above, p.58.

[10] Luther here refers to his _Treatise on the Sacrament of
Penance_, which was published just before the present treatise on
baptism, in 1519. See _Weimar Ed._, II, pp. 709 ff and p. 724.

[11] The power to forgive and retain sin, belonging, according to
Roman teaching, to the priest, and normally exercised in the
sacrament of penance.

[12] Cf. _Fourteen of Consolation_, Part II, ch. II; below, pp.
146 ff.

[13] See above, p. 59.

[14] See above, p. 67.

[15] The "spiritual estate" or "spiritual order" includes all
those who have deserted the world and worldly pursuits for the
religious life. It includes monks and friars and nuns, as well as
priests, etc.

A DISCUSSION OF CONFESSION
(CONFITENDI RATIO)
1520

The _Confitendi Ratio_ is the culmination of a series of tracts
published by Luther after the memorable October 31st, 1517, and
before his final breach with Rome.[1] In them is clearly
traceable the progress that he was making in dealing with the
practical problems offered by the confessional, and which had
started the mighty conflict in which he was engaged. They open to
us an insight into his own conscientious efforts during the
period, when, as a penitent, he was himself endeavoring to meet
every requirement which the Church imposed, In order to secure
the assurance of the forgiveness of sins, as well as to present
the questions which as a father confessor and spiritual adviser
he asked those who were under his pastoral care. First of all, we
find, therefore, tables of duties and sins, reminding us of the
lists of cardinal sins and cardinal virtues in which Roman
Catholic books abound. The main effort here is to promote the
most searching self-examination and the most complete enumeration
of the details of sins, since, from the Medieval standpoint, the
completeness of the absolution is proportioned to the
exhaustiveness of the confession. Although the first of these
briefer tracts closes with its note of warning that the value of
the confession is not to be estimated by the enumeration of
details, but that it rests solely in the resort that is had to
the Grace of God and the word of His promise, the transition from
the one mode of thought to the other is very apparent.

In the _Kurze Untetweisung wie man beichten soll_ of 1519, of
which this is a Latin re-elaboration, and, therefore, intended
more for the educated man than as a popular presentation, he has
advanced so far as to