When Jesus sent out the Apostles to carry on His ministry, he (quite specifically!) gave them the authority to forgive sins in Jesus’ name. This authority has been passed down from Apostle to Apostle since then, all the way down to the Priests and Bishops we have today.Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
When Martin Luther was excommunicate by the Church, he could not offer absolution of sin to his congregation.That’s if you beleive in the apostolic succession, which Protestants don’t. There is confession because the Church said so.
I will recommend a good book for your husband, and for you too: Scott Hahn’s Lord Have Mercy-the healing power of confession.I have visited my local Catholic Church three times recently. My husband will not allow my children to attend with me. One of his reasons is he says that the confession of sins to the Priest is not biblical. Is it biblical? On what does the church base this particular theology?
The pope comment, pure polemics, aside.When Martin Luther was excommunicate by the Church, he could not offer absolution of sin to his congregation.
As pope to his new church, he devised a new plan for salvation. Direct confession of mortal sins to God.
V. Confession
How Christians should be taught to confess.
What is Confession?*
Confession embraces two parts: the one is, that we confess our sins; the other, that we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the confessor, as from God Himself, and in no wise doubt, but firmly believe, that our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven.
What sins should we confess?
Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even of those which we do not know, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer. But before the confessor we should confess those sins alone which we know and feel in our hearts.
Which are these?
Here consider your station according to the Ten Commandments, whether you are a father, mother, son, daughter, master, mistress, a man-servant or maid-servant; whether you have been disobedient, unfaithful, slothful; whether you have grieved any one by words or deeds; whether you have stolen, neglected, or wasted aught, or done other injury.
Pray, Propose to Me a Brief Form of Confession.
Answer.
You should speak to the confessor thus: Reverend and dear sir, I beseech you to hear my confession, and to pronounce forgiveness to me for God’s sake.
Proceed!
I, a poor sinner, confess myself before God guilty of all sins; especially I confess before you that I am a man-servant, a maidservant, etc. But, alas, I serve my master unfaithfully; for in this and in that I have not done what they commanded me; I have provoked them, and caused them to curse, have been negligent [in many things] and permitted damage to be done; have also been immodest in words and deeds, have quarreled with my equals, have grumbled and sworn at my mistress, etc. For all this I am sorry, and pray for grace; I want to do better.
A master or mistress may say thus:
In particular I confess before you that I have not faithfully trained my children, domestics, and wife [family] for God’s glory. I have cursed, set a bad example by rude words and deeds, have done my neighbor harm and spoken evil of him, have overcharged and given false ware and short measure.
And whatever else he has done against God’s command and his station, etc.
But if any one does not find himself burdened with such or greater sins, he should not trouble himself or search for or invent other sins, and thereby make confession a torture, but mention one or two that he knows. Thus: In particular I confess that I once cursed; again, I once used improper words, I have once neglected this or that, etc. Let this suffice.
But if you know of none at all (which, however is scarcely possible), then mention none in particular, but receive the forgiveness upon your general confession which you make before God to the confessor.
Then shall the confessor say:
God be merciful to thee and strengthen thy faith! Amen.
Furthermore:
Dost thou believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?
Answer.
Yes, dear sir.
Then let him say:
As thou believest, so be it done unto thee. And by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ I forgive thee thy sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Depart in peace.But those who have great burdens upon their consciences, or are distressed and tempted, the confessor will know how to comfort and to encourage to faith with more passages of Scripture. This is to be merely a general form of confession for the unlearned.
Jon
- These questions may not have been composed by Luther himself but reflect his teachings and were included in editions of the Small Catechism during his lifetime.
Jon,Luther always supported confession to a pastor/confessor.
Jon
Hi Barbw,Jon,
I’m surprised by that. I know two Lutherans and they give me heck about confession.
Any insight into why they are doing that?
Thanks for that clarification.
You’ll have to ask them, but I would say they are. Why would that surprise you?=grandfather;7489367]Jon,
Are you saying that the Protestants that hold that confession is not scriptural and is unnecessary deny Luther’s teaching?
Again, you’ll have to ask them about their authority. Obviously from scripture, but also that of the historic Church.By what authority do they do so? If Luther based all of his doctrine on scripture, as he claimed, surely his support of confession must have come from his study of scripture
I’m Lutheran.Those Protestants who do not confess their sins must interpret scripture differently from Luther. Do you confess your sins to your minister following Luther’s doctrine on confession, or do you disagree with Luther?
First, Christ is the founder of the Church Catholic, or which we claim our membership by virtue of our Baptism. And since private interpretation of scriptures is not a Lutheran practice, it is more likely they didn’t study the confessions, and the scriptural and traditional bases for them. I often hear here Catholics complain about poor catechesis. We have the same problem.If you do not practice confession and disagree with Luther, are you a Lutheran? One would think to belong to any religion it would require support of that religion’s doctrines and practices as set forth by its founder. Maybe later Lutherans studied scripture for themselves as Luther did and came to a better understanding than his.
You’ll have to ask them, but I would say they are. Why would that surprise you?
Well, let’s be clear here. I confess my sins, as do all Lutherans, at the beginning of every divine service. So, to be specific about private confession, since our view of mortal sin differs somewhat, private confession is there to use, but not required. So, there are 2 forms of confession/Holy Absolution - corporate and private. In both cases, the confession is to the pastor, who announces in Christ’s stead and by His command, forgiveness of sin.=grandfather;7489904]
I think it is safe to say that the great majority of Protestants including Lutherans do not follow the practice of confessing their sins. I doubt anyone would dispute that.
They may point to Luther, but the fact is that few if any protestant denominational offshoots come from Lutheranism. In large part, they come from the Reformed, and maybe even anabaptist.Yet if their lineage was traced, most would go back through Luther. Denominationalism, the offshoots that have fractured from one another generally claim Luther as the guy who corrected the errors of the Catholics. They may have subsequently corrected or attempted to correct Luther’s errors, claiming the authority of scripture, but the Reformation is their starting point.
Again, you’ll have to ask them.It must be their private perspective then. The practice of confession as we know it today began in Ireland I am told, but its roots are much older. The Orthodox also follow it. They could not have gotten it from the Irish. In the Church of antiquity penances were very severe and prolonged.
As I stated above, confession/Holy Absolution is in 2 forms. So all Lutherans, at least confessional Lutherans, confess weekly. Far fewer access private confession, but it is always available from any Lutheran pastor. I use private confession occasionally.So you confess your sins? Is it the common practice in your local church?
I believe the Lutheran confessions, particularly Augsburg, are well within the norm of catholicity.Are you saying that Luther’s interpretation of scripture was not his own?
Or, that it was not a departure from the doctrines that came before him and were handed down? Are you saying that at one time the Church believed the things Luther taught, but went off track until he corrected things?
Remember that Luther, the man, is not the basis of Lutheranism, but Christ and scripture, our confessions, and the early councils and creeds. There are things that Luther taught and believed that are simply his own. As for the Marian doctrines, we need to make some distinctions. The virgin birth and Holy Theotokos are confessed by all Lutherans. Other doctrines, sempre virgo, assumption, etc, are considered adiaphora. So you will get different perspectives from Lutherans.OK, so Luther must have beleived confession is found in scripture, since he taught it and claimed all doctrine must come from scripture. Then all Lutherans who do not confess their sins and who believe confession is not found in scritpure, but is a Catholic error, are poorly catechized by fellow Lutherans? That’s a lot of folks. Luther also was devoted to Mary. He said numerous things extolling her and kept her feastdays, so it is claimed. Do you and the properly catechized Lutherans follow his example there as well?
These are very kind words, and I am thankful for them.Thank you. I’ve been busy Jon. I hope you are well and that God pours His grace, mercy and love into your being, that your soul is an ever increasing treasury of divine grace
This sounds like the beginning of a Catholic Mass when the congregation prays the confeitor, but with an announcement by the minsiter that Christ forgives everyone communally present. If individuals feel the need to get something off their chests, some guilt they can not shake on their own and through the communal prayer they go tell the minsiter and he absolves them by announcing foregiveness.Well, let’s be clear here. I confess my sins, as do all Lutherans, at the beginning of every divine service. So, to be specific about private confession, since our view of mortal sin differs somewhat, private confession is there to use, but not required. So, there are 2 forms of confession/Holy Absolution - corporate and private. In both cases, the confession is to the pastor, who announces in Christ’s stead and by His command, forgiveness of sin.
Jon
Ask him if a Christian’s future sins are forgiven at conversion. Most protestants believe that. The Bible says if we confess, we’re forgiven (1 Jn 1:9). Sins are also forgiven at the anointing of the sick (Jas 5:14-15). I’ve never heard of a protestant who believes that…but it’s right there in the Bible.I have visited my local Catholic Church three times recently. My husband will not allow my children to attend with me. One of his reasons is he says that the confession of sins to the Priest is not biblical. Is it biblical? On what does the church base this particular theology?
The Bible clearly states that Christ gave the power to forgive sins to His apostles. In the same passage He says the apostles might also not forgive, “hold bound”. It is up to them to decide what to do from one instance to another. How would one of these men who were given the power to remit sin know what they were forgiving or holding bound, unless they are told?Also, Jesus told them “if you forgive the sins of any…if you retain the sins of any…” (Jn 20:23). So I see it this way…Jesus gave them the authority to manage things…how the forgiveness of sins is managed. Their successors decided to hear the sins so they could give counsel, determine if they were truly repentant, etc. I think Jesus gave them the authority to manage things…to decide how the details would be carried out.
-BHM
Yes, it is essentially the same, and that is exactly what we view private confession for, and how I use it.=grandfather;7493205]This sounds like the beginning of a Catholic Mass when the congregation prays the confeitor, but with an announcement by the minsiter that Christ forgives everyone communally present. If individuals feel the need to get something off their chests, some guilt they can not shake on their own and through the communal prayer they go tell the minsiter and he absolves them by announcing foregiveness.
No, Catholics did not make this up, Christ did, by providing the power to bind and loose to the Church.If the original poster is still reading she might tell her husband Lutherans confess their sins in a fashion, so that his assertion that Catholics made up the practice is not true.