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Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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PROFESSION.—In Biblical usage, to ‘profess’ is to make a public declaration (Matthew 7:23, Deuteronomy 26:3); then to take a certain stand or attitude (1 Timothy 2:10 ‘which becometh women professing godliness’); and, lastly, to make an unjustifiable pretension or claim (Romans 1:22, 1 Timothy 6:21, Titus 1:16). In general, profession and confession are so closely related that one Greek word (ὁμολογέω) is employed indifferently for both; and the Authorized Version has not clearly distinguished between them. Yet they are by no means identical; for while both words imply the utterance or declaration of faith or of fact, confession invariably implies that there is harmony between what is declared and the inward thought or feeling of the speaker, while profession carries no such implication.

Thus the word ‘confess’ answers in the OT to ידה, which always implies the utterance of genuine faith or feeling (Hiph. = humbly and thankfully to acknowledge God’s name and goodness, 1 Kings 8:33; 1 Kings 8:35 [LXX Septuagint ἑξουολογέομαι]; Hithp. = contritely to confess sin, Leviticus 5:5; Leviticus 16:21 [LXX Septuagint ἐξαγορεύω]); while ‘profess’ answers to הִנִּיר = ‘tell out,’ ‘declare,’ ‘make manifest’ (it may be in the way of thankful acknowledgment, Deuteronomy 26:3, or of not concealing one’s sin, Psalms 38:18, or even of showing forth one’s sin openly and impudently, Isaiah 3:9 ‘They declare their sin as Sodom’). The difference reappears in the NT, where ‘confess’ is used as translation of ἐξομολογέομαι, which is exactly parallel to ידה in both its senses, and also as translation of ὁμολογιέω in the specific sense of publicly owning one’s relationship of faith and devotion to Christ, Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8; whereas ‘profess’ answers to ἐπαγγέλλομαι = to make a profession, whether sincerely or not; φάσκω = to assert or pretend; and to ὁμολογέω in the sense of making a formal declaration, or in the bad sense of making au outward pretence. Thus, while the one word has received a deep religious impress, the other is restricted to the sense of making a public declaration, a declaration which may or may not be sincere and justified by facts. The Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 , in substituting ‘confession’ for ‘profession’ in the translation of ὁμολογία, for the owning of the Christian faith (Hebrews 3:1) or the faith which the Christian owns (4:14), has logically followed the rendering of ὁμολογέω in its specific Christian significance, and has helped to put the distinction between the two terms in clearer light.

The ‘profession’ of Christ or of Christianity is at once more and less than the confession of Christ. It is more than confession; for while the latter is the witness to actual faith or feeling, profession also covers all ill-grounded utterances to which there is little or-nothing in the heart to correspond. And profession is also less than confession: it is limited to the verbal expression of faith, while confession gives evidence of itself in the tone and conduct of life as well. Confession shows itself in the exercise of faith as well as in the assertion of it. The distinction between profession and confession is valuable when we consider the varying emphasis laid by the Gospels on verbal testimony as an element in the confession of Christ. The duty of verbal profession is at times strongly insisted on (see Confession [of Christ], ii. and iii.), mainly because it was the sign of loyalty and steadfastness of faith. Yet the value of such professions depended on the occasions that called them forth, as well as on their genuineness and their seasonableness. Christ regarded them as peculiarly valuable in times of stress and growing opposition. So He prized the bold testimony of Peter at Caesarea Philippi as being a sign of the rock-fast loyalty of His disciple (Matthew 16:17-19); so also He mourned over the later weakness of the disciples and the verbal denial of Peter, as betokening a certain diminution of their allegiance (Mark 14:27; Mark 14:30, Luke 22:61). At the same time, Christ repudiated many kinds of profession, and taught to His disciples a certain duty of reserve in the utterance of their faith. It goes without saying that He repudiated all insincere professions; and He knew that these were to be Found not only among the Pharisees, but also among His own followers (Matthew 7:22; Matthew 21:30). He also feared the egoism of professions of goodness (Luke 18:9-14), and the boldness of professions of constancy that might not be realized. Hence the coldness of His attitude to professions like that of the new disciple who said, ‘Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest’ (Luke 9:57-58), or to Peter’s hasty word, ‘If I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee’ (Mark 14:31). But, further, Christ repeatedly cautioned His followers against all ill-timed testimony. As He Himself practised a certain reserve in His own teaching (John 16:12), He also frequently laid upon His followers injunctions of silence. So in cases of healing He charges those who have seen or experienced His power to tell no man what He has done (Mark 3:12; Mark 5:43; Mark 7:36), and after the scenes at Caesarea Philippi and on the Mount of Transfiguration the same injunction follows (Mark 8:30, Mark 9:9). No doubt there were temporary reasons for such reserve on Christ’s part, and for such injunctions of reserve; and He looked forward to the time when the things He had taught and done in private should be proclaimed upon the housetops (Matthew 10:27), and when the disciples should be so fully established in the faith that no further reserve should be necessary. But in any case Christ desired no hasty testimonies in His favour. It was as if He said: The profession of My name is not always needful: its value depends on its seasonableness, and the maturity of the faith lying behind it. Wait till the times are ripe and faith is ripe; till the private confession wells forth irresistibly from the lips; or till the crisis comes when everyone is called to proclaim his faith. There will come occasions when to refrain from declaring one’s faith may be equivalent to disowning and denial, or at least to cowardice. Then those who have been confessing Christ in heart and life will also profess their faith boldly with their lips, and face all the consequences of their profession. It is then, when the day and hour are calling for a clear and living testimony, that profession becomes one with confession, and the word has fullest force: ‘Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven’ (Matthew 10:32 f.).

J. Dick Fleming.