Confess: A word from John’s first letter

‘If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9)

I found a wonderful book in Huddersfield junk market. It is called The Tudor Regime, written by Penry Williams. It describes the anxiety in which kings and queens in Tudor times lived, always watching out for betrayal. Because of this, everyone tended to keep their mouths shut. During Henry VIII’s reign, Thomas More tried to keep silent but he was finally imprisoned in the Tower of London for fifteen months and then betrayed by the ‘testimony’ of one visitor. He was beheaded in l535.

These days, hopefully, we don’t live in such fear of ‘confessing’ our loyalties. But still the human instinct is to keep your mouth shut, just in case. Yorkshire folk say ‘had yer gob’.

The Greek word translated as ‘confess’ in this passage – homologeo – is a bit out of kilter, however. ‘Confess’ is a word we understand in the context of law courts, or of gossip-mongering publicity. But homo means ‘the same’ and logeo (from logos) means ‘word’ or ‘thought’. Thus homologeo means to be consistent in our talking and thinking. Confess is much more about us making up our minds. It is not really a relational word – it is more of a psychological one, about finding an ending to an internal struggle. In other words, it’s about making our minds up and finding peace. It is a point of relaxation. Now we know where we stand, at least.

This NRSV translation of John’s letter is similar to the King James Version (excepting the change from ‘he is faithful’ to ‘he who is faithful’). But John Wycliffe, translating in 1388, has the word ‘acknowledge’ instead of ‘confess’. ‘If we acknowledge our sins’ is more private. It also hints at the underlying psychological momentum of this self-aware moment.

So, how should we translate homologeo today? Here is my attempt. I see it as a word describing an opening up of one’s own mind – a very subtle, almost miraculous event. But I have had to use lots of words to try to capture the immediacy of the two words ‘confess’ and ‘sin’. As we manage to relax into knowing (acknowledging), we are all caught up in making a mess (sin). An example would be when we turn against some people and fail to see what is happening – then slowly realising what we are doing.

To ‘confess’ implies that there is a sublime risk-taking, a letting go of the mask we wear to face the world, and a move to being with others who are instinctively wishing to do the same.

This article is an edited extract from Brenda’s book Just One Word (contact imagefound@yahoo.com for details).

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