Confession to Priest in Bible?

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Where in the Bible does it say we should confess to a Priest and only a Priest and that is the only way to confess sins. I personally believe in this but my friend said she was taught at Catholic school that you can confess to God one on one in prayer or to a Priest. I asked a Brother of the church today and he said you must confess to a Priest but he wasnt clear on where it says that in the Bible. I must admit in my Personal Bible in Matthew I think it is its says that we should confess our sins to eachother. I am well and truly confused.
 
This is when Jesus appeared to the apostles after his Resurrection:

In John 20:21-23… "Jesus said to them again "Peace be with you, As the Father has sent me, so I send you."And, when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit, Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

We can ask God for forgiveness, in humility, and repentance, when we pray. However, it is necessary to confess serious sin (mortal) to a priest, who is a stand-in for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those in other denominations who do not understand or accept the authority of the Church usually say “I can go just to God, why do I have to confess to a man.”

Those who accept the authority of the Church find the Sacrament of Reconciliation to be very healing. The words of absolution are a great comfort.

Also, if a person is found to not be truly repentant by the priest, then he can withhold absolution. Hopefully this would jog the person’s conscience as to coming to terms about his/her attitude.
 
Confession is a lesson in humility.

And absolution is just plain wonderful.
 
You might find this Link helpful in showing both the scriptural and ECF basis for the practice of formal, one on one confession.
Also here is a Link to the CCC on the subject.

The practice of the sacrament of confession as we understand it today is not one of those things that is overtly clear in Scripture. Rather it is both a sacrament and a discipline that has evolved over time.
In the early Church open and public confession was quite the norm, yet some sins, a person might not wish to have publically announced. In addition, just as today, there could be things that the penitent is unsure about being a sin or the gravity of the sin or how to overcome the sin. Thus the development of the private confession.

The practice and requirement for confessing to a priest also stems, not only from Christ’s authority given to the clergy through the apostles in John, but also to the idea that it is the priest who is in the best position to aide the penitent in understanding the gravity of certain sins.
We’ve all seen folks here who, owing to their OCD see in every minor infraction a ticket to hell. Likewise, we’ve all know people who seem oblivious to ANYTHING being a sin worthy of condemnation. In between these two extremes lie the majority of people who need, not just absolution but guidance. The Priest, by his authority and his training is best fitted to this task.

Peace
James
 
Lev 5:5 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these [things], **that he shall confess **that he hath sinned in that [thing]:
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, **a lamb **…

10 And he shall offer the second [for] a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.

Lev 19:21** And he shall bring his trespass offering** unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, [even] a ram for a trespass offering.
22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

We no longer need to bring a sin/trespass offering given what jesus did for us, apart from ourselves and a contrite heart.

Being part of the royal priesthood (1pet2:9)
we participate in this sacrament with a ministerial priest (rom15:16) under the high priest Jesus.
 
Yes, it’s interesting that (as stated in the previous post, #5) that Leviticus requires a type of confession to the temple priest, in order that the appropriate sacrifice is done, and done correctly.

And, it states later in Leviticus that such a sacrifice cannot be done anyplace else, out in a field, for example.

Interestingly (as I’ve been reading and studying in Deuteronomy recently) that Deuteronomy downplays the priesthood quite a bit. Sacrifices in local places were suppressed and those local priests were rather out of a job for the same reason. Tithes and various offerings were to be brought only to a central temple, which strangely, was not specied. Well, it’s not strange. Deuteronomy was supposedly authored mostly by Moses, before the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River, to take possession of the promised land.

Some key things seem to have been “undone” by Deuteronomy that had been “done” by Leviticus.

I also read that the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the altar, to sanctify it. The sacrifice did not purify the sinner, it purified and resanctified the temple, which had been contaminated by the action of the sin. So, it was the priest that officiated in this important and symbolic ritual.

As in confession, the action of the priest is purely as an intermediary between the sinner and God, and the action of forgiveness is fulfilled under the sovereignty of the Almighty.
 
*James 5: *
13] Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.
14] Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders (presbyterios or priests) of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15] and the prayer of faith (of the priest) will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16] Therefore confess your sins to one another, (the priest) and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

James 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says Therefore in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 – these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.

John 20
20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” (the Apostles)
22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Verse 21 establishes that those present are just the Apostles.
Verse 23: How are the Apostles to know what sins to forgive if they don’t hear what they are???

1 Tim. 2:5 - Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness.

Matthew 9
2] And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
5] For which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, Rise and walk’?

6] But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" – he then said to the paralytic – “Rise, take up your bed and go home.”
7] And he rose and went home.
8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Why does Jesus say Son of man?
Why does it say, "…they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.??? Doesn’t that clearly say Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to men?

All sorts of errors can happen when the Incarnation is uninformed by Tradition. Jesus gave his authority as a man to other men the power to forgive sins.

Here are two resources.
SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS OF SINS: lists of scriptural citations followed by a brief exegesis.

**THE WOMAN’S SEED: THE HUMANITY OF THE SON OF MAN **May explain evangelicals difficulties in comprehension.
 
Christine85 said:
my friend said she was taught at Catholic school that you can confess to God one on one in prayer or to a Priest.
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It’s not either-or; you must do both!
I must admit in my Personal Bible in Matthew I think it is its says that we should confess our sins to each other.
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If so it was inserted by a fundamentalist and is not part of the text. I do not know this particular Bible but it sounds like an anti-Catholic one. Stick to one of the many different Bibles which have been approved for private reading by the Church, otherwise you will remain
well and truly confused
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by the conficting and self-contradictory false translations pumped out by fundamentalists.
 
The Catholic Church does not deny the efficacy of confessing one’s sins directly to God. On the contrary, the Church encourages Catholics to confess their sins directly to God and to express their sorrow for those sins directly to God as soon as possible after sinning because the Church knows that, if we have perfect contrition (contrition motivated by love of God) for our sins, those sins will instantly be forgiven.

Unfortunately, if we have only imperfect contrition (contrition motivated only by fear of punishment) for our sins, we have no assurance that God will forgive those sins unless we go to the sacrament of Confession and, since only God can rightly judge whether a person’s contrition is perfect or only imperfect, the Church, therefore, wisely obliges Catholics to confess their serious sins and express their contrition for those sins to a priest at least once a year. That way, when the priest forgives our sins in God’s name, we can have assurance that those sins have been forgiven, even if we have only imperfect contrition.

I think the best references in support of priestly confession are those in John 20 and James 5 mentioned in previous posts.
 
Christine85 said:
Where in the Bible does it say we should confess to a Priest and only a Priest and that is the only way to confess sins. I personally believe in this but my friend said she was taught at Catholic school that you can confess to God one on one in prayer or to a Priest. I asked a Brother of the church today and he said you must confess to a Priest but he wasnt clear on where it says that in the Bible. I must admit in my Personal Bible in Matthew I think it is its says that we should confess our sins to eachother. I am well and truly confused.
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If interested, read Scott Hahn’s Lord Have Mercy-the Healing power of Confession. The book traces the roots of confession from the Old T to the present day, and it is Biblical. One of the posts here quoted Leviticus…the book explains the reason for this kind of atonement in the OT.
 
Todd_Easton said:
The Catholic Church does not deny the efficacy of confessing one’s sins directly to God. On the contrary, the Church encourages Catholics to confess their sins directly to God and to express their sorrow for those sins directly to God as soon as possible after sinning because the Church knows that, if we have perfect contrition (contrition motivated by love of God) for our sins, those sins will instantly be forgiven.

Unfortunately, if we have only imperfect contrition (contrition motivated only by fear of punishment) for our sins, we have no assurance that God will forgive those sins unless we go to the sacrament of Confession and, since only God can rightly judge whether a person’s contrition is perfect or only imperfect, the Church, therefore, wisely obliges Catholics to confess their serious sins and express their contrition for those sins to a priest at least once a year. That way, when the priest forgives our sins in God’s name, we can have assurance that those sins have been forgiven, even if we have only imperfect contrition.

I think the best references in support of priestly confession are those in John 20 and James 5 mentioned in previous posts.
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Two questions:
  1. Where does the Bible teach that confession of mortal sin is necessary but confession of venial sin is optional?
  2. Where does the Bible teach the distinction between an act of perfect contrition (flowing from love of God) and an act of imperfect contrition (flowing from fear of God)?
I recently discussed confession with a Low Church (non-sacramental) Protestant. Any (name removed by moderator)ut would be appreciated so that I can continue the dialogue with him.
 
Todd_Easton said:
The Catholic Church does not deny the efficacy of confessing one’s sins directly to God. On the contrary, the Church encourages Catholics to confess their sins directly to God and to express their sorrow for those sins directly to God as soon as possible after sinning because the Church knows that, if we have perfect contrition (contrition motivated by love of God) for our sins, those sins will instantly be forgiven.

Unfortunately, if we have only imperfect contrition (contrition motivated only by fear of punishment) for our sins, we have no assurance that God will forgive those sins unless we go to the sacrament of Confession and, since only God can rightly judge whether a person’s contrition is perfect or only imperfect, the Church, therefore, wisely obliges Catholics to confess their serious sins and express their contrition for those sins to a priest at least once a year. That way, when the priest forgives our sins in God’s name, we can have assurance that those sins have been forgiven, even if we have only imperfect contrition.

I think the best references in support of priestly confession are those in John 20 and James 5 mentioned in previous posts.
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But it’s not really a matter of contrition, imperfect contrition requiring a visit to a priest, is it? Isn’t it about the seriousness of the sin?

The catechism states that venial sins are humanly repairable (CCC 1472) whereas no human action can repair the damage done by mortal sins and therefor the sacrament is required.

?

-Tim-
 
Dorothy said:
In John 20:21-23… "Jesus said to them again "Peace be with you, As the Father has sent me, so I send you."And, when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit, Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Click to expand...
Would Jesus have given His Apostles the power to forgive sins if He didn’t expect them to use it?

How would His Apostles know which sins to forgive and which to retain, if the sins were not confessed?
 
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