Making Confession, Hearing Confession: A History of the Cure of Souls - Softcover

Kidder, Annemarie S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814654975 ISBN 13: 9780814654972

Publisher: Liturgical Press, 2010

Synopsis

Is confession obsolete? Far from it, Annemarie Kidder has learned. At unexpected times and in unexpected places, we hear the confession" of a friend or a perfect stranger; at crucial times in our lives we tend to unburden ourselves of matters that trouble our conscience. While some churches offer opportunities for sacramental confession, others provide counseling outside the sacramental framework. Some confessional practices have been secularized, as in psychotherapy and professional counseling; others find expression in evangelistic crusades and Christian 12-step programs. Meanwhile, the scope of "confessors" has widened to include men and women religious and lay spiritual directors. Addressing this broad audience, Kidder reviews the origins and history of confession from biblical times to the early modern era, examines contemporary practices of confession, penance, and spiritual direction that have emerged in the twentieth century, and offers practical considerations for evaluating and improving one's own practice, either as confessor or penitent.Readers will be grateful for this concise historical overview of confession and Kidder's assurance that, despite its undervalued or misunderstood practice, this "cure of souls" is anything but obsolete.Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, is assistant professor at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit, and a Presbyterian pastor. She is author of Women, Celibacy, and the Church: Toward a Theology of the Single Life; The Power of Solitude; and Etty Hillesum: Essential Writings. Kidder has translated works by Raimon Panikkar, Juergen Becker, Luise Schottroff, and Rainer Maria Rilke. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan."

About this title

From the Back Cover

This historically well-informed and pastorally sensitive book, written from an ecumenical perspective, will be helpful to both clergy and laity in all the churches.  Accessible in its style, it gently challenges us to give confession, no matter what form it might take, the place it deserves in our spiritual lives as Christians.--John W. O'Malley, SJ, Professor of Religion, Georgetown University, Author of The First Jesuits and What Happened at Vatican II.

Annemarie S. Kidder offers a thorough and easy-to-read study of confession in the Christian tradition, rooting it in its biblical ground. . .  Her book is a rich treasure to be valued by all readers, especially coming from the various Christian traditions.--David L. Fleming, SJ, Editor, Review for Religious

Kidder has achieved a historical tour de force demonstrating how confession--in various forms--is anything but moribund for present and future Christianity.  With its combined theological, pastoral, and historical resources, this book has no peer in the English-language literature treating penance, reconciliation, and spiritual direction.--Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, Boston College

Kidder amply demonstrates how Christian thinkers of all ages, whether Catholic or Protestant, have been concerned with moral conversion and spiritual development.  In the process, she assembles a wealth of information on confession as a means of spiritual growth from the Middle Ages to the present, pointing the way to a renewal of the sacrament in the 21st century.--Joseph Martos, Author of Doors to the Sacred:  A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church

An extraordinary work of historical, ecumenical, and sacramental theology, encyclopedic in its treatment of penance, confession, and spiritual direction.  From its biblical roots to the most contemporary reflection on the pastoral healing of souls, Kidder allows the tradition to speak for itself.--Ronald Modras, Professor of Theological Studies, Saint Louis University, Author of Ignatian Humanism
--Reviews

About the Author

Annemarie S. Kidder, PhD, is assistant professor at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit, and a Presbyterian pastor. She is author of Women, Celibacy, and the Church: Toward a Theology of the Single Life; The Power of Solitude; and Etty Hillesum: Essential Writings. Kidder has translated works by Raimon Panikkar, Juergen Becker, Luise Schottroff, and Rainer Maria Rilke. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Edition details

• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0814654975
• ISBN 13: 9780814654972
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 360