ABSTRACT
Over the past couple of decades, scholars interested in the history of confession have focused exclusively on the Catholic sacrament of penance. We have several important studies of confession on the eve of the Reformation and, more recently, scholars have examined the transformation of penance in the Catholic and Counter Reformations. Scholars continue to investigate the sacrament of penance, providing important revisions and refinements of the arguments put forward by previous generations. However, entirely lacking in this literature – both past and present – is an appreciation for the importance of confession among Protestants. Despite a rich cache of sources for Protestant confession, most scholars continue to focus on Catholic confession. Studies of the sacrament of penance have provided valuable insights into the guiding assumptions, inherent tensions and overall social and cultural impact of Catholicism. Examining early modern Protestantism through a similar lens can prove equally enlightening.
