Making Confession, Hearing Confession A History of the Cure of Souls

includes index and biblioraphy

Part One: Biblical Beginnings to the Middle Ages 1 1. Setting the Stage: The Need for Confession and Its Biblical Beginnings 3 2. The Early Church and the Rise of Public Confession 12 3. The Rise of Private Confession and Spiritual Direction 18 4. The Practice of Private Confession 24 5. Private Confession in the Monastery and in the Church 36 6. Doing Penance: Its Use and Abuse 50 7. The Rise of Spiritual Direction among the Laity and the Role of Women in Confession 59 Part Two: Confession, the Protestant Reformation, and the Council of Trent 101 8. Martin Luther and Confession 103 9. The Priesthood of All Believers and Mutual Confession: Pietism and Methodism 10. Discipline and Corporate Confession in the Reformed Tradition: Bucer, Zwingli, Calvin 139 11. The Church of England 156 12. Confession and Spiritual Direction in the Roman Catholic Church after Trent 13. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits 175 Part Three: Contemporary Practices of Confession 191 14. Biblical Antecedents, Historical Trajectories, and Contemporary Expressions 15. The Decline of Confession in the Church 230 16. A Contemporary Theology of Confession: Rahner, Bonhoeffer, Peterson, von Speyr Part Four: Why Confession Matters: Practical Considerations 291 17. The Choice of a Confessor 295 18. Serving as (a Good) Confessor to Others 301 19. What to Confess 303 20. The Nature of Penance 309 21. A Litany of Private Confession 314 22. Catechetical Considerations 317