When a Christian from an Evangelical/Protestant denomination converts to Eastern Orthodoxy or Eastern Catholicism, do they make a general type of confession? The reason I am asking this is they have probably already been Christians for a long time and have been confessing and repenting before the Lord.
Walter
Then said Jesus to them again, "Peace be unto you. As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained."
St John 20:21-23Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16The Lord gave the Apostles the power to bind and loose sins, and the Apostles in turn, gave this authority to their successors, the Bishops. Then in the history of the Church, it became usual for Bishops to delegate this authority to their presbyters. While private Confession of sins before God alone is the only thing available to Christians in communities which lack the priesthood, the Church continues to follow the Scriptural practice of Confession before a witness and loosing from sins in Absolution. This is our only assurance of forgiveness from the Lord. Protestant converts to the Church must make a Confession of the sins of their whole life before a priest prior to reception into the Church. They will then have Our Lord's perfect assurance of forgiveness.
Fr David Straut
