Confession: Doorway to Forgiveness [Paperback]

Jim Forest (Author), Rembrandt (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Once a defining feature of Christian life, the practice of Confession has largely faded in recent years. And yet, without an acknowledgment of sin and the longing for forgiveness and reconciliation the Gospel makes little sense. In Confession Jim Forest offers a moving reappraisal of this neglected sacrament, drawing on scripture, the lives of the saints, and a wealth of personal stories. From St. Augustine and St. Paul, to Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Dostoevsky, Forest shows how the practice of confession draws us deeper into a loving relationship with God, the body of Christ, and our fellow sinners.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Forest relates in his introduction that the purpose of this book is to help revive the once common practice of confession among Christians, which has been abandoned or neglected, to help the reader prepare a better confession and to help those who hear confessions better serve as Christ's witness. The author, who describes himself as an Orthodox Christian and who lives in the Netherlands, begins with a brief history of the tradition. He draws on scripture, stories from the saints, personal experiences, and even Dostoevsky's novels Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. Forest explains the key elements in confession and discusses the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Last Judgment, and the Prayer of Ephraim the Syrian (recited by Orthodox Christians daily throughout Lent). Forest also explores the subject of finding a confessor and offers a selection of stories about confessions culled from his friends--laypeople, nuns, monks, and priests. This informative book includes a list of biblical texts to read in preparing for confession. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Comes alive with biblical and contemporary reflections and examples of repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. --Church

CPA Book Award Winner --Catholic Press Association

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Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; Illustread edition edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570753865
• ISBN-13: 978-1570753862
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #845,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful reflection on spiritual wholeness, March 10, 2002

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confession: Doorway to Forgiveness (Paperback)

Jim Forest opens his new book with the following tale. It seems that a young priest in the feel-good 1970s was so taken with the latest bestseller *I'm Okay, You're Okay* that he gave it a rave review in one of his sermons. Afterwards, an old parishioner acknowledged that the book was probably a good one, but added this: "I kept thinking of Christ on the Cross saying to those who were watching him die, 'If everybody's okay, what in blazes am I doing up here?'"

This wonderful story sets the stage for Forest's wide-ranging reflections on confession. He isn't content merely to examine confession as a sacrament. Instead, he correctly sees confession as a magnet that pulls together such topics as human nature, sin, individual integrity, community, and spiritual wholeness. Confession is more than just whispering a few faults into a priest's ear. It's an opportunity for renewal and rebirth, because one can only begin to heal if one first acknowledges that something's broken. Defiant refusal to acknowledge individual guilt is bad enough; psycho-babbled insousiance is worse. Jim Forest does an especially good job of persuading us of the importance of honestly facing ourselves and God.

Along the way, he gives a short history of confession, reflects on several scriptural stories in which confession is illuminated (my favorite is his discussion of Mark's account of the paralytic who was healed), includes a discussion of Dostoevsky on the need for reconciliation (to my mind, a gem-like essay in its own right), discusses some concrete tips for preparing for confession or self-examen and selecting a confessor, and closes with an interesting chapter of reflections on confession from clergy and laypeople. All in all, a remarkable book. It deserves to be read with Martin Smith's classic *Reconciliation*.

Jim Forest has given us much to think about in his previous books on icons, the beatitudes, and Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton (one of the best short biographies of Merton I've ever read). We're once again in his debt for this little book on confession.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Confession by Jim Forest, December 1, 2007

By 

Sandra M. Poirier "Searcher" (Richmond, RI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confession: Doorway to Forgiveness (Paperback)

This book is an easy read and gives one good thought guidelines for living your life.