The biblical argument is an important one. In fact, if it isn’t raised by our opponents, it ought to be raised by us. We need to refer to Christ’s words to his apostles (John 20:2l–22), “Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven,” and the significance of his having breathed upon them as he spoke. How can the apostles announce that some sins are to be forgiven and some “retained” if they do not know what people’s sins are? How would forgiveness work if no sins were mentioned? The problem for the sincere Bible-believing Evangelical is that there is no biblical mandate for his custom of the altar call, in which people are urged to come forward to a given place, nor is there warrant for the notion of a spontaneous testimony while sitting in a circle at a prayer group—yet these are the methods of announcing forgiveness often used by Evangelical churches.
The Catholic Church takes the biblical teaching that the apostle is one who is “sent out” by God and through whom God speaks (2 Cor. 5:20) with the message, “Be reconciled to God.” The words that are used by the Church in absolution are centered in Scripture, which speaks of Christ “reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:18). In the epistle of James we are told “confess your faults to one another” (Jas. 5:16), and in context this refers to confession to the clergy (who also have the authority to anoint sick people with oil in the name of the Lord). There are arguments, then, for saying that the sacrament of reconciliation as practiced in the Catholic Church is biblical. If we wanted to press the point, we could go further and note that the sinner’s prayer printed on cards distributed at Evangelical rallies is not biblical at all, at least in the sense that it is not to be found in Scripture in the words used and that all the biblical evidence points the Catholic way.
What, then, of the idea that confession is unnecessary? I have found it helpful, when talking to a nonCatholic about this, to ask what exactly he does when he wants to tell God he is sorry about something.
“I just tell him I’m sorry.”
“Yes, but how?”
“I . . . well, I just tell him.”
“How? I mean do you kneel down that night when you pray, or do you just say something quickly while you’re walking along, or what?”
The question may sound ridiculous, but, if we are talking seriously and as friends, it isn’t. If, for instance, I had never really prayed before, and I was asking a Christian friend to help me, I would need specific advice. Usually, Evangelicals are not reluctant to give it. They will give ideas to new converts about finding a quiet place to pray, about praying, about using a Bible, about the value of sharing prayer with a prayer partner. I’m not sneering at these things; I’m just stating that they exist, as do Evangelical prayermanuals and inspirational books. It’s not daft to suggest that a new Christian might want fairly detailed and specific advice about asking, and getting, God’s forgiveness.
I have found that sometimes the final answer to my question is, “Well, I would kneel down and say, in my heart, ‘Lord, I am truly sorry that I have done such-and-such,’ and then I would tell him that I will never do it again and ask him to forgive me.” This is satisfactory as far as it goes, but by this point in the conversation there is a recognition that the vague notion that “I’ll just have to say ‘Sorry’ to God” has had to be spelled out in greater detail. Questions have been raised that have not been answered. Does one, for example, name the sin? Does one try to make excuses? Is there a danger of getting morbid or dwelling too much on it? And how does one know that the forgiveness sought has been delivered and received?
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