Apparently Chrysostom didn't support auricular confession

[DTK]

Chrysostom (349-407): And even if you do not confess, He [i.e., God] is not ignorant of the deed, who knew it before it was committed. Why then do you not speak of it? Does the transgression become heavier by the confession?"”nay, it becomes lighter and less troublesome. And it is for this reason that He would have you confess, not that you should be punished, but that you should be forgiven; not that He may learn thy sin, (how could this be, since He has seen it,) but that you may learn what favour He bestows. He wishes you to learn the greatness of His grace, that you may praise Him perfectly, that you may be slower to sin, that you may be quicker to virtue. And if you do not confess the greatness of the need, you will not understand the exceeding magnitude of His grace. I do not oblige you He [God] saith, to come into the midst of the assembly before a throng of witnesses; declare the sin in secret to Me only, that I may heal the sore and remove the pain. F. Allen, trans., Four Discourses of Chrysostom, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, 4rd Sermon, §4 (London: Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer, 1869), p. 102. Cf. Catharine P. Roth, trans., St. John Chrysostom On Wealth and Poverty, 4th Sermon on Lazarus and the Rich Man, §4 (Crestwood: St. Vladimir´s Seminary Press, 1984), p. 89. See also Concionis VII, de Lazaro 4.4 in Migne PG 48.

DTK

 

[MW]

Charles Chiniquy, "The Priest, the Woman and the Confessional," Chapter 9, has these comments:

The celebrated Chrysostom was only giving the sanction of his authority to what his predecessor had done, when, thundering against the newly-born monster, he said to the Christians of his time, "We do not ask you to go and confess your iniquities to a sinful man for pardon"”but only to God." (Homily on 50th Psalm.)

Chrysostom, in his homily, De Paenitentia, vol. IV., col. 901, has the following: "You need no witnesses of your confession. Secretly acknowledge your sins, and let God alone bear you."

In his homily V., De incomprehensibili Dei natura, vol. I., he says: "Therefore, I beseech you, always confess your sins to God! I, in no way, ask you to confess them to me. To God alone should you expose the wounds of your soul, and from him alone expect the cure. Go to him, then, and you shall not be cast off, but healed. For, before you utter a single word, God knows your prayer."

In his commentary on Heb. XII., hom. XXXI., vol. XII., p. 289, he further says: "Let us not be content with calling ourselves sinners. But let us examine and number our sins. And then I do not tell you to go and confess them, according to the caprice of some; but I will say to you, with the prophet: 'Confess your sins before God, acknowledge your iniquities at the feet of your Judge; pray in your heart and your mind, if not with your tongue, and you shall be pardoned.'"

In his homily on. Ps. I., vol. V., p. 589, the same Chrysostom says: "Confess your sins every day in prayer. Why should you hesitate to do so? I do not tell you to go and confess to a man, sinner as you are, and who might despise you if he knew your faults. But confess them to God, who can forgive them to you."

In his admirable homily IV., De Lazaro, vol. I., p. 757, he exclaims: "Why, tell me, should you be ashamed to confess your sins? Do we compel you to reveal them to a man, who might, one day, throw them into your face? Are you commanded to confess them to one of your equals, who could publish them and ruin you? What we ask of you is simply to show the sores of your soul to your Lord and Master, who is also your friend, your guardian, and physician."

In a small work of Chrysostom's, entitled, "Catechesis ad illuminandos," vol. II., p. 210, we read these remarkable words: "What we should most admire is not that God forgives our sins, but that he does not disclose them to anyone, nor wishes us to do so. What he demands of us is to confess our transgressions to him alone to obtain pardon."

 

[DTK]

Originally posted by armourbearer
Charles Chiniquy, "The Priest, the Woman and the Confessional," Chapter 9, has these comments:

The celebrated Chrysostom was only giving the sanction of his authority to what his predecessor had done, when, thundering against the newly-born monster, he said to the Christians of his time, "We do not ask you to go and confess your iniquities to a sinful man for pardon"”but only to God." (Homily on 50th Psalm.)

Concerning this one quote, I'm afraid that Chiniquy was mistaken, though he probably was not privy to the fact in his day that this Homily, attributed to Chrysostom, was regarded as spurious in MPG 55:580 ff. Moreover, the quote from Chrysostom on penance is not to be found in Migne's collection, and is likewise under suspicion.

But the ones cited from Incomprehensible Nature of God, Against the Anomeans, horn. 5:7 (MPG 48. 746); His commentary on Hebrews, Discourses on Lazarus 4:4 (MPG 48.1012) are all indeed regarded as the genuine work of Chrysostom.

DTK

 

[MW]

I'll let the critics squabble over these things. There is enough in the main to show his general attitude.

 

[DTK]

Originally posted by armourbearer
I'll let the critics squabble over these things. There is enough in the main to show his general attitude.

I'm inclined to agree. It's just that when engaged with Roman apologists, experience has taught me that one needs to be able to substantiate with precision the common concensus of scholarly patristic sources. It is, I admit, one of my hobby-horses.

Cheers,
DTK

 

[MW]

Ride it for all its worth. You seem pretty adept at it.