SPLIT: Confession to priest not necessary

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Ginger2

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BSHoop96 said:
Well if you don’t say them to the priest, and then you write them and he doesn’t even read them, what’s the point? Of course God knows what’s in your heart. God knows what’s in your heart before you even step into the confessional but that doesn’t negate the Catholic teaching that you “confess your sins”. If we don’t, we are following the non-Catholic logic of “why do I have to confess to a priest in the first place, I can just confess to God”. 😦
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Protestants do confess directly to God. But we also go to the person(s) we have wronged, apologize and do whatever we can to repair the damage and be reconciled to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In all the years I was Catholic, I was never asked to do anything more than say x number of Hail Mary’s and y number of the Lord’s Prayer for penance.

I find it much more humbling to talk to God directly and go directly to the person who may tell me off and not accept my apology.

So, I don’t feel any need for a priest as God is the one who will decide whether or not I am forgiven. God knows that I am truly sorry and God knows the best way to set things right again.
 
Ginger2 said:
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So, I don’t feel any need for a priest as God is the one who will decide whether or not I am forgiven. God knows that I am truly sorry and God knows the best way to set things right again.
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Then why did Christ assign priests to do it then? Read your scripture.
 
Ginger2 said:
Protestants do confess directly to God. But we also go to the person(s) we have wronged, apologize and do whatever we can to repair the damage and be reconciled to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In all the years I was Catholic, I was never asked to do anything more than say x number of Hail Mary’s and y number of the Lord’s Prayer for penance.

I find it much more humbling to talk to God directly and go directly to the person who may tell me off and not accept my apology.

So, I don’t feel any need for a priest as God is the one who will decide whether or not I am forgiven. God knows that I am truly sorry and God knows the best way to set things right again.
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Aw, Ginger. Don’t tell me that the word “restitution” was never part of your instruction in the Sacrament of Penance. If you never got the memo that you have to do whatever you can to put things right with those you have wronged, either you were part of what I call the “lost” generation of Catholics (born after 1960) or you were not paying attention.

Gosh. If anything would ever make me want to become Catholic, Confession would be the number two reason – right after the Eucharist.
 
Feelings, nothing more than feelings…Jesus said “recieve the holy spirit. Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven. Who’s sins you hold bount they are held bound”. Now the Church does not say you have to confess venial sins, though it is highly recommended. But mortal sins MUST be confessed. Further you use a false dichotomy. Paul says “we are ministers of reconcilliation”. When you confess your sins to a preist it is not apart from Christ for Christ is there as well and is hearing your sins. It is not the priest forgiving your sin 100% and Christ 0% or priest 50% and Christ 50%. It is priest 100% Christ 100%. God works through his creation and those who love him.

Blessings
 
Protestants changed “In the person of Christ” to “in the presence of Christ” in 2 Corinthians 2:10 when St. paul gave abasolution rto the incestuous Corinthian.

I, you, or anyone can forgive a person in Christ’s presence.

Only a priest can forgive in Christ’s person.

In Personna Christi!

And why did Christ give priests the power to “Retain sins” if direct confession was all that was necessary?

Christ gave the disciples that authority with his own breath!

Protestants wax poetic about God breathed scripture.

Don’t they have the same reeard for Christ’s breath in giving the disciples the power to forgive and retain sin?

And don’t tell me that it is not significant that the only times we hear of God’s breath in the scriptures is when He breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life and when Christ breathed on the disciples and gave them the power to forgive and retain sin.

The power to forgive and retain sin restores life!

That’s why Jesus gave it to the disiples.

Don’t argue with Catholics if you don’t like it that Christ gave them that power!
 
Ginger2 said:
So, I don’t feel any need for a priest as God is the one who will decide whether or not I am forgiven. God knows that I am truly sorry and God knows the best way to set things right again.
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How do you ever know if you are indeed forgiven? Of course you don’t, really. That must be the most depressing and lonesome feeling in the world.
 
Why can’t I baptize myself, Why do I need men to baptize me?

Why can’t I just go at the altar and marry my fiance and make a vow to God to love her until death do us part? Why do I need men to marry us?

Why can’t I confess my sins to God directly? Why do I need to cenfess my sins to men?😃
 
Ginger2 said:
Protestants do confess directly to God. But we also go to the person(s) we have wronged, apologize and do whatever we can to repair the damage and be reconciled to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In all the years I was Catholic, I was never asked to do anything more than say x number of Hail Mary’s and y number of the Lord’s Prayer for penance.

I find it much more humbling to talk to God directly and go directly to the person who may tell me off and not accept my apology.

So, I don’t feel any need for a priest as God is the one who will decide whether or not I am forgiven. God knows that I am truly sorry and God knows the best way to set things right again.
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That’s great!

Except that it’s not the process established by Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. :nope:
 
ferdie said:
Why can’t I baptize myself, Why do I need men to baptize me?

Why can’t I just go at the altar and marry my fiance and make a vow to God to love her until death do us part? Why do I need men to marry us?

Why can’t I confess my sins to God directly? Why do I need to cenfess my sins to men?😃
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Why stop there? why can’t I ordain myself as a priest, or better yet declare myself an infallible pope… i think we just stumbled onto something here…
 
WindGirl said:
You’re not alone.
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Code: 
**Confession and Forgiveness of Sin via the Priesthood Proved from Scripture**
Some people object to the Sacrament of Reconciliation (commonly called “Confession”) on the basis that they only need to confess their sins directly to God rather than to a priest. Is this perspective correct? Let’s see what the Bible has to say.

Leviticus 5:5-6
5 " 'When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned 6 and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

Notice that the Word of God says, “the priest shall make atonement.” Clearly in the Old Testament, the priesthood existed to offer sacrifices and make atonement for the sins committed by the people. Does this idea continue in the New Testament?

Hebrews 10:1
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.

Here the author of Hebrews instructs us that the Old Testament prefigures and foreshadows New Testament truths; the Old is revealed more fully in the New. This seems to suggest that the role of the priest (ie, making atonement) as described in Leviticus should reveal something to us about the New Testament priesthood. So, what does the New Testament teach us about confession of sin?

1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We should confess our sins, and God will forgive us, but do we confess our sins to God alone? No!

James 5:13-16
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Here the word of God tells us to call the elders (the Greek word is presbuteroi, or “presbyter”, from which the English word “priest” is derived). So, in this context, James is telling us to send for the priests who will pray over someone who is sick, and if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Recalling the passage from Leviticus above, we see there is a strong parallel between the priests of the Old Testament who made atonement for sin and the presbyters or priests of the New Testament to whom we confess sins for forgiveness. But this sounds like blasphemy! Can men really forgive sins? This same question is asked in the New Testament.

Mark 2:5-7
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Who can forgive sins but God alone? This question is often asked by those who seek to deny the sacrament of confession. However, note that this question is asked by the scribes who did not accept Jesus. Those who quote this passage find themselves on the side of those who rejected the Messiah. There’s more to the story, however; let’s consider the same incident from the book of Matthew.

(cont.)
 
Matthew 9:1-7
1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7And the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

The Bible teaches that God had given the authority to forgive sins “to men”. Note that this is not “to a man” but “to men” – plural. So, it is not only Jesus who has authority to forgive sins – “men” have this authority, also. This sounds like a “hard teaching”…is there confirmation of this in the Bible?

John 20:21-23
21 Again Jesus said,"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

How did God send Jesus into the world? With the authority to forgive sins as we saw in Matthew 9:6. How does Jesus send the Apostles? In the same way that the Father had sent Him…with the authority to forgive sins as we have just seen in John 20:23. How could the Apostles obey the commandment of Jesus to forgive sins unless they heard these sins confessed?

Finally, we find that the Apostle Paul himself forgave the sins of others acting in persona Christi or “in the person of Christ” – just as the Catholic Church teaches concerning the sacrament of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 2:10
10To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; (KJV)

And to whom you have pardoned any thing, I also. For, what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned any thing, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ. (Douay Rheims)

Can we go directly to God for the forgiveness of our sins? Of course, but the scriptures just presented suggest that the normative means of forgiveness is by confession to a priest, and while it is true that only God can forgive sins, the Bible teaches that He has chosen to do so through the ordained priesthood and the Sacrament of Reconciliation that He Himself instituted.
 
WindGirl said:
Everyone has an opinion. In the end, we’ll all find out who was right and who wasn’t and there might be some surprises. 🤷
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I agree with you on this point. I think, in the end, many people are going to be extremely surprised to find that the Church was correct for the 1500 years before the second savior or the world, Martin Luther, came along.
 
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