Confessing Belhar In America

Abstract This article examines how the consideration of adoption of the Belhar Confession by the Reformed Church in America surfaces issues concerning the nature of confession. Reflection on how confessions have in fact been used in the Reformed church show that they have functioned as markers of identity and as a way of shaping a religious way of being. The article proceeds to argue that by assessing to whom a confession is addressed, three uses become apparent: confession is addressed to the church as a hermeneutic through which it reads scripture; addressed to the world as a truth that must be spoken; and to God as a song that is sung.