con·fes·sion   (kən-fěsh'ən)    n.   The act or process of confessing. Something confessed, especially disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. A written or oral statement acknowledging guilt, made by one who has been accused or charged with an offense. An avowal of belief in the doctrines of a particular faith; a creed. A church or group of worshipers adhering to a specific creed.

Confession

Con*fes"sion\, n. [F. confession, L. confessio.]

1. Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime.

With a crafty madness keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state. --Shak.

2. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.

With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. --Rom. x. 10.

3. (Eccl.) The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution.

Auricular confession . . . or the private and special confession of sins to a priest for the purpose of obtaining his absolution. --Hallam.

4. A formulary in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.

5. (Law) An admission by a party to whom an act is imputed, in relation to such act. A judicial confession settles the issue to which it applies; an extrajudical confession may be explained or rebutted. --Wharton.

Confession and avoidance (Law), a mode of pleading in which the party confesses the facts as stated by his adversary, but alleges some new matter by way of avoiding the legal effect claimed for them. --Mozley & W.

Confession of faith, a formulary containing the articles of faith; a creed.

General confession, the confession of sins made by a number of persons in common, as in public prayer.

Westminster Confession. See Westminster Assembly, under Assembly.

confession

In some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, a sacrament in which repentant sinners individually or as a group privately confess their sins in front of a priest and receive absolution from the guilt of their sins.

In the first few centuries of Christianity, repentant sinners were assigned public penances: sinners had to stay outside the entrance of the church and ask the people going inside to pray for them. The period of public penance could be shortened through an indulgence.

Main Entry: con·fes·sion
Function: noun
1 : an act of confessing
2 : an acknowledgment of a fact or allegation as true or proven; especially : a written or oral statement by an accused party acknowledging the party's guilt (as by admitting commission of a crime) —compare ADMISSION declaration against interest at DECLARATION, SELF-INCRIMINATION
NOTE: Courts differ on how a confession establishes the accused's guilt; for example, in some jurisdictions the confession has to establish all the necessary elements of the crime. In order to be admissible as evidence, a confession must be voluntary. A guilty plea is considered a judicial confession.

Confession

(1) An open profession of faith (Luke 12:8). (2.) An acknowledment of sins to God (Lev. 16:21; Ezra 9:5-15; Dan. 9:3-12), and to a neighbour whom we have wronged (James 5:16; Matt. 18:15).