SPLIT: Is Confession not necessary?

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CentralFLJames said:
It’s not God’s Word when you speak it through your lips and personal interpretation Ralph - always remember that.

James
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I quote the bible, I did not write it, if I quote it through my lips,it is still Gods word. Ralph
 
Back to the OP:

I just got back from Confession a little while ago. I feel great! It was nice to see a lot of people in line and all the booths manned.

Its too bad that protestants don’t actually know the feeling & experience of going to confession. Its one thing to talk about it, and its another thing to actually do it. Contrary to their belief that it is a burdensome rule, it is actually quite liberating and joyful.

http://www.sldm.org/Images/MiscPic/Confession2.jpg
 
Catholicc said:
Back to the OP:

I just got back from Confession a little while ago. I feel great! It was nice to see a lot of people in line and all the booths manned.

Its too bad that protestants don’t actually know the feeling & experience of going to confession. Its one thing to talk about it, and its another thing to actually do it. Contrary to their belief that it is a burdensome rule, it is actually quite liberating and joyful.

http://www.sldm.org/Images/MiscPic/Confession2.jpg
Click to expand...
I can tell you first hand, that confession was nothing more than anxiety induced guilt trip for this former Catholic.

You think I’m the only one? Spend 5 minutes on this forum and you’ll see a multitude of posts titled ’ was this confession valid?’, ’ did I commit a sin?’. People get themselves worried sick over the rules, regulations and procedures, that assure that they have been forgiven.

The confessional, for many people, does not liberate, but enslaves, into a pattern of guilt, shame, anxiety and most of all doubt.
 
Catholicc said:
Back to the OP:

I just got back from Confession a little while ago. I feel great! It was nice to see a lot of people in line and all the booths manned.

Its too bad that protestants don’t actually know the feeling & experience of going to confession. Its one thing to talk about it, and its another thing to actually do it. Contrary to their belief that it is a burdensome rule, it is actually quite liberating and joyful.

http://www.sldm.org/Images/MiscPic/Confession2.jpg
Click to expand...
Nice picture, but only God can forgive sin. Ralph
 
Iamnotafraid said:
I can tell you first hand, that confession was nothing more than anxiety induced guilt trip for this former Catholic…
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Thats too bad. All that tells me, though, is that you do not understand this particular sacrament, nor sacramental theology in general.

And by the way: Guilt has a purpose, which is to tell you that you have done something wrong.
 
ralphy said:
Nice picture, but only God can forgive sin. Ralph
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John 20:19–23 “On the evening of that day… …Jesus said to [the apostles] again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you… …If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

There it is: The authority to forgive sins in the name of Christ given to the JUST apostles. This authority was handed down through Apostolic Succession. Notice how in verse 21 Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, Jesus is giving his apostles the same authority that he received from his Father. Now what authority did Jesus receive from God the Father? We see earlier, in Mark 2:10, that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. Very Biblical.

It is also noteworthy to remember that Catholics are not the only ones who believe this. The Eastern Orthodox believe it too, and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox sacrament. It is only in the last 500 years out of the 2000 year history of Christianity that this truth was rejected by protestants. Protestants are the only ones who reject this, and they represent less than 20% of all Christians.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God “had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning.

For more scripture verses, go here:
catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp
 
Catholicc said:
Thats too bad. All that tells me, though, is that you do not understand this particular sacrament, nor sacramental theology in general.
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I would hazard a guess that the Catholic Church has a problem and not I.
  1. I am now an unbeliever, I don’t give a…( fill in the blanks with what ever you choose)
  2. Scrupulous anonymous exists for a reason and it was not for me alone. 😃
And by the way: Guilt has a purpose, which is to tell you that you have done something wrong
Click to expand...
.

Guilt.

Guilt is useless, it keeps people stuck in the past and one does not need to feel guilty to know that one has made a mistake.

Another thing, I didn’t create the expression, ’ Catholic Guilt’

Go ahead, everyone who reads this, throw your darts my way. Pretend that I was an anonamly, a rarity and nothing to worry about.

People have stopped going to confession for a reason and it has nothing to do with living perfectly sinless lives.
 
Catholicc said:
John 20:19–23 “On the evening of that day… …Jesus said to [the apostles] again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you… …If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

There it is: The authority to forgive sins in the name of Christ given to the JUST apostles. This authority was handed down through Apostolic Succession. Notice how in verse 21 Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, Jesus is giving his apostles the same authority that he received from his Father. Now what authority did Jesus receive from God the Father? We see earlier, in Mark 2:10, that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. Very Biblical.

It is also noteworthy to remember that Catholics are not the only ones who believe this. The Eastern Orthodox believe it too, and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox sacrament. It is only in the last 500 years out of the 2000 year history of Christianity that this truth was rejected by protestants. Protestants are the only ones who reject this, and they represent less than 20% of all Christians.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God “had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning.

For more scripture verses, go here:
catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp
Click to expand...
Those apostles are dead, now we go directly to God, we need no mediater. No body comes to the Father but by Me. Ralph
 
I find so called intellectuals who come to religious sites claiming to be unbelievers to be rather perplexing and at times hilarious at there obvious ignorance.

With that said…

Why would a “non-believer” venture into a Catholic forum???

I know when I was a “non-believer” I would not have wasted my time and felt my high IQ was sufficient enough that I need not visit religious sites to show that I was smarter or not a sheep or whatever…

Anyhow, I wanted to share that thought and maybe one of the “non-believers” can answer?
 
Catholicc said:
John 20:19–23 “On the evening of that day… …Jesus said to [the apostles] again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you… …If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

There it is: The authority to forgive sins in the name of Christ given to the JUST apostles. This authority was handed down through Apostolic Succession. Notice how in verse 21 Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, Jesus is giving his apostles the same authority that he received from his Father. Now what authority did Jesus receive from God the Father? We see earlier, in Mark 2:10, that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. Very Biblical.

It is also noteworthy to remember that Catholics are not the only ones who believe this. The Eastern Orthodox believe it too, and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox sacrament. It is only in the last 500 years out of the 2000 year history of Christianity that this truth was rejected by protestants. Protestants are the only ones who reject this, and they represent less than 20% of all Christians.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God “had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning.

For more scripture verses, go here:
catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp
Click to expand...
ralphy said:
Those apostles are dead, now we go directly to God, we need no mediater. No body comes to the Father but by Me. Ralph
Click to expand...
Wow. Thats a brilliant response.

Don’t quit your day job.
 
ralphy said:
Those apostles are dead, now we go directly to God, we need no mediater. No body comes to the Father but by Me. Ralph
Click to expand...
The Apostles are alive. More alive than you or me. Hopefully you will learn what that means at the end of time by being Alive as they are. 🙂
 
well if one only confesses to a priest but leaves God out of the picture, then what?
 
Jerry_Marino said:
well if one only confesses to a priest but leaves God out of the picture, then what?
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In Catholicism the confession is not to the priest but Jesus who is present at any confession. 😉

I guess you could ask if the person doing confession does not know they are confessing to Jesus does it change anything? IMO the answer is NO. Why? Because we all know that Jesus is ALL KNOWING and so no matter if we believe we are confessing to just a priest or not that we are indeed confessing to Jesus.
 
JacktheCatholic said:
I find so called intellectuals who come to religious sites claiming to be unbelievers to be rather perplexing and at times hilarious at there obvious ignorance.

With that said…

Why would a “non-believer” venture into a Catholic forum???

I know when I was a “non-believer” I would not have wasted my time and felt my high IQ
Anyhow, I wanted to share that thought and maybe one of the “non-believers” can answer?
Click to expand...
Unlike you, with your high IQ, I am of completely average intelligence and would not be considered an intellectual by anyone.

Why do I come here?

To challenge, to be challenged, to dialog, to debate and to present a different point of view.
 
Iamnotafraid said:
To challenge, to be challenged, to dialog, to debate and to present a different point of view.
Click to expand...
Are you seeking a better understanding of this universe we are born in?

I know that was a question I used to face.
 
Iamnotafraid said:
I can tell you first hand, that confession was nothing more than anxiety induced guilt trip for this former Catholic.

You think I’m the only one? Spend 5 minutes on this forum and you’ll see a multitude of posts titled ’ was this confession valid?’, ’ did I commit a sin?’. People get themselves worried sick over the rules, regulations and procedures, that assure that they have been forgiven.

The confessional, for many people, does not liberate, but enslaves, into a pattern of guilt, shame, anxiety and most of all doubt.
Click to expand...
How ironic Iamnotafraid, but you sound as scrupulous as some of the people you mention.
Did you feel a need to confess your personal experiences with us? 😃

James
 
ralphy said:
Nice picture, but only God can forgive sin. Ralph
Click to expand...
Yes, you are correct ralphy. And when an apostolic priest absolves sins Jesus is in fact right there “in persona Christi” speaking through His priest and assuring the repentant sinner that her sins are forgiven and giving the graces necessary to overcome and resist the temptations again in the future.

James
 
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