s must,
at least once a year, appear before the priest at the confession box
in the church or chapel, and confess in detail all the sins that he
can recollect; after which, the priest assigns the penitent some acts
of penance, and on his promising to perform them, he then, as in the
stead of God, professes to forgive him his sins. The Reformers, however,
distinctly rejected the necessity of the penitents enumerating his
individual sins, and the propriety of the minister's prescribing any
penance to the penitent. They also distinctly made confession optional
with the penitent, and the absolution dependent on his faith; and this
purified rite they termed _Private_ Confession, although in some parts
of the church it was still called Auricular Confession (Ohrenbeicht).
[Note 1] The manner in which this rite was performed in the Lutheran
Church, is thus described by _Funk_ in his work entitled
"Kirchenordnungen of the first century of the Lutheran Church in
Germany," in which he presents the results of thirty of the _oldest_
Lutheran Formulas of Church Discipline and Worship. "Absolution was
received _privately_, by each one _individually, kneeling_ before the
_confessional_, the confessor _imposing his hands_ at the time. Private
confession was given only _in the church_, in which the confessional
was so located _near the pulpit_, that _no other person could be near,
or hear what was said_ by the penitent." [Note 2]

But

I. What does the Platform teach in regard to _this Private Confession?_
The Platform teaches, 1. That it was retained by the Augsburg
Confession and other symbolical books. 2. It is objected to by the
Platform, as unauthorized by the Word of God. 3. And thirdly, as being
inconsistent with the fundamental doctrine of the Reformation, that
_faith it the only condition_ of the justification or pardon of the
sinner.

II. What does the Plea object to these positions?

1. That the impression might be made by the Platform, that the Lutheran
doctrine has some affinity to the Romish doctrine of Auricular
Confession. But the Platform expressly states the rejection of
_Auricular_ Confession by the Reformers, and their retention of what
they called private confession in its stead, the latter differing from
the former as above stated. The Plea next introduces a formula of
absolution, used in Wittenberg, in 1559, to show the harmlessness of the
rite. But here, unfortunately, if we are not entirely mistaken, our
fr