Absolution, originally a term of Roman law, signifies acquittal. The word is generally used in an ecclesiastical sense. In the primitive Christian Church, members who had given scandal by gross and open sins were excluded from the Lord's Supper, or from the congregation altogether, and could be readmitted only if they repented and underwent the penance laid upon them by the church. When they had done so, the presbyter, along with the elders, pronounced the absolution in presence of the congregation, and the congregation received the sinner again into their number. After auricular confession became obligatory, absolution was held to convey forgiveness in the sight of God. The formula, Deus or Christus absolvit te, which was used till the 12th century, was changed into Ego absolvo te. As defined by the Council of Trent, absolution from sin is a judicial act by which the priest as judge passes sentence on the penitent, and is a remission of sin made by authority of Christ in the sacrament of penance. It is not a mere declaration that God will pardon those who repent. It has been affirmed by some writers that instead of 'I absolve thee,' a precatory form, such as 'May Christ absolve thee,' uttered by the priest in presence of the person to be absolved, would suffice. But this is disputed. Absolution from censures, also granted by the priest with or without the sacrament of penance, is quite different, and merely removes the penalties imposed by the church, and reconciles the offender with the church; whereas absolution from sin gives grace, removes guilt, and reconciles the sinner with God. Absolution for the dead is a form said after a funeral mass.
The Protestant churches mostly ascribe to the absolution of the clergy only a declarative, and not an exhortative power; on the ground of repentance, it announces and assures forgiveness on the part of God, but does not impart it. From this view must, however, be excepted the Lutheran and Anglican formularies, Luther himself and an entire school of Anglican divines. For the Anglican documents, see the Prayer Book, especially the Exhortation to Holy Communion, and the Office for the Visitation of the Sick. The eaten of English divines who hold this doctrine is not confined to one school, as it includes Archbishop Usher, and even Baxter. Nor must it be forgotten that the belief in a certain measure of absolving power residing in the whole church was widely spread in the middle ages; and the Sire de Joinville, a layman, tells how he and a brother knight in imminent danger, when no priest was to be had, mutually confessed and absolved each other. Peter Lombard entirely justifies such an act as that of Joinville; Aquinas seems to consider it irregular. In England, Sir John Friend and Sir William Perkins, convicted of having planned the assassination of William III., received at
Tyburn, just before their execution, a solemn and public absolution at the hands of a celebrated non-juring divine, Jeremy Collier. The bishops censured this act on the ground that there was no proof of a previous confession having been made. See CONFESSION, PENANCE. In Scotch law, the accused in a criminal case is absolved by the forms absolutor or assoilzie, on the ground that evidence disproves or does not prove the charge.