Confession: Does it have to be to a Priest?

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Albmore said:
No you must not go to a Priest. The bible tells us to confess our sins to one another, not to a preist. Also with the 5 hail Mary’s ect. Jesus himself told us not to say prayers in repetition as the Pharisies did wanting to be heard with their many words but to go into our prayer closet alone and confess them unto the Lord. That is if you wish to believe what the bible says or not.
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Yes it does - in the letter of James, which if I remember rightly he was actually adressing (at least at that point) specifically TO the priests and elders. So they are the ‘one another’ to whom we should be confessing.

And how exactly does the confessing to one another square with the confessing only to God in your closet?? Can’t have it both ways now.

More importantly, how does it square with the Apostles, and only them, no-one else, being given the power to forgive sins? If you tell your mother, your best friend or your pastor they HAVEN’T been given that authority, not explicitly (eg by priestly ordination or laying on of hands).

And who exactly do YOU confess your sins to anyway. Is it your grandma? your neighbours? Your cat? Do you tell them all your sins or just some (in which case it isn’t really confessing anything)?
 
mercygate said:
You seem quite sure of yourself. Tell us, how does a Priest not qualify as “another” to whom one might confess? We not only believe what the Bible says, but we also get our quotations right. Jesus said not to make VAIN repetitions “as the heathen do” – not “the Pharisees” – and Jesus did not denounce ALL repetition. If Psalm 136 is in your Bible, then you accuse Jesus of “vain repetition” because as a good Jew, He prayed the Psalms. There is a WHOLE lot of repetition in Ps. 136.

Jesus’ counsel to go into one’s “closet” to pray is not a specific reference to confession – and I don’t see how it applies here anyway. Do you pray in church? Or do you save it exclusively for your “closet?”

Your counsel here, “you must not confess to a priest” shows a complete lack of awareness of what the Catholic Church believes about confession, WHY we do it as we do, WHERE the Scriptural warrants are found, what the conditions are under which it is effective, or HOW the power of forgiveness of sins is transmitted to the Priest from Christ through HIS Church.
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Why dont you show me where scripture warrents the Catholic method of confessing sins.
 
LilyM said:
Yes it does - in the letter of James, which if I remember rightly he was actually adressing (at least at that point) specifically TO the priests and elders. So they are the ‘one another’ to whom we should be confessing.

And how exactly does the confessing to one another square with the confessing only to God in your closet?? Can’t have it both ways now.

More importantly, how does it square with the Apostles, and only them, no-one else, being given the power to forgive sins? If you tell your mother, your best friend or your pastor they HAVEN’T been given that authority, not explicitly (eg by priestly ordination or laying on of hands).

And who exactly do YOU confess your sins to anyway. Is it your grandma? your neighbours? Your cat? Do you tell them all your sins or just some (in which case it isn’t really confessing anything)?
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I confess my sins , ALL my sins to Jesus in prayer. Our you telling me that is wrong and he does not have the authority to forgive them?
 
mercygate said:
You seem quite sure of yourself. Tell us, how does a Priest not qualify as “another” to whom one might confess? We not only believe what the Bible says, but we also get our quotations right. Jesus said not to make VAIN repetitions “as the heathen do” – not “the Pharisees” – and Jesus did not denounce ALL repetition. If Psalm 136 is in your Bible, then you accuse Jesus of “vain repetition” because as a good Jew, He prayed the Psalms. There is a WHOLE lot of repetition in Ps. 136.

Jesus’ counsel to go into one’s “closet” to pray is not a specific reference to confession – and I don’t see how it applies here anyway. Do you pray in church? Or do you save it exclusively for your “closet?”

Your counsel here, “you must not confess to a priest” shows a complete lack of awareness of what the Catholic Church believes about confession, WHY we do it as we do, WHERE the Scriptural warrants are found, what the conditions are under which it is effective, or HOW the power of forgiveness of sins is transmitted to the Priest from Christ through HIS Church.
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As far as quotations your right I sould have taken the two mintue to quote the quote word for word. I see by your agressive writting though that it is your religion that is what is important to you more than Christianity its self.
 
Albmore said:
Why dont you show me where scripture warrents the Catholic method of confessing sins.
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Here is a link to a Catholic Answers tract to this frequently asked question. It is replete with Scriptural references and it includes several references from the ancient literature to the actual practice of the Apostolic and sub-apostolic Church.

In those days, people not only confessed to a Priest, they did it in front of the entire congregation. I’m certainly glad that practice has been modified!

To the Scriptural references in the article, I would add 2 Cor 2:10, where Paul, referring to forgiving the incestuous man, says that in reconciling him to the congregation, he (Paul) had forgiven him “in the person of Christ.” (KJV) “Forgave I it in the person of Christ.” In Confession, the Priest acts “in the person of Christ.”

Later in Chapter 5 v. 20 Paul refers to himself as an “ambassador” for Christ, entrusted with “the word of reconciliation.” An ambassador is someone who **acts **on behalf of the King. In sacramental Confession, sinners are reconciled to God and to the Church. “The Sacrament of Reconciliation” is is an alternative name for Confession.
 
Albmore said:
As far as quotations your right I sould have taken the two mintue to quote the quote word for word.
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Agreed. Thank you.
I see by your agressive writting though that it is your religion that is what is important to you more than Christianity its self.
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I apologize for my tone.

Catholics take Scripture very seriously. We are frequently taunted by people who think that Catholic practices cannot be found in Scripture. Many people believe that Catholics do not KNOW Scripture. On the contrary, we hold it in the highest regard, which is why I can be aggressive when it is being misquoted at me.

If Sacred Scripture is your standard, it is by no means “aggressive” to hold you to your own standard.
 
Albmore said:
I confess my sins , ALL my sins to Jesus in prayer. Our you telling me that is wrong and he does not have the authority to forgive them?
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I’ll take it you don’t confess your sins to another person then, which is directly contrary to what Scripture explicitly commands of everyone who calls themself a Christian.

You can’t have failed to notice that Jesus gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins after Easter.

What possible reason was there for Jesus to give the Apostles this power if He never meant them to use it? If we were just supposed to pray to Him alone (instead of through a priest) when we sinned? It makes no sense, and Jesus ALWAYS makes sense and always says and does things for a reason.

It’s for our own good, of course, that Christ commanded us to confess to our priests. For one thing we get good advice and counselling from them. We also get a refreshing dose of humility and a sense of the true seriousness of sin, which we all badly need.

Just like it’s for our own good that He commands us to worship on the Sabbath - you think our worship adds anything to Him? Of course not. But we are told to worship Him for OUR sake, that we might get a truer sense of who He is and what we owe to Him.
 
Albmore, you may feel humble when asking Jesus to forgive your sins, but there is nothing as humbling as telling another human being your sins, a Catholic priest. This truly is a humbling experience, and not taken lighly. After all you need to be sure you are seriously not going to commit your sins again when you o to confession, for if you fall right back into the same sins, you KNOW your confession was worthless, as you must humble yourself again in order to be in the state of grace. Humility; a true virtue, and NOTHING is more humbling then telling ALL your sins directly to another living breathing human being who may recognize your voice next Sunday…Humility, is a darn good reason Christ instituted Confession to a Priest…Until you’ve done it you don’t know what humility is…God Bless…
 
Hello,

I do agree with you somewhat, but I do not agree that it must only be to a priest. Thank You for your comments though and May God Bless You.
 
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