so confused

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HNA444

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ok i am sooooo confused… this guy i know was telling me that confession, the church’s teachings, etc. and some other things i will think of after, are not related to the bible’s teachings and that we do not need to go to confession. Rather, he is saying we can just confess our sins to each other or to who we have sinned against? I am so confused, he was telling me so much , that basically the church’s teachings are not correct. Also, I was giving him an example if a car ran me over or some other horrific event, and i lived… that it was God who saved me. This guy is telling me that it would be science, and that the air bag or whatever would be saving me. I am so confused!! Please help, and if you could post scriptures to help back up. thnkss
 
In regards to confession - no. Jesus clearly said to the Apostles ‘whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, whose sins you retain they are retained’. Not ‘whose sins you forgive they are forgiven … but only if they are sins against yourselves.’

And we have to remember the power to retain sins. Why would Jesus give them this power to retain except that God ratifies it in heaven? Otherwise sins could simply never be retained, since the Apostles couldn’t be sure that God hadn’t forgiven them and it would certainly be presumptuous of them then to retain them.

So Jesus definitely gave the Apostles His own power and authority in regard forgiveness. Why would He do so if that power was unnecessary? And for what end? For them never to have to use it? Of course not - we can be sure He would not be so nonsensical.

So they had it because it was needed, and used it because He had given it.

And then what does your friend think - that on the death of St John the last Apostle this previously important and necessary power suddenly became unimportant and unnecessary? Suddenly makind lost this need of seeking God’s forgiveness through a human agent? Surely in AD 2009 the priestly power to forgive sin is every bit as necessary and important a power as it was in AD 49, 59 or 69 …

If a car ran over you it’s science or the airbags that saved you? Of course. But who created those scientists and gave them the gift of intelligence to invent those airbags? God. Of course.

How can someone who claims to be Christian (and this guy must if he espouses Christian notions like God forgiving sins) think that God is not intimately involved in everything that happens in the world?
 
LilyM said:
In regards to confession - no. Jesus clearly said to the Apostles ‘whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, whose sins you retain they are retained’. Not ‘whose sins you forgive they are forgiven … but only if they are sins against yourselves.’

And we have to remember the power to retain sins. Why would Jesus give them this power to retain except that God ratifies it in heaven? Otherwise sins could simply never be retained, since the Apostles couldn’t be sure that God hadn’t forgiven them and it would certainly be presumptuous of them then to retain them.

So Jesus definitely gave the Apostles His own power and authority in regard forgiveness. Why would He do so if that power was unnecessary? And for what end? For them never to have to use it? Of course not - we can be sure He would not be so nonsensical.

So they had it because it was needed, and used it because He had given it.

And then what does your friend think - that on the death of St John the last Apostle this previously important and necessary power suddenly became unimportant and unnecessary? Suddenly makind lost this need of seeking God’s forgiveness through a human agent? Surely in AD 2009 the priestly power to forgive sin is every bit as necessary and important a power as it was in AD 49, 59 or 69 …

If a car ran over you it’s science or the airbags that saved you? Of course. But who created those scientists and gave them the gift of intelligence to invent those airbags? God. Of course.

How can someone who claims to be Christian (and this guy must if he espouses Christian notions like God forgiving sins) think that God is not intimately involved in everything that happens in the world?
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i don’t know, i found it odd too. but, it seemed like he knew a lot , which is why i am confused, because he saying things that is different than what i have been learning.
 
HNA444 said:
i don’t know, i found it odd too. but, it seemed like he knew a lot , which is why i am confused, because he saying things that is different than what i have been learning.
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There are all sorts of people out there of all sorts of different faiths, not to mention the atheists and agnostics. All of them believe very strongly in what they are saying. Many of them will sound like they ‘know a lot’.

They cannot ALL be right, though, can they? It’s logically impossible, no matter how believable all the various arguments may sound, no matter how many of them ‘sound like they know a lot’.

So the thing is to figure out what you believe and why you believe it.
 
LilyM said:
There are all sorts of people out there of all sorts of different faiths, not to mention the atheists and agnostics. All of them believe very strongly in what they are saying. Many of them will sound like they ‘know a lot’.

They cannot ALL be right, though, can they? It’s logically impossible, no matter how believable all the various arguments may sound, no matter how many of them ‘sound like they know a lot’.

So the thing is to figure out what you believe and why you believe it.
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yea, but he is Catholic. The thing is, he is saying that the church’s teachings are not the same as the bible.
 
HNA444 said:
yea, but he is Catholic. The thing is, he is saying that the church’s teachings are not the same as the bible.
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If he doesn’t believe that Church teachings like the necessity of priestly confession are biblical (doesn’t mean they have to be specifically stated in the bible - the Trinity isn’t, but it is still a biblical belief) then he is Catholic in no sense of the word except that he chooses to call himself by that label.

I can call myself a zebra if I want, it doesn’t make me one, and certainly doesn’t give me any special knowledge of them either! If anything, the mere fact that I think I, a human being, can be a zebra means I am especially UNknowledgeable about them, no?
 
LilyM said:
If he doesn’t believe that Church teachings like the necessity of priestly confession are biblical (doesn’t mean they have to be specifically stated in the bible - the Trinity isn’t, but it is still a biblical belief) then he is Catholic in no sense of the word except that he chooses to call himself by that label.

I can call myself a zebra if I want, it doesn’t make me one, and certainly doesn’t give me any special knowledge of them either! If anything, the mere fact that I think I, a human being, can be a zebra means I am especially UNknowledgeable about them, no?
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Yes, you are completely right. I just did not know how to argue with him on this. He is telling me that Jesus never said the things the church tells us to do. I still will always believe what the church teaches, but he kind of confused me by all the things he was saying. I just want to back it up with resources 🙂
 
Your friend is not correct. Catholic teachings most certainly are Biblical teachings. And you can see how Biblical they are at the following website:

scripturecatholic.com/
 
HNA444 said:
ok i am sooooo confused… this guy i know was telling me that confession, the church’s teachings, etc. and some other things i will think of after, are not related to the bible’s teachings and that we do not need to go to confession. Rather, he is saying we can just confess our sins to each other or to who we have sinned against? I am so confused, he was telling me so much , that basically the church’s teachings are not correct. Also, I was giving him an example if a car ran me over or some other horrific event, and i lived… that it was God who saved me. This guy is telling me that it would be science, and that the air bag or whatever would be saving me. I am so confused!! Please help, and if you could post scriptures to help back up. thnkss
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LilyM said pretty much what I was going to say.

scripturecatholic.com/confession_qa.html is good for the scripture you were looking for.

Ask your friend if he would like to make a full and frank confession to you :eek: Actually dont !!!
 
Oh… I also forgot to add, that he told me God will not forgive certain sins, like people who kill!!! God is forgiving, so he would forgive someone who killed, as long as they were truly sorrowful. Correct??? I am sorry, i am just confused by what he says… although he has read the bible 5 times and knows much more than I do. So, don’t know what to think.
 
HNA444 said:
Rather, he is saying we can just confess our sins to each other or to who we have sinned against?
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You sinned against God, not any one person. Get away from this guy. David murdered and committed adultery and he made a covenant with God that brought Jesus to us.
Psalm 51: 4
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
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Sacred Tradition is the interpretation of Scripture that trumps his personal interpretation. Get to know your faith better and you will know how absolutely wrong he is and you will not be confused. Our Lady appeared at Fatima and showed 3 children a vision of hell, this indicates a level of seriousness that must be heeded. Pray the Rosary daily and your faith will withstand these attacks.
 
Earnest_Bunbury said:
You sinned against God, not any one person. Get away from this guy.
Psalm 51: 4

Sacred Tradition is the interpretation of Scripture that trumps his personal interpretation. If you knew your faith better you would know he was absolutely wrong and you would not be confused. Our Lady appeared at Fatima and showed 3 children a vision of hell, this indicates a level of seriousness that must be heeded. Pray the Rosary daily and your faith will withstand these attacks.
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Thank you so much. I know I did not believe what he was telling me, but confused me!! Thanks for helping me understand. If you can, post more scriptures or let me know of anything else.
 
Sorry to keep asking questions. But this person has also been telling me that you do not need to go to church in order to be close to God. I told him that we need to go in order to praise God. He told me that God is everywhere, and that we can pray at home or wherever and that it is just tradition.
 
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