As I understand this was the norm only in the early development of the Church…of course, I’m no Church historian so I’m sure someone more learned will be able to tell us more detailed information.
At each Mass we do confess aloud our sinfulness in the Pentitential Rite but we don’t confess our individual sins aloud to each other…maybe this is what your friend meant?
Well the extent of that ‘confession’ at the most is to say ‘I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do’ (the exact words don’t vary from mass to mass).
Perhaps it was this what they meant.
Thank you for this explanation, very much Faith101! It is very enlightening.dear Subrosa
The reason why Muslims have a hard time understanding the concept of Confession is because we believe that only God is capable of forgiving sins. All humans are on the same playing field, and the best amongst us are the ones who are greater in piety. The most pious person can be that beggar that searches the trash for food, not neccesarily a priest or an imam.
The other thing is that we believe we have an open and direct connection with God. He asks us to pray to Him, to call on Him…and He will answer those prayers. Also, read my signature, its a verse in the Quran where God says that through repentence (basically this 3 step process, if your interested we can get into it later), God promises to forgive us our sins, and never does God break His promises.
But i realize that the way we see our relationship with God is different. And i do understand your point of view (i think)
This is also a Christian belief, but we add ministers to this, originally with the followers of Christ, which He gave the ministries, and thier successors who carry on thier ministries.
Hi Edam -
This is the whole part I don’t understand. How can someone who may be evil be a representative of God? Do you really believe that someone who may be evil be a representative of God? Also the priest can’t absolve you of your sins, because for sure, no one knows if God really forgave you or not.
Question? How do you know that Allah forgives you when you ask him? I am going to guess that the Koran tell you that this is the case.
God tells us a general rule (that anyone who sincerely repents will be forgiven). However no one really knows for sure if they were forgiven or not. Also how can a priest who can be evil be a representative of God? If you had a business, would you hire bad representatives? Would you hire someone who is on drugs, molests children, and spends his nights with prostitutes?
Well, that last part is a whole new pile of fish, so I am going to save that one for a moment.
How can my husband still be my husband even if he does something wrong? Firstly because I chose him to be my husband, secondly because he also chooses to stay with me, thirdly because I forgive him if he’s sorry for doing something wrong.
Surely if I find out my religous leader did any major sin regularly, he will no longer be my religous leader. Never would I follow a man who is a drug dealer, sleeps with prostitutes, and steals peoples money. In fact even if he is one of the best Muslims on earth, I still don’t say he is representing God on earth. I am not speaking about priests with minor sins, such as something almost all normal people may do. I am speaking about priests who do things that not even non-religous people will do. Such as steal peoples money, molest children of the same sex, homosexuals etc. Can such a person really be chosen by God? Couldn’t God find someone better?
For us as Christians it’s a central component of our religious thought that our salvation or going to heaven depends much less on anything we do, be it good or bad, than on God’s goodness and mercy.This is shown in God’s ability to use even sinful people to help save others.
Even if the priest is a child molestor, drug dealer, theif, adulterer, and bisexual he is the representative of Christ. We are all sinners, so we are not confessing to the priest but to God. I guess it is sort of like you Muslims facing east when you pray, you know God would hear your prayer if you were facing west of south or north but you believe He hears them better when you follow your tradition. In order for our sins to be forgiven we not only have to confess them but do the pennance the priest gives us, also the fact that I know I must go tell someone my sins helps keep me from committing some of them in the first place. Just as Muslims believe we can not say who is or is not saved, so we don’t know who is or is not going to Hell.
Hi Emad -
Ah, the Protestant Reformation. Another topic that would take whole pages! For confession, the short answer is - some do, some don’t. Some confess (Anglicans), some don’t (Baptists, Evangelicals) In interperting scripture, Protestant groups are very fond of picking out specific verses to support thier ideals. In doing so, they ignore others. There are thousands of protestant groups, each with thier own take on scripture. I don’t think they have a leg to stand on, personally. The Catholic Church (along with the Orthodox) are the ORIGINAL churches that gathered the scripture together and recognised them as inspired from God. These churches have practiced the same interpretations of scripture since the very beginning. The Orthodox churches practice various forms of confession, as do the Catholics.
As far as the same Bible, the short answer is…you guessed it! YES and NO! A Catholic Priest in the early 1500’s named Martin Luther decided to go his own way and chose to not accept some of the books that all Christians had been using for 1500 years. He removed several books he didn’t agree with and republished the Bible in his own version. From then on, other Protestant groups have restructured the bible to fit thier own views. They have taken liberties because of the transliteration of Greek, the original language. Greek is difficult to translate into other languages. It takes Greek scholars to do so. Some Protestant groups have sent a few of thier followers to a year of Greek studies in order to translate the Bible for themselves. (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Yes I don’t see symbolism as the problem, however people on this thread have said that the priest is God’s representative on earth. Can an evil person be God’s representative on earth? If so why did God choose them and not someone who isn’t evil?
That is not for you and I to decide. It is God’s decision who he calls to do his good work and why. I am sure of two things.
I might not choose him as a spiritual director, but I would confess to him. The personal sins of the priest (and they all sin) do not prevent them from administering the sacrament of reconciliation. Their authority comes from God, not their own holiness.