Rediscovering Confession: The Practice of Forgiveness and Where it Leads

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Rediscovering Confession �is about recovering the experience of confession, in danger now of becoming a lost art. It �identifies four elements present in psychotherapy and confession: a state of heightened self-awareness, a growing� realization that our predicament points in some meaningful direction beyond itself, the necessity to make a relevant response to our situation, and a potential for spiritual encounter that accompanies the process. Each chapter contains a section devoted to practice, with exercises for individual contemplation and experimentation, guidelines for forming a confessional partnership, directions for conducting discussions in a study goup, and ways to organize a small confessional group.

Rediscovering Confession: The Practice of Forgiveness and Where it Leads Review

"Rediscovering Confession: The Practice of Forgiveness and Where it Leads" seeks no less than to bridge the divides between psychology and theology, sin and illness, orthodoxy and the new spirituality, and "believer" and "seeker," to name a few. This is a tall order, but author David A. Steere, Ph.D., remains undaunted as he examines the archetypal experience of confession much as a lapidary would a precious stone: by exposing to the light, one by one, the many facets of its structure. His analysis focuses on the autobiographical speaking and writing from our deepest selves that moves us out of alienation and towards an experience of faith, however we may define that term. Steere, a practicing psychotherapist, Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and a former parish minister, is uniquely suited to this task, as his distinguished career has spanned both the worlds of psychotherapy and theology.

I found Steere's analysis to be both expanding and grounding. It leads the reader on a wide-ranging historical, theological, and psychological journey, and embraces such topics as orthodoxy, heresy, sin and "the fall of Adam," Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Jung's collective unconscious, psychology during the 1960's, the Enneagram, systems theory, and the "sacred feminine," to name a few. I particularly welcomed the chapter on "The Trouble with Adam," since I have always had difficulty understanding the theology behind sin. Steere's explanation of the historical development of the concept of sin, how that concept relates to the psychological conditions of guilt and shame, and how authentic confession of that which we are ashamed enables both psychological and spiritual transformation, will enlighten both seekers and believers.

Confession and its place in both religious orthodoxy and daily life is one of those great human themes, as demonstrated by such fictional works as "Crime and Punishment" (Dostoevsky), "Brideshead Revisited" (Waugh), and "Sophie's Choice" (Styron). Whether we admit it or not, we are all concerned with the struggles of conscience addressed by the world's great religions. To be less makes us, at best, as Joseph Campbell so aptly put it, a passive audience for "the news of the day," and at worst, authors of our own destruction. But confession that is not grounded in the authentic self does not heal, but merely contributes to the noise in the marketplace.

"Rediscovering Confession" is grounded in the authentic self. Steere defines his audience as "the people with whom I work," which includes persons from all walks of life, whether they are believers or the "spiritually homeless." He calls for more and deeper confession--and forgiveness--in our private and public lives. The message of this book is compassionate as well as ambitious: it encourages us to become and to remain deeply authentic with ourselves and each other. "Rediscovering Confession" is a book to be savored on the journey towards a deeper understanding of what it means to walk in the world with honesty, authenticity, and joy.

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