Re: Administering Sacraments

[Joseph_Smith]

Just a little thinking about confession. I understand confession is good for the soul. But as the word of God said all men are sinners and that Only Jesus Christ is the high priest who serves between God and men. So how does any earthly man have the right to administer forgivenness of sin period. Who has the right to administer the blood of Christ other then Christ. Could you give me a example of any absolveing of people sins by any of the apostles and for 325 years before the holy roman catholic how were sins admonished. Who did peter go to for absoluation, or mary or james or matthew. Has the priest the same holyness of Jesus the Son of God who has gained the right to forgive him by suffering the cross in obidence. So how do earthly men absolve sin.

 

[geezerbob]

It’s all in your Bible. The power to forgive sins came straight from Jesus to the apostles and has been transferred by them to their successors through the ages.

 

[Safe_Eagle]

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8; note the plural “men”). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:21–23). (Here’s one example)

Hippolytus

“[The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray:] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal Spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command” (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).

catholic.com/library/Confession.asp

 

[thistle]

Just a little thinking about confession. I understand confession is good for the soul. But as the word of God said all men are sinners and that Only Jesus Christ is the high priest who serves between God and men. So how does any earthly man have the right to administer forgivenness of sin period. Who has the right to administer the blood of Christ other then Christ. Could you give me a example of any absolveing of people sins by any of the apostles and for 325 years before the holy roman catholic how were sins admonished. Who did peter go to for absoluation, or mary or james or matthew. Has the priest the same holyness of Jesus the Son of God who has gained the right to forgive him by suffering the cross in obidence. So how do earthly men absolve sin.

scripturecatholic.com/confession.html
catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp
catholic.com/library/Confession.asp

 

[valient_Lucy]

Just a little thinking about confession. I understand confession is good for the soul. But as the word of God said all men are sinners and that Only Jesus Christ is the high priest who serves between God and men. So how does any earthly man have the right to administer forgivenness of sin period. Who has the right to administer the blood of Christ other then Christ. Could you give me a example of any absolveing of people sins by any of the apostles and for 325 years before the holy roman catholic how were sins admonished. Who did peter go to for absoluation, or mary or james or matthew. Has the priest the same holyness of Jesus the Son of God who has gained the right to forgive him by suffering the cross in obidence. So how do earthly men absolve sin.

Peter would have gone to one of the Apostles to have his sins absolved. And they absolve sins relying on the power of God and the merits of Christ’s Death and Resurrection.
Remember in John’s Gospel when Jesus told the Apostles “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

 

[havemercy]

I understand confession is good for the soul.

You bet!

But as the word of God said all men are sinners and that Only Jesus Christ is the high priest who serves between God and men.

Right you are.

So how does any earthly man have the right to administer forgivenness of sin period.

Because they have been vested with the authority to do so, by virtue of Christ’s commission.

Who has the right to administer the blood of Christ other then Christ.

No one administers the sacraments apart from Christ. When one baptizes, it is Christ who baptizes. Similarly, when the priest absolves someone of their sins, it is not the priest alone who absolves, but rather Christ. Christ uses the priest, and the priest relies entirely on the priesthood and legacy of Christ for his office.

Could you give me a example of any absolveing of people sins by any of the apostles and for 325 years before the holy roman catholic how were sins admonished.

One could easy look to the Didache:
"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

Who did peter go to for absoluation, or mary or james or matthew.

To each other. Whoever was ordained in the ministry of the apostles.

Has the priest the same holyness of Jesus the Son of God who has gained the right to forgive him by suffering the cross in obidence.

No.

So how do earthly men absolve sin.

Because that is their duty, as ordained priests of the New Covenant. No one is a priest in their own right. All are priests in Christ Jesus. Some of these priests out of the priesthood universal, are special in that they are chosen to “feed” Jesus’ “sheep” (John 21:18). These would be the clergy of today and yesterday. Moreover, holiness is not a prerequisite for being an administer of the sacraments of God’s Church. Imagine if it were…The Church would be in a grave state (not that there aren’t any major issues in reality). The sacraments operate ex opere operato:

Ex opere operato is a Latin theological expression meaning literally “from the work having worked” and with the specific meaning “by the very fact of the action’s being performed” (i.e. “because the work worked”). It refers to the idea that the sacraments really work—that is, they actually confer grace when the sacramental sign is validly effected, not as the result of the good standing of the celebrant, or activity on the part of the recipient, but by the power and promise of God.

I hope that helped some. Peace be with you.