cen-
sures, or to what may more strictly be considered as sins

against God

If to the former, the Absolute Form is perfectly admis-
sible, as the minister is the representative of the congre-
gation of the Faithful, 'and to him it rightly belongs, in
their name, to execute the discipline of the Church.

This is the view entertained by Wheatly, in his treatise
on the Book of Common Prayer. who also states that the
Collect following, wherein prayer is made to God for
forgiveness of sin, even after the Form of Absolution has
been used, was one of the formularies for Clinical Abso-
solution in the early Church, i.e., wherein the penitent
was restored to the peace of the Church.
But if it—the Absolute Form—refer to sins against
God, it must be taken in the declarative sense, although
expressed absolutely.

For it is only to be used in a very extreD..,-
limitation fatal to the idea that it is absolute, for, if so,

me case

it would be necessary to every case

It is not to be used with those in health, but only
with those who are sick ; nor yet with all the sick, but
only with those whose conscience is troubled with some
weighty matter ; nor even then, unless the sick person
earnestly and heartily desire it.

In this case, the Church allows Absolution to be pro-
nounced i❑ the absolute, rather than the declarative,
form, as meeting the peculiar state of mind of the indi-
vidual—deficient in the active exercise of faith,--and as
not being without Scriptural precedent for this form of
expression. _ _ .

Thus, in Lev. xiv. 11, the priest is said to make the
leper clean; whereas, we know from the preceding verses,
3-7, that tho leper was cleansed already—that all the
priest could do was to put him through a ceremonial puri-
fication, and then pronounce him clean.
So in Isaiah vi. 10, the prophet is directed to make the against its adversaries. -85 'PP 'if
its, el ,;
heart of the people fat, and their eyes shut, &c., which From the emancipation of the holici 'socs6,4i
whilst the Church allows the absolute form in the ex- etimloc.stei°g7. ei ant
yet we know he could only declare should be done. But, pass to that of the mind, and to
thstreie Tale tar.'',oofD!ito
thetot higher
reli biloeussahasetty. ifotonald bictlittilloo.
treme case aforesaid, as most suited to minister comfort the leaves of their country's annals ti!eia potiefellfeoaelli
and consolation to the spiritual condition of one in the to find that the possession of unlittyte, oodptiootj '''sol
led to the exercise of spiritual tyrel by.il itio#o4,
melancholy state referred to, she, at the same time, con- art in its turn abused its
.triieToP...l whiGhooe. ofr„
demns the practice of auricular confession, as heretofore vanquished those very cruelties tr ; the oar core
practised in the Romish Church. only just escaped. But, thank 61°,1,1;araccu igh„tsfellol
First, virtually, by the whole tenor of her dogmatic religious persecution no longer
,03,i_osolf I'd r ol V.
teaching in the Articles, particularly the eleventh, wherein book
o! n Duke'fflili,le
iteectoltilo.
we are taught that "we are justified by faith alone in and all ;he articles of the Council of biBf friV,
, .„ hest , o ~'S eas
Christ." Protestants as he could persuade Le ,s e pop ,-.,03a,00)
yet enjoy perfect freedom. Noli %IP,. Virl''' Of,/
Secondly, by reforming her Rubrics. self might preach if lie pleased, in '" ;0311Citori0 104 ,
In the first prayer-book of Edward VI., the Rubric on his own claims' to universal seErm'ighl(tbeh 6`,tis,
ordered that the " form of absolution for the sick should other inconvenience than that whaitie'tio-o,.bPoriestsfriletyri
be used in all private confessions." pressure of a very crowded conereet of L, a itl,forlf os
Now, in the second book of Edward VI., this Rubric is wmiiAihttigao oorti to comNp.are the c°l7 this! raf liVe!,ti .
wholly omitted, together with all mention of private con- respects,'. to concert:Olt:ooll44
had been, so different was it at the P prig' wee i.,9 1,
fession ; and this omission was confirmed at the last the j he ito. or
the
strong faith to believe that.,,neart t, t ,
.api or
tit
,Q,asuNieniicttoerviesii
review. the Lord High Chancellor of -I:',e.onit 'tic/4,4°0;0ft
Thirdly, by the express condemnation thereof in her hundred years ago, could be $e "ivestn, r.- p', tir•
Book of Homilies. The second part of the Homily on Re. London alderman as to strip tbeirse
,_-,., go
_ciao'
el y
require forcible restraint from their top of gi
eff
of;
pentance has the following on this subject :
to —event- their climbing to the foe • cle •o pe
" And whereas the adversaries go about to wrest this drink King' James's-.
health. the " Or 01/ Ile
to au 113 sll
place (Jas. v. 16) for to maintain their Auricular Confes- , After some further illustratil to he sod 41,,ft
sion withal ; they are greatly deceived themselves, and Ewbank concluded by deciarieig t mov!:;_cocour.roliovo,
do shamefully deceive others ; for, if this text ought to be cred. that all the world disturbswtaesoo,l_,tisc-t :so "
the right direction, in spt !,,,`. time `,1,010) oil
understood of Auricular Confession, then the priests are looked for ward hopeful} to in': tioity
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as much bound to confess themselves to the lay-people as would he Christiltiit.Y, ant3fh.'l3 =••‘..1.---- , 0.44. g
reeimeriemwees.""'''' t0r1ie105.10.4
the lay-people are bound to confess themselves to them." 1 _,
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" And when that they du allege this saying of our I.IIE LAW Or crop•
the law of evidence has justeb:t ?tilt owr;
Saviour Jesus Christ unto the leper to prove Auricular
Confession to stand on God's word, Go thy way and
shay thyself unto the priest,' do they not see that the leper betweenses, as
husbandwe'as all parties
wife durin4 n.l; nrios,,e
anti at al!.
waives arc toilhe exlalmianretide,s
tox
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was cleansed from 1

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—I mean our sins mu,,,t be forgiven us—afore that
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,nd 300.1iorge poer.