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The Cure of Souls: Recovering the Biblical Doctrine of Confession
Hypocrisy replaces virtue when men cover their sins rather than confess them to God. This is all too common when men do not preach and practice a Biblical doctrine of confession. The challenge is first to restore the meaning of confession as taught in the Scriptures. As long as confession is seen as a Romanist doctrine, we have no hope of recovering this vital aspect of Christianity.
In this pathbreaking volume R. J. Rushdoony examines the Biblical teaching on confession and sets it over against the errors of Romanism and the neo-Freudianism of modern Christian counseling.
Despite the subject matter this book is remarkably readable and is sure to empower both clergy and laity as they discover the powerful tool of Biblical confession. - front book flap
In this pathbreaking volume R. J. Rushdoony examines the Biblical teaching on confession and sets it over against the errors of Romanism and the neo-Freudianism of modern Christian counseling.
Despite the subject matter this book is remarkably readable and is sure to empower both clergy and laity as they discover the powerful tool of Biblical confession. - front book flap
318 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2007
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69 people want to read
About the author
Rousas John Rushdoony
137 books148 followersRousas John Rushdoony was a Calvinist philosopher, historian, and theologian and is widely credited as the father of both Christian Reconstructionism and the modern homeschool movement. His prolific writings have exerted considerable influence on the Christian right.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 30, 2019
Rushdoony seems to cover those issues that fall through the cracks; the ones that people typically overlook, but are vital to the church and the individual. Confession is woefully absent in virtually all realms, including the church, marriages, and judicial areas as well. Typically, we consider confession to be one of those last ditch attempts to garner grace, such as a plea bargain. But confession for the Christian should always be the first thing we do when we have sinned or wronged another party. Rousas gets into the nitty gritty of the topic, exploring when and where confession should take place and what true confession and repentance looks like. Very practical.
May 10, 2022
Solid book on confession as a Christian. It covers both confession of sin and confession of creeds/doctrinal beliefs. Written as a series of essays. Lots to think about.
December 26, 2013
This was an incredibly thought-provoking book, but let's be honest, would you expect anything less from a book written by Rushdoony? Not only thought-provoking, but challenging, encouraging, and convicting. Already the Lord has used this book to penetrate my heart and caused humility in me where I was blinded, and allowed me to see the areas I could not see, so I did not confess. Praise the Lord for His Holy Spirit that convicts the heart!
This book addresses a real issue: the misconceptions about confession. I realized I knew little about the history of confession, and only in recent times has my understanding expanded when I first was exposed to Confessions of Faith. Confession is not only an acknowledgment of sin, but confessing Christ as Lord, praising Him, and obeying Him. And confession is so much more than just "saying sorry", Rushdoony explains how there must be true repentance (not just the heart, not just the head, but the entire man must be repentant), there must be a change in the life, and there must be restitution, and as a result, restoration of the man. "Saying sorry" and expecting forgiveness automatically, without a change of heart, a change of life, restitution to the one wronged, is itself wrong!
The church does not have a monopoly on "confession", as in the roman catholic model, but protestants have many short-comings and sins in this area as well. There is literally so many spheres of life he tackles and addresses, culture, the state, church, the individual, etc. Confession in counseling is easily humanistic, and using humanistic means to absolve man's guilt. Man is first and foremost, sinning against God by violating His law, and secondly to man (David's Psalm says against you and you only have I sinned. !), so his confession must be before God.
This book is written in such short chapters, they are almost "bite-size". I finished it while picking up the book while feeding my baby, and read a few chapters each sitting, in a few weeks. Anyone can read this, no matter what the attention span! I highly recommend this book, and would like to revisit it in the future. I'm still digesting it, so to speak, as of now. (;
"Enough has been said to make it clear that humanistic counseling seeks, not confession, restitution, and restoration, but peace, harmony, and humanistic good will. As a result, the counseling process is morally wrong. Wise, like others, wrote without reference to the law of God or to sin." Page 121
"To confess one's sins to God is an act of contrition and humility. The confessing man places his life against the yardstick of God's law and recognizes how wanting he is, and how much he needs God's grace and mercy." Page 160
"It is a basic premise of Biblical faith that there can be no effectual change without regeneration. Apart from that, any change is pragmatic, cosmetic, or prudential. Counseling deals with the human scene and human relationships. The pastoral cure of souls gives primacy to man's relationship to God in Christ, man's eternal destiny, and then to the problems of human relationships." Page 108
This book addresses a real issue: the misconceptions about confession. I realized I knew little about the history of confession, and only in recent times has my understanding expanded when I first was exposed to Confessions of Faith. Confession is not only an acknowledgment of sin, but confessing Christ as Lord, praising Him, and obeying Him. And confession is so much more than just "saying sorry", Rushdoony explains how there must be true repentance (not just the heart, not just the head, but the entire man must be repentant), there must be a change in the life, and there must be restitution, and as a result, restoration of the man. "Saying sorry" and expecting forgiveness automatically, without a change of heart, a change of life, restitution to the one wronged, is itself wrong!
The church does not have a monopoly on "confession", as in the roman catholic model, but protestants have many short-comings and sins in this area as well. There is literally so many spheres of life he tackles and addresses, culture, the state, church, the individual, etc. Confession in counseling is easily humanistic, and using humanistic means to absolve man's guilt. Man is first and foremost, sinning against God by violating His law, and secondly to man (David's Psalm says against you and you only have I sinned. !), so his confession must be before God.
This book is written in such short chapters, they are almost "bite-size". I finished it while picking up the book while feeding my baby, and read a few chapters each sitting, in a few weeks. Anyone can read this, no matter what the attention span! I highly recommend this book, and would like to revisit it in the future. I'm still digesting it, so to speak, as of now. (;
"Enough has been said to make it clear that humanistic counseling seeks, not confession, restitution, and restoration, but peace, harmony, and humanistic good will. As a result, the counseling process is morally wrong. Wise, like others, wrote without reference to the law of God or to sin." Page 121
"To confess one's sins to God is an act of contrition and humility. The confessing man places his life against the yardstick of God's law and recognizes how wanting he is, and how much he needs God's grace and mercy." Page 160
"It is a basic premise of Biblical faith that there can be no effectual change without regeneration. Apart from that, any change is pragmatic, cosmetic, or prudential. Counseling deals with the human scene and human relationships. The pastoral cure of souls gives primacy to man's relationship to God in Christ, man's eternal destiny, and then to the problems of human relationships." Page 108
November 5, 2016
A very surprising text, which makes the church’s need for its message deeply felt. Clarifies the need for not only confession but also its related disciplines, specially admonition and restitution, and their places not only in the church’s life and that of its members, but also in wider society.
A posthumous text published by the author’s son, it could have used heavier editing: it repeats itself quite a bit, presumably because the editor did not consolidate the various texts the author wrote for periodicals and presumably intended to rewrite for publication in book form.
A posthumous text published by the author’s son, it could have used heavier editing: it repeats itself quite a bit, presumably because the editor did not consolidate the various texts the author wrote for periodicals and presumably intended to rewrite for publication in book form.
August 16, 2018
A very useful book that gives you a great deal to chew on. Rushdoony’s discussion of forgiveness and restitution is very helpful and helps draw some boundaries around the topic which biblical counseling books tend to miss. I will probably read this one again.
September 25, 2018
This was excellent, very direct and to the point. Practical and useful.
February 15, 2022
What happened to confession? This book addresses the "cure of souls" in our confession of faith and our confession of sin.
August 18, 2025
The most repetitive book I’ve ever read. Poorly edited.
March 19, 2017
Confession of sin is primarily to God. And, it is confession of Christ that saves, not the confession of sin.
January 1, 2014
Some mixed feelings on this one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews