"Confession is good for the soul," says a Scottish proverb from the mid-1600s. Most religions would agree. Verses from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran speak of confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness from a God who is merciful.

But there are differences in the process. Some faiths distinguish between major and minor sins. Some faiths say you should confess to God through a priest, while others tell the faithful to take their confessions directly to God. And the definition of sin varies across the board. Branches within many faiths often disagree over sins and confession.

Here's a general look at how five faiths view confession.

ROMAN CATHOLIC: GIFT FROM CHRIST

"We go to confession first of all because we are sinners," said the Rev. Ramon Bejarano, pastor of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Modesto, Calif. "We recognize that God is merciful and holy, and he is the only one who can forgive us for our sins. For us as Catholics, to come to the sacrament is a gift that Christ has given to the church, for us to experience God's forgiveness."

Around the 6th century, group confession changed to one-on-one, thanks to Irish monks. The practice spread, eliminating the shame of a public confession and instituting the seal of the confessional, "so the priest could not reveal what was confessed," Bejarano said.

Confession, according to church commandments, must be done at least once a year, but Pope John Paul II recommended confession at least once a month.

"The catechism of the Catholic church teaches that we have mortal sins — sins that bring death to our soul. Then we have venial sins — those are the ones that don't break our friendship to God. Most people call those the little sins," Bejarano said.

A priest will give a penance that fits the sin, such as a prayer to say, or perhaps giving back something that has been stolen or apologizing to a spouse or children for angry words.

"The penance is not a punishment for the sins," Bejarano said "It's a restitution for the sins I have committed. It is expressing my willingness to restore the wrongdoing I have done."

He said confession "is reconciliation with God and one another."

Bejarano notes: "We have to do it before a priest because we believe Jesus left the apostles the power to do that. Not because the priest forgives the sins, but because God, through the ministry he has left to the priests, forgives our sin."

Confession of mortal sins is extremely important in the Catholic faith.

"If I die without having confessed my mortal sins, if our soul is stained by sin, we cannot enter into the presence of God, clean and holy," Bejarano said.

GREEK ORTHODOX: THE BOOK OF LIFE

As in the Catholic Church, confession is a sacrament heard by a priest. But it is encouraged rather than mandatory, and it can be heard by a priest from a different parish.

"From scripture, the Greek word (for sin) is 'amartia,' which means missing the mark, like an arrow that misses the target," said Father Jon Magoulias of Modesto's Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. "For us, the mark is Christ. We set our lives to journey to Christ. When we stray from that focus, we miss the mark, we sin. So confession, in the Orthodox practice, is the ultimate expression of love. It's not seen as a means to punish people, to demean or humiliate anyone. It's recognizing that Christ entrusted this care to his apostles, and through his apostles to his priests, and that forgiveness of sin is important."

Unlike the Catholic faith, "there are no last rites in the Orthodox Church," he said. "It's not necessary for confession before you die. It's a good thing, but not necessary."

The benefits of confession are numerous, he said. "When people repress things they've done wrong, it affects them. Not just religiously, but physically, emotionally. Confession releases the burden the person may be holding in himself. It could improve relations with other people. It makes a person humble.

"The ultimate benefit is that we believe there is a book of life with the names of people who will live forever in heaven. The things I confess aren't going to be there. I'm going to be held accountable for those things I didn't confess. So it has an eternal benefit.

"The fewer things I have to face on judgment day, the happier I'm going to be."

PROTESTANT: FRESHENING THE SPIRIT

Confession in Protestant denominations is made directly to God rather than through a priest.

"Certainly a person is free to discuss his struggles, weaknesses and sins with his pastor, but it is not required to receive forgiveness from God," said the Rev. Wade Estes, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Modesto, a nondenominational congregation.

"In the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus directs us to ask for forgiveness from God the father: 'And forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.' "

If you die with unconfessed sins, "there are variations among the various branches of the Protestant faith," Estes said. "... My understanding is that if a person dies knowingly holding back confession of sin to God, he dies as a disobedient child of God. He will face God and deal with it after death. His salvation is not in jeopardy."

The benefit of confession is forgiveness of sins.

"God remembers them no more!" Estes said. "They are wiped away. This brings a freshness of spirit, restores fellowship with God, fills our hearts with gratitude. We don't have to flinch when we think of God or wonder how he is feeling toward us. We are free!"

ORTHODOX JEWISH: SETTING THINGS RIGHT

"There are two kinds of sin — one against your fellow man and one against God," said Rabbi Avremel Brod of the Chabad of Stockton, Calif., an Orthodox Jewish congregation.

"If I hurt someone, I can't just go ahead and say, 'I did it,' and then move on. We have to do something to fix that problem. ... And then there are sins against God. God gave the Jewish people 613 commandments. Quite a few still apply today. When we make a mistake, when we slip and don't follow one of the commandments, we have to fix it."

Confession is included in the prayers Orthodox Jews recite three times a day directly to God rather than to a rabbi, Brod said. But there is no set time for confession, he added.

"In the prayer book, there are different times when we are asking forgiveness from God. God doesn't have open or closed hours in heaven, so a person can pray at any time. What God always likes is action: Do something to fix it."

ISLAMIC: 'MOST FORGIVING'

Unlike some Christian religions, Islam does not believe man is born a sinner, said Ahmad Kayello, imam of the Islamic Center of Modesto, Calif.

"We believe the great sinner was Satan, when God ordered him to prostrate (himself) to Adam and he refused. That was the first sin after God created creation. For Satan, he came to Eve and Adam in paradise and whispered to them to eat from the tree, and they did. So we believe sin was from Satan, and he carried it to Adam and Eve."

There are sins against God and sins against creation in Islam, Kayello said. Both need to be confessed to God with true repentance, but there also needs to be reconciliation and/or restitution in the second case, he said.

"If I steal a car, I must make a supplication to God that I won't do it again," he said. "If you go to a person and say, 'I've taken your car, please forgive me,' you can't keep the car. You must give it back."

There are three conditions for true repentance, he added: Stop doing the wrong immediately. Regret doing the sin. Give God the confidence and promise that you're not going to do it again.

There are major and minor sins in Islam, he said. Worshiping anything or anyone other than God is a major sin. Other major sins include drinking alcohol, using other stimulants, being disobedient to parents, committing adultery and killing the innocent. Minor ones include "looking at women or men in the wrong way or minor cheating, such as on an exam," Kayello said.