True Confessions
Baptist minister extols merits of the confessional
Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1959) led a truly remarkable life—a life at times marked by controversy within Protestant circles. Born in Buffalo, he graduated from Colgate in 1900 and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1903. Although a Baptist he was later called to serve at First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and still later at the inter-denominational Riverside Church also in Manhattan.
In 1922 he delivered a provocative sermon on “fundamentalism and modernism” that led to an investigation by the Presbyterian General Assembly. Interestingly, Fosdick’s lead defender to the investigating committee was a lay elder of the church: John Foster Dulles, father of Avery Dulles—a future convert, Jesuit priest, and cardinal of the Catholic Church.
Dr. Fosdick spoke his mind on all matters spiritual. In 1927, while pastor of the Park Avenue Baptist Church, he praised the merits of the Catholic confessional, “an amazing service for the treatment of sick souls.” The article below, carried by the Associated Press, appeared in newspapers throughout the nation.
For more on the life of Dr. Fosdick, visit the Colgate University website here.
This Protestant minister had it right. I’ve heard a number of times, that studies show that practicing Catholics have fewer psychological problems because of Confession.