Protestants and the forgiveness of sins

[PerryJ]

That doesn’t really answer my question though. Even if confessing to a priest is the same as confessing to God, what benefit is there to participating in this form of confession as opposed to private confession to God without an intermediary presence? If I’ve gotten my terminology wrong please pardon my error, but I’m most interested in the heart of the question: why have a priest present at confession?

This is just my personal opinion and not Church doctrine or anything. It is much harder to go to a Priest and confess a sin than to do it privately. As a Protestant I sinned. Asked God for forgiveness and was good to go. (I truly meant I was sorry.) The next week I did it again. If you have to face your priest and state your sins it is much harder. I do not want to go into the confessional three weeks in a row with the same sin.

When one sins it brings evil into the world. This evil is a plague on man. No sin impacts just one person. Your fellow man deserve to hear a confession. Sin has damage the world in; which, we live.

 

[SIA]

typical protestant. ask them a question and you’ll receive questions for an answer.

Sounds like a legitimate question to me.

 

[a_mirror_dimly]

This is just my personal opinion and not Church doctrine or anything. It is much harder to go to a Priest and confess a sin than to do it privately. As a Protestant I sinned. Asked God for forgiveness and was good to go. (I truly meant I was sorry.) The next week I did it again. If you have to face your priest and state your sins it is much harder. I do not want to go into the confessional three weeks in a row with the same sin.

When one sins it brings evil into the world. This evil is a plague on man. No sin impacts just one person. Your fellow man deserve to hear a confession. Sin has damage the world in; which, we live.

Indeed, and here I certainly agree with you. Accountability is very beneficial and helpful in preventing future sin, the gift of guilt as it were.

 

[christcnection1]

Our assistant priest at our parish has been a priest for over 30 years and he has told me many times of priests in our diocese who, for years, have refused to offer absolution on many occasions.

I know that Padre Pio refused to absolve at times, but he was given a spiritual gift of being able to read hearts and minds. Perhaps some of the priest have been given similar insights, and were justified. If not, we can trust that God heard the cries of a sincere penitent. Hopefully they were willing to go to another confessor if a certain priest was in the wrong. But it could very well be that many priests in Mother Church have cheapened, if not watered-down this great Sacrament for the sake of convenience.

This scenario is far from the norm. I have not heard of this happening to anyone I know. But thanks for the observation. This could be a good topic for a new thread.

 

[cath2lic4ever]

Sounds like a legitimate question to me.

this time i agree with you sia, indeed it’s a legitimate question but answering a question with questions is not legit…it’s called protestantism!

 

[christcnection1]

this time i agree with you sia, indeed it’s a legitimate question but answering a question with questions is not legit…it’s called protestantism!

Didn’t our Lord sometimes answer a question with a question?

 

[BlestOne]

I have never met a protestant who has ever said anything like this. We do believe in reconciliation; we just don’t believe we have to go to a priest for it. We do confess our sins to one another even if it is embarrassing. It’s misleading to suggest otherwise.

Funny, I talked to a former Methodist Minister last night and I asked him what was the hardest thing he had to overcome to become Catholic. He said confession and elaborated that it was for just this reason…

 

[beeper]

I don’t consider myself Catholic or Protestant, but I know a lot of Protestants that believe in accountablity to a pastor, friends, spouses etc… Granted, they are not using this as a means of obtaining true forgiveness like Catholics, but they do find confessing sins to each other extremely important. These reasons would be the same as many of you mentioned previously. They simply do it as a way of encouraging each other to remain pure and on fire for the Lord. The mix up between the two religions is multifaceted but mainly the difference is over how to achieve forgiveness from God. But to be fair, for someone to say that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant.

 

[beeper]

I don’t consider myself Catholic or Protestant, but I know a lot of Protestants that believe in accountablity to a pastor, friends, spouses etc… Granted, they are not using this as a means of obtaining true forgiveness like Catholics, but they do find confessing sins to each other extremely important. These reasons would be the same as many of you mentioned previously. They simply do it as a way of encouraging each other to remain pure and on fire for the Lord. The mix up between the two religions is multifaceted but the main difference is over how to achieve forgiveness from God. But to be fair, for someone to say that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant.

 

[PerryJ]

I don’t consider myself Catholic or Protestant, but I know a lot of Protestants that believe in accountablity to a pastor, friends, spouses etc… Granted, they are not using this as a means of obtaining true forgiveness like Catholics, but they do find confessing sins to each other extremely important. These reasons would be the same as many of you mentioned previously. They simply do it as a way of encouraging each other to remain pure and on fire for the Lord. The mix up between the two religions is multifaceted but mainly the difference is over how to achieve forgiveness from God. But to be fair, for someone to say that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant.

The statement that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant. Is misleading in itself. As any post on this site concerning Protestants we have to be general. It depends on which group of Protestants you are talking about. The diversity is very large. When I was a former Protestant we never confessed sins to another person.

 

[christcnection1]

for someone to say that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant.

Agreed. In my experience as an Evangelical accountability partners and/or groups was common, and is an effective means as keeping one another pure in thought and deed.

Although there are aspects of this the Catholic Church could, and maybe should incorporate, I don’t believe it’s as effective in keeping God’s people away from more grave sin as the Catholic “model.”

I consider myself a faithful Catholic. Therefore, the idea of falling into mortal sin, having to confess it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament, greatly troubles my soul. The gift of the Eucharist is so beautiful and powerful! Why would I want to do something that prevents me from receiving such a glorious gift??

As a general rule, Catholics should do far more faith-sharing. This includes “confessing” one’s faults and failings. Many Protestants do fine job of this, to their benefit. Having to confess in one form or another forces us to reconsider our actions before going against God.

 

[beeper]

The statement that Protestants resist the idea of admitting sin to each other is simply inaccurate and/or ignorant. Is misleading in itself. As any post on this site concerning Protestants we have to be general. It depends on which group of Protestants you are talking about. The diversity is very large. When I was a former Protestant we never confessed sins to another person.

Sorry for the confusion regarding my last post…Let me clarify. In general Protestantism, I believe you would be hard pressed to find one doctrinal statement in any Protestant church that states one should not have accountability groups where sins are openly admitted. Just because one person says they didn’t tell their sins to someone else doesnt mean that Protestants in general “resist” or condemn the idea. I was simply stating that to think Protestant’s resist or condemn this idea is simply inaccurate based upon most (if not all) Protestant’s doctrine. The bible constantly encourages each of us to encourage each other…especially in the area of sin. For any Protestant church to admit they “resist” or condemn open admission of sin to one another would be unbiblical. Sorry again, I thought I was being very general in my statement.

 

[christcnection1]

The bible constantly encourages each of us to encourage each other…especially in the area of sin.

Based on this passage of scripture, do you believe that Jesus was giving His disciples the authority to forgive sins?

If so, why do you think most Protestants reject this idea? And why shouldn’t this same gift be extended to His Church for all ages?

If not, what do you think Jesus was doing here?

 

[jebeau]

When I was protestant, I knew I could “confess” sins to my trusted friends or to a pastor. Unfortunately, they could listen, but they couldn’t give me Christ’s forgiveness. By that I mean, I knew in my head I was forgiven (but I never heard anyone actually say the words to me.)

One of the last times I talked to a protestant pastor about a mixed up family situation that I needed help with, (I wasn’t sure if I’d sinned,) all the pastor could do was listen encouragingly and give me a book by a Christian psychologist. He couldn’t tell me if there was a sin involved, and he couldn’t absolve me if there was. It was all up to me to decide and just believe.

My conclusion was that in protestantland, you have to just believe you are forgiven, but you don’t really know For Sure. That’s fine if you can accept that. I couldn’t and I swam the Tiber in 2007.

 

[jebeau]

By the way, Beeper. . . how can you be a Christian, but not be either a Catholic or a Protestant?

Please elaborate.

What tradition do you follow? (Yes, you follow Christ. . .but how? Using what tradition. How do you worship and “fellowship”?)

How do you see the history of the Church since Christ?

Did the house churches of the 1st and 2nd centuries look like modern non-Catholic fellowship churches or were they Catholic, in your view?

 

[beeper]

Based on this passage of scripture, do you believe that Jesus was giving His disciples the authority to forgive sins?

If so, why do you think most Protestants reject this idea? And why shouldn’t this same gift be extended to His Church for all ages?

If not, what do you think Jesus was doing here?

I responded to the initial question that got this whole discussion going to begin with. If you want me to discuss it further after you read my previous statement I would be happy too…To answer your question I think Jesus’s mission was quite simple. Redeem mankind from their state of condemnation. God is holy and we are not. The only way to withstand a judgement before a perfectly holy and righteous God in our state of sin is to have Jesus. Its the only way back to the Father. Did I answer your question? If not, I will be more than happy to elaborate.

 

[beeper]

By the way, Beeper. . . how can you be a Christian, but not be either a Catholic or a Protestant?

Please elaborate.

What tradition do you follow? (Yes, you follow Christ. . .but how? Using what tradition. How do you worship and “fellowship”?)

How do you see the history of the Church since Christ?

Did the house churches of the 1st and 2nd centuries look like modern non-Catholic fellowship churches or were they Catholic, in your view?

First, I state that I am a Christian because that is what they were referred to in the book of Acts. Also, I believe you will never find denominations such as "Lutherans, Baptists, Catholic etc. ever used in the bible. So why call yourself something that Jesus or the apostles never refer too. Again they only refer to the followers of Christ as Christians. Secondly, I don’t believe you are saved by whatever label you decide to put on your back. Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran etc… Also, the minute you claim a denomination people jump all over your case and in a lot of instances are really mislead. So if someone wants to know my beliefs I will explain them. Then if people think I am not a Christian I will gladly debate that. I hope I didnt spin around your initial question to much. Blessings

 

[Jacob_Fenton]

First, I state that I am a Christian because that is what they were referred to in the book of Acts. Also, I believe you will never find denominations such as "Lutherans, Baptists, Catholic etc. ever used in the bible. So why call yourself something that Jesus or the apostles never refer too. Again they only refer to the followers of Christ as Christians. Secondly, I don’t believe you are saved by whatever label you decide to put on your back. Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran etc… Also, the minute you claim a denomination people jump all over your case and in a lot of instances are really mislead. So if someone wants to know my beliefs I will explain them. Then if people think I am not a Christian I will gladly debate that. I hope I didnt spin around your initial question to much. Blessings

Can we say you’re Fundagelical to get a better sense on where you might stand on this or that issue? (Because, although you may deny it, you come historically from the line of our separated brethren, the Protestants.)

 

[christcnection1]

I responded to the initial question that got this whole discussion going to begin with. If you want me to discuss it further after you read my previous statement I would be happy too…To answer your question I think Jesus’s mission was quite simple. Redeem mankind from their state of condemnation. God is holy and we are not. The only way to withstand a judgement before a perfectly holy and righteous God in our state of sin is to have Jesus. Its the only way back to the Father. Did I answer your question? If not, I will be more than happy to elaborate.

Do you believe that Jesus gave His disciples the authority to forgive sins? If so, how should that have bearing on His Church today? If not, what do you believe Jesus was doing in this passage of scripture?

I know you posted a Protestant commentary to add to the discussion, but what do you believe concerning this verse? Ultimately, your final authority is what you believe the Bible is saying; it’s not based on a well-meaning commentary from a supposed Biblical scholar.

Finally, do you know of any Bible verse that says the only way to be forgiven is to only confess your sins directly to God, and not through man? If that’s true, then I would think that God would ensure that Bible verse existed. As far as I know, it does not.

 

[beeper]

Can we say you’re Fundagelical to get a better sense on where you might stand on this or that issue? (Because, although you may deny it, you come historically from the line of our separated brethren, the Protestants.)/QUOTE

Am I correct to assume that Cathlics consider anyone a Protestant if they don’t submit to the Catholic denomination? If this is the case, then I would say that I am a Protestant. I just don’t claim any specific Protestant denomination. I just don’t like any labels in general other than a Christian. In most cases, it seems to avoid a lot of misunderstanding and assumptions when discussing beliefs.