The Roman Catholic church held confession to be composed of three parts: contritio cordis ("contrition of the heart"), confessio oris ("confession of the mouth"), and satisfactio operis ("satisfaction of deeds"). The Lutheran reformers held that a complete enumeration of sins is impossible and that one's confidence of forgiveness is not to be based on the sincerity of one's contrition nor on one's doing works of satisfaction imposed by the confessor ( penance). In his 1529 catechisms, Martin Luther praised confession (before a pastor or a fellow Christian) "for the sake of absolution", the forgiveness of sins bestowed in an audible, concrete way. Now, concerning this faith, which obtains the remission of sins, there is not a syllable in so great a mass of regulations, glosses, summaries, books of confession. Philipp Melanchthon speaking about the Confession in the Lutheran Church, claims that "we do not wish to sanction the torture of the Summists, which notwithstanding would have been less intolerable if they had added one word concerning faith, which comforts and encourages consciences. Although Lutherans do not consider the other four rites as sacraments, they are still retained and used in the Lutheran church. In line with Luther's initial statement in his Large Catechism, some Lutherans speak of only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist, although later in the same work he calls Confession and Absolution "the third sacrament." The definition of sacrament in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession lists Absolution as one of them. The Augsburg Confession divides repentance into two parts: "One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors." In many churches, times are set for the pastor to hear confessions. It is also encouraged to be done frequently in a year (specifically before Easter). In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, weekly private confession became less expected at the present time, it is, for example, expected before partaking of the Eucharist for the first time. Luther's Small Catechism says "the pastor is pledged not to tell anyone else of sins to him in private confession, for those sins have been removed." If the Seal is broken, it will result in excommunication. In the Lutheran Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, the pastor is bound by the Seal of the Confessional. Prior to the confession, the penitent is to review the Ten Commandments to examine his or her conscience. In confession, the penitent makes an act of contrition, as the pastor, acting in persona Christi, announces the formula of absolution. Confession and absolution is done in private to the pastor, called the " confessor" with the person confessing known as the "penitent". They, like Roman Catholics, see James 5:16 and John 20:22–23 as biblical evidence for confession. Indeed, Lutherans highly regard Holy Absolution. The Lutheran Church practices "Confession and Absolution" with the emphasis on the absolution, which is God's word of forgiveness. In the Lutheran Church, Confession (also called Holy Absolution) is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins according to the Large Catechism, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy Baptism. "Private Absolution ought to be retained in the churches, although in confession an enumeration of all sins is not necessary." - Augsburg Confession, Article 11 Not to be confused with Church of the Lutheran Confession.
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