Sacrament of Confession

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term for the sacrament of confession, gohae seongsa (告解聖事), means "the sacrament in which sins are declared and loosed." It is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and is also called the sacrament of reconciliation or the sacrament of penance. The penitent first examines his or her conscience, then expresses contrition, or sorrow for sin, and resolves not to sin again. The penitent then confesses his or her sins to a priest and performs the penance (acts of satisfaction for sin) assigned by the priest. The priest pronounces absolution, and the Catholic Church holds that God's forgiveness is granted through this pronouncement.

Biblical and Historical Background

The Catholic Church cites John 20:22–23 and Matthew 18:18 as evidence that Christ gave the apostles authority to forgive sins. In the early church, public penance was practiced: those who had committed grave sins repented publicly and were then received back into the community. By the Middle Ages, private confession to a priest had become established. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council required the faithful to go to confession at least once a year.

During the Reformation, the Reformers opposed regarding confession as a sacrament. They appealed to 1 Timothy 2:5, which teaches that Christ alone is the mediator between God and humanity, and to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Their positions, however, differed. The Augsburg Confession, which stands in the tradition of Martin Luther, states that private absolution should be retained in the church, while also declaring that an enumeration of every sin is not necessary. The Westminster Confession of Faith, in the Reformed tradition, teaches that sins are to be confessed to God and, where another person has been wronged, to that person as well. Protestants frequently cite 1 John 1:9 and Psalm 32:5 as grounds for confessing one's sins directly to God. The scene in the parable of the prodigal son in which the son returns to his father and confesses, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight" (Luke 15:21), is also often cited to illustrate repentance and confession.

Practice in the Korean Church

• Catholic Church: Believers confess privately to a priest in the confessional. The Korean Catholic Church has a custom known as pangong seongsa, in which believers go to confession around Easter and Christmas.
• Anglican and Lutheran churches: The Anglican Church of Korea is reported to provide a rite in which believers who wish to do so may confess privately to a priest, though this is not mandatory. The Lutheran Church in Korea likewise includes confession and absolution in its worship, in keeping with the Lutheran tradition.
• Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Full Gospel, and other churches: These churches do not practice sacramental confession. Believers confess their sins directly to God through prayers of confession in Sunday worship, self-examination before the Lord's Supper, tongseong gido (praying aloud together), and personal prayer. Counseling with a pastor or mutual confession of sins among believers is understood as an exhortation based on James 5:16, not as a sacrament.
• Tradition of public repentance: During the Pyongyang Great Revival of 1907, participants in the meetings are known to have confessed their sins publicly before the congregation. Since then, public repentance has continued to be an important element of Korean Protestant revival meetings and special early-morning prayer meetings.