Forgiveness of sins

[Abira]

John 20:23
Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained

1. • ok… I don’t understand this idea…does it refer to the
     individual being forgiven by another individual ie. in
     confession, or on a personal level between individuals…

or can it be extended to mean: whatever sins the church (as follows from disciples) forgives, I will forgive, and whatever the church declares sin, I will not forgve?

1. If this is the case does it mean that the church could
   technically say that nothing is a sin and therefor all sins
   would be forgiven, or visa versa; can the church ‘make up’
   sins and create their own obstacles for people in their lives?
2. Also… would this moral binding apply to all mankind…or just
   to the Catholic church doing the binding? I’ve always thought
   morals to be more or less universal so it’s strange to think of
   this having been brought up protestant… I’ve always believed
   the Bible to be binding, and even then to recognise different
   interpretations on morality within that.

Take care,
Sarah x

 

[E.E.N.S]

1. You were right about it being confession, as Jesus was giving this authority to his apostles.
2. No, the Church doesn’t “make-up” what is sin and what is not, she is led by the Holy Spirit to know what is sin and what is not.
3. There are definately absolute morals - there can be a difference on an individuals culpability however, depending on the degree of knowledge and understanding that particular individual person has.

(Those were the short answers. )

 

[Mommyof02green]

Q: Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest, rather than going directly to God?
A: {click here}

{click here} to read what the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) has to say about Sin.
{click here} to read what the CCC has to say about confession.

This might help to Sacraments and the Bible (Confession, Baptism, and the Eucharist) {click here}

 

[Abira]

thanks

does the church have any authority to make something which was considered a sin, into something which is permissable? whether lead by the Holy Spirit or not… would this be enough to change the views of anyone in the church? and what if they disagreed?

… I’ll go and check out your links now

 

[jmcrae]

thanks

does the church have any authority to make something which was considered a sin, into something which is permissable? whether lead by the Holy Spirit or not… would this be enough to change the views of anyone in the church? and what if they disagreed?

… I’ll go and check out your links now

There are and have always been three criteria for Mortal Sin:

1. Grave matter. (bad thing to do.)
2. Full knowledge (know that it’s a bad thing to do.)
3. Full consent of the will (did the bad thing on purpose while knowing that they had better alternatives)

Our understanding of certain sins has improved over time - for example, at one time, it was assumed that all suicides were on purpose, with full knowledge and full consent of the will. Today, we understand that mental illness diminishes culpability in this particular sin - a person may feel pressured to commit suicide because of some terrible circumstance in his or her life, or they may be deeply depressed, and can’t see how to live any longer.

 

[Mommyof02green]

thanks

does the church have any authority to make something which was considered a sin, into something which is permissable? whether lead by the Holy Spirit or not… would this be enough to change the views of anyone in the church? and what if they disagreed?

… I’ll go and check out your links now

Check out the links….
Sin is an offense against God. God has determined what is and is not a sin i.e. the 10 commandments, the 2 great commandments. God judges us based on what we do and fail to do (Mathew 25:31-46)

The Church cannot change the 10 commandments, nor can it change the 2 great commandments. The Church also can’t tell God how He can and cannot judge us.

It is for these reasons the Catholic Church has such a strong stance against Abortion and Birth Control. Both of these things go against the commandment “thou shall not kill”. (PM and I can give you more info)

That is why the Catholic Church has told her members that they must go to Mass and that it is a SIN to miss Mass. Remember the commandments to worship ONLY God and keep HOLY the Lord’s Day.

Etc, etc… I can give more examples however I think this will do for now.

PM if you would like to talk more…
God Bless

 

[mercygate]

thanks

does the church have any authority to make something which was considered a sin, into something which is permissable? whether lead by the Holy Spirit or not… would this be enough to change the views of anyone in the church? and what if they disagreed?

… I’ll go and check out your links now

The Church can’t declare something is not a sin if it is a sin against the Commandments or the divine and natural moral law.

Another poster gave a good example of how our understanding can mitigate an earlier view. Would suicide with full knowledge and consent of the will be mortal sin? Yup.

The Church also has the power of “binding and loosing” (Mt 16:19) in matters of discipline in order to foster the good of her members. In decades past, for example, it was considered grave sin in the U. S. Church to eat meat on Fridays – not because there is anything inherently evil about eating meat on Fridays but as a way of bringing people to a weekly conscientious recognition of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross for their salvation.