Do Catholic priests have the authority to forgive sins on earth?

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rinnie said:
:DTo the original question at hand. Do Catholic Priest have the authorityto forgive our sins.

Well if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and was given authority by his Father to forgive sins, then you have to believe that the authority given to him could be passed down as he said and given to Man.

He said what you bound if bound and what you loose is loose. ** So you either believe the scripture as the word of God or you don’t I guess**.
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This would seem to be a matter of misinterpretation vs. not believing Scripture to be the word of God, methinks.
 
pablope said:
Follow up question:

After their confession directly to God (which I presume is what you’re saying), how will a person confesssing know he has been forgiven by God, aside from a subjective emotion of being or feeling of being forgiven? And what penance is he going to do? How will one know fo sure, without a shadow of a doubt?

And what a about a repeat offender…will God continously forgive one who keeps on doing the same thing over and over…will this then not amount to “vain repetition”?

How will the offender expiate his sins? Who will counsel the offender about the path to follow?
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God is a forgiving God is he not?. Where does Jesus say you have to do penance? Faith that God says what he means.
How many times should I forgive someone 7 times? 7 times 70 Jesus told them.
God knows if you are true in asking for forgiveness. Have you not done the same thing over and over or once you have sinned and confessed it you never repeat that sin again?
I or some else will counsel the offender about the path to follow, and I’m sure we will disagree on this.
 
Newbie2 said:
So why would anyone confess a sin to you? Relieve their guilt? “Get it off their chest”?

Just curious.
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Lets say I’m playing golf with some people and one comes to me and says, you’re a minister and being a minister I can confide in you right? I would say right. Then he goes on and tells me. I am at that time working as a minister and I am not aloud to tell anyone what he has told me, even if it means going to jail or prison.
There could be may reasons one might confess a sin to me. Then at that point I would need to counsel him or her.
 
Newbie2 said:
So why would anyone confess a sin to you? Relieve their guilt? “Get it off their chest”?

Just curious.
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Rev Kev…Just out of curiosity too…do you encourage your congregation to confess to you, or just go directly to God?
 
rev_kevin said:
God is a forgiving God is he not?. Where does Jesus say you have to do penance? Faith that God says what he means.
How many times should I forgive someone 7 times? 7 times 70 Jesus told them.
God knows if you are true in asking for forgiveness. Have you not done the same thing over and over or once you have sinned and confessed it you never repeat that sin again?
I or some else will counsel the offender about the path to follow, and I’m sure we will disagree on this.
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Sure he is forgiving…but if one does not make an effort not to sin, then what happens, will God still be in a forgiving mood? When does it become “vain repetition” in your view?

And isn’t what you did here on earth will follow you to judgement day? As per Matthew 16: 24-27? What is your understanding of this passage?
 
pablope said:
Sure he is forgiving…but if one does not make an effort not to sin, then what happens, will God still be in a forgiving mood? When does it become “vain repetition” in your view?

And isn’t what you did here on earth will follow you to judgement day? As per Matthew 16: 24-27? What is your understanding of this passage?
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If one does not make a effort then his confession is no good. God will forgive you if you mean it.

That would be up to God when it becomes a vain repetition, not me.

If thats the case then what good is confessing if it will follow you anyway?
 
Greetings Rev. Kevin; Iam curious can you forgive and or retain venial sin (not deadly) and mortal sin (which is deadly) from one who has confessed them to you?

1John speaks about not being able to pray for a deadly sin; How do you account for someone with this deadly sin? and what action does one take, if prayer is not going to help him? What would be your reason for “retaining” this deadly sin as scripture teaches?

1 John 5:16
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.** There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. **
17
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

Why did Jesus give the power to the Church to forgive and or retain sin?

Peace be with you
 
Newbie2 said:
This would seem to be a matter of misinterpretation vs. not believing Scripture to be the word of God, methinks.
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Maybe but how do you misinterpret these words. As the Father sent me So I send You. and he BREATHED onthem and SAID to them. RECEIVE the Holy Spirit. Whose sins YOU FORGIVE are FORGIVEN them, and whose sins YOU retain are Retained. How could anyone possibly get more then one meaning out of those exact words??:eek:
 
rinnie said:
Maybe but how do you misinterpret these words. As the Father sent me So I send You. and he BREATHED onthem and SAID to them. RECEIVE the Holy Spirit. Whose sins YOU FORGIVE are FORGIVEN them, and whose sins YOU retain are Retained. How could anyone possibly get more then one meaning out of those exact words??:eek:
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I don’t know, but it happens. Seems pretty clear to moi. 🤷 Ask Rev. Kev…I’m sure he has a different interpretation than you and I have.
 
rev_kevin said:
If one does not make a effort then his confession is no good. God will forgive you if you mean it.

That would be up to God when it becomes a vain repetition, not me.

If thats the case then what good is confessing if it will follow you anyway?
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That would be up to God when it becomes a vain repetition, not me. Then what are you to advise your congregation if you do not know? If you have the guidance of the HS, should you not know?

If thats the case then what good is confessing if it will follow you anyway?

It looks to me like you are the one with the conflict. This is in the Bible, same with confession…so how will you reconcile these passages? Are you going to accept one part and reject the another part?
 
rev_kevin said:
So you’re saying that the men had the authority for forgive sin even though they were not ordained (priests) and had hands laid on them?
If they were appointed by God without being ordained and hands laid on them then it would stand to reason that one does not need it to forgive sin.
Matthew used the plural “men” here because there were more than one man.
There is only one man (Jesus) who can truely forgive sin.
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We’re not understanding each other here. Who in your opinion are the “men” in Matthew 9:8?
I don’t recall the name of the siminary, its been over 30 years since I have been there but it was a Catholic siminary in Indiana.
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Unless you have dementia, I have a hard time believing you don’t remember the name of the seminary you attended.
 
Hello david; The Rev.Kevin has not given a protestant response to my questions here; Can you answer them for me? How does a protestant forgive or retain another’s sin, without unbroken apostolic succession or the same anointing of laying of hands on them from the original Apostles as does both East and Roman Catholic church clergy?

How does a protestant retain sin from a confessed sin from a sinner?
=Gabriel of 12;7245269]Greetings Rev. Kevin; Iam curious can you forgive and or retain venial sin (not deadly) and mortal sin (which is deadly) from one who has confessed them to you?
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1John speaks about not being able to pray for a deadly sin; How do you account for someone with this deadly sin? and what action does one take, if prayer is not going to help him? What would be your reason for “retaining” this deadly sin as scripture teaches?
Click to expand...
1 John 5:16
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.** There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray**.
17
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.
Click to expand...
Why did Jesus give the power to the Church to forgive and or retain sin?
John 20:22
15 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.
23
16 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
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Peace be with you
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I have been Catholic for 12 years now. I love the Sacrament of Confession. Hard…of course as humility is at times hard. Do I go to the Priest? All I know is I go to Jesus all the other stuff does not matter to me. I know the Priest goes to confession just like me as we are all in this together. I have witnessed souls become Catholic because they wanted to go to confession. Who does not want to be with Christ in this? Maes me think of Saint Peter when Jesus asked him “Peter do you love me” I find a lot about confession right there.
 
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