Lutherans are somewhat unique among “Protestant” confessions that emerged from the Reformation because they retained the use of individual confession and forgiveness. For example, Article XI of the Augsburg Confession reads: “Concerning confession it is taught that private absolution should be retained and not abolished.”¹

Traditionally Lutherans have said that individual confession and forgiveness should be retained “for the sake of the absolution,” that is, a word outside of us that pronounces/announces the forgiveness of sins. The emphasis is not on the enumeration of sins, but rather on the grace of hearing forgiveness proclaimed, then trusting that what is proclaimed is true. The Lutheran confessional documents retain confession in this manner.

It is not surprising, then, at least from an historical perspective, that Dietrich Bonhoeffer the Lutheran theologian would include a chapter on confession in his book Life Together. In this book, Bonhoeffer sets out to describe in some detail the structure and commitments of the community that he and his seminarians established at the Brothers’ House in Finkenwalde—Christian community as a reality created by God in Christ, existing as a dialectic between a Christian’s need for togetherness and “alone time,” shaped by prayer, service, and the practice of confession and the Lord’s Supper. The practice of confession was foundational for community in his context, and may also be foundational in our own.

A commitment to some form of confession like Bonhoeffer’s can be grounded in at least a few biblical sources. Bonhoeffer provides one: “Confess your sins to one another” (James 5:16).² Another, and the one most often referred to in our own confessional documents, is Jesus’ establishment of the office of the keys (Matthew 16:16-20). A third biblical resource is the penitential psalms themselves, where the psalmist clearly speaks a word of contrition and anticipates absolution (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The practice of “oral” confession is an important tradition within Scripture and in the history of the church. The hearing and trusting of the absolution is integral to our understanding of justification by grace through faith.

Maintaining a Lutheran (and Christian) commitment to individual confession and forgiveness is important to me at a personal level for two reasons: I value having undergone and learned it myself; and I have tried at least annually to preach on it, sometimes to surprising effect. For example, it generally doesn’t happen that hoards of people darken the door of my study the day after a sermon on confession (say, at the Ash Wednesday service). But people do hear and respond. People have sometimes approached me long after they hear a sermon or read a column, seeking to participate in this wonderful sacrament that God extends to people.  It seems, at least according to Eberhard Bethge’s description of individual confession in Bonhoeffer’s community, that they also struggled to introduce it, met some resistance or timidity surrounding it, but also simply kept at it. It changed the whole atmosphere of the community.³ I take comfort in this.

I have sometimes struggled with how specifically to interpret individual confession in our church and in our culture. Something that is in disuse is difficult to reintroduce. But some of that might simply be my own discomfort—clearly, the kind of confrontation of sin and direct speech involved in confession is something which sin itself (and sin’s advocate, the devil) seeks to avoid at all costs. Bonhoeffer writes, “In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community.”⁴

Part of the “how-to” for our culture likely includes sticking very close to the two requirements Bonhoeffer himself had for communities that practice individual confession. First, if you are going to be a confessor, you must practice confession. This is what Bonhoeffer calls a breakthrough to the cross. Second, confession is not a pious act seeking to enumerate all sins and show how horrible we are. It exists for the sake of the absolution, the promise of forgiveness in Christ. This is what Bonhoeffer calls a breakthrough to assurance.⁵

So, re-reading Bonhoeffer has encouraged me to re-commit to two “practices”—first, seeking out the opportunity to make my own individual confession to a confessor. Then, second, making that ministry available regularly, and teaching about it in culturally contextual ways in our church. Finally, in order to be a confessor, I will need to ask God’s help and guidance to be wise in the keeping of confidences. I must read and reflect on God’s Word so that I am prepared with a confident knowledge of Scripture to apply comfort to consciences and strengthen faith.

As we begin our preparations for Advent, maybe these reflections on Bonhoeffer and confession can be a helpful spiritual reminder and preparation, waiting together in prayer and hope for the coming Christ.

1. Book of Concord, ed. Kolb and Wengert, 44.

2. Life Together, 108.

3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian, Christian, Man for His Times: A Biography. Revised edition, 39-40.

4. Life Together, 110.

5. Ibid., 112.