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dmar198
Guest
What do you guys think of this pro-Confession argument?Matthew 18:
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.This establishes three hierarchical levels of private confession: (1) between the sinner and the one that he has sinned against, (2) between the sinner and a few witnesses who may convict him in his heart, and (3) between the sinner and the leaders of the Church, who have the power to bind him to his sin or loose him from it. Thus Christ promises that the Church leaders will have power to forgive sin if the need arises; and here as in the Catholic Church, venial sins do not need to be confessed, but reconciliation can be sought with laymen themselves. The leaders of the church, i.e. the priests, only need to be consulted when it becomes a mortal sin, in this case when the sinner refuses to repent. And then if he refuses to repent even to the priest, he cannot be loosed from his sin but must be bound to it, and excommunicated (i.e. treated as an outsider).
So the Sacrament of Confession is one of the most explicit teachings of the Bible. When you try to worm your way around the strength of these passages, O Protestant, (for these are among the most “Catholic” in the Bible,) you show that your protestations are foolish, that you would make nonsense of the Bible wherever it speaks of Catholic doctrines rather than bow to the Lord and obey what He says. But we continue to pray for you, that one day you will repent of this foolishness and come to the Light where God reigns and where all may obey His commands.
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.This establishes three hierarchical levels of private confession: (1) between the sinner and the one that he has sinned against, (2) between the sinner and a few witnesses who may convict him in his heart, and (3) between the sinner and the leaders of the Church, who have the power to bind him to his sin or loose him from it. Thus Christ promises that the Church leaders will have power to forgive sin if the need arises; and here as in the Catholic Church, venial sins do not need to be confessed, but reconciliation can be sought with laymen themselves. The leaders of the church, i.e. the priests, only need to be consulted when it becomes a mortal sin, in this case when the sinner refuses to repent. And then if he refuses to repent even to the priest, he cannot be loosed from his sin but must be bound to it, and excommunicated (i.e. treated as an outsider).
So the Sacrament of Confession is one of the most explicit teachings of the Bible. When you try to worm your way around the strength of these passages, O Protestant, (for these are among the most “Catholic” in the Bible,) you show that your protestations are foolish, that you would make nonsense of the Bible wherever it speaks of Catholic doctrines rather than bow to the Lord and obey what He says. But we continue to pray for you, that one day you will repent of this foolishness and come to the Light where God reigns and where all may obey His commands.
) which is a little demeaning of your brothers and sisters in Christ who sincerely disagree (rightly or wrongly), to varying degrees, with Catholic doctrine.