Uriel
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I never really believed that one had to confess his sins ONLY to a Catholic priest. I been fighting these feelings for years and now I am at rest. Here is what I believe. Does it make me a Protestant? Church dogma is often messed up with political and personal ideas not always that of the truth(Bible).
Question: "What does the Bible say about confession of sin to a priest?"
Answer: The concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. First, the New Testament does not teach that there are to be priests in the New Covenant. Instead, the New Testament teaches that all believers are priests. 1 Peter 2:5-9 describes believers as a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood.” Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 both describe believers as “a kingdom and priests.” In the Old Covenant, the faithful had to approach God through the priests. The priests were mediators between the people and God. The priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. That is no longer necessary. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can now approach God’s throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16). The temple veil tearing in two at Jesus’ death was symbolic of the dividing wall between God and humanity being destroyed. We can approach God directly, ourselves, without the use of a human mediator. Why? Because Jesus Christ is our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15; 10:21), and the only mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5). The New Testament teaches that there are to be elders (1 Timothy 3), deacons (1 Timothy 3), bishops (Titus 1:6-9), and pastors (Ephesians 4:11) – but not priests.
When it comes to confession of sin, believers are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess their sins to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them to Him. James 5:16 speaks of confessing our trespasses “to one another,” but this is not the same as confessing sins to a priest as the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Priests / church leaders are nowhere mentioned in the context of James 5:16. Further, James 5:16 does not link forgiveness of sins with the confession of sins “to one another.”
The Roman Catholic Church bases their practice of confession to a priest primarily on Catholic tradition. Catholic do point to John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." From this verse, Catholics claim that God gave the apostles the authority to forgive sins, and that authority was passed on to the successors of the apostles, e.g. the bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic Church. There are several problems with this interpretation. (1) John 20:23 nowhere mentions confession of sin. (2) John 20:23 nowhere promises, or even hints, that the authority to forgive sins would be passed on to the successors of the apostles. Jesus’ promise was specifically directed to the apostles. (3) The New Testament nowhere states that the apostles would even have successors to their apostolic authority. Similarly, Catholics point to Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 (binding and loosing) as evidence for the Catholic Church’s authority to forgive sins. The same three above points apply equally to these Scriptures.
Again, the concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. We are to confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9). As New Covenant believers, we do not need mediators between us and God. We can go to God directly because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
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Banned for blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary
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| Posted Jun 30, 2009, 6:49 am |
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Caraffa
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John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
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"The dauntless will have to forge ahead alone; in old pagan Rome, the first Christians also had to abstain from participating in the feasts and meetings of their fellow citizens. Perhaps the new paganism can only be vanquished by such sacrifices. Nevertheless: Nolite timere, pusillus grex, quia placuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum" (Luke 12:32).-The future Cardinal Von Galen, October 1926.
"For Catholics to follow their times is a disgrace, worse than that of a king abdicating his kingship. How can such (liberal) Catholics be taken seriously? Either they will come back to the fullness of their Faith or they will go over to the enemies of the Faith, but they cannot remain suspended in between."- Louis Veuillot
"Instaurare Omnia In Christo."-St. Pius X
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| Posted Jun 30, 2009, 6:53 am |
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spouse of Jesus
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| Caraffa said: | John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. |
Yes, these word are addressed only to the apostles not to all of the believers.
As matthew said, sedes beggin by being very dogmatic and strict about every iota of the faith, willing to sacrifice everything for it, they end in questioning and doubting everything and wavering in their faith.
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St Jude Thaddeus
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| Caraffa said: | John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. |
Thank you, Caraffa. I believe you will be a welcome addition to this forum.
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St. Jude, who, disregarding the threats of the impious, courageously preached the doctrine of Christ,
pray for us.
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| Posted Jun 30, 2009, 8:38 am |
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Uriel
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| St Jude Thaddeus said: | | Caraffa said: | John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. |
Thank you, Caraffa. I believe you will be a welcome addition to this forum. |
Still does not show that a priest is needed to confess one's sins? Apostles were NOT priest. Also, an apostle and priest are not the same thing. For example some apostles had wives and children. Priest were used in the Old Testement to send elms to heaven and ask for forgivness. In the New Testement priest ARE never mentioned as the means to forgive sins.
Jesus breathed on the apostles, which were not priest, cleansing them of sin and asking them to do likewise to others.
So, confession of sins, to any believer, was not the only way to be forgiven of sin, Romans 10:9,John 5:24, John 20:31, Romans 10:13 to name a few, nor were priest mentioned as a means to forgive sin via confession. An apostle and a priest are like night and day...not the same thing.
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Banned for blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary
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| Posted Jun 30, 2009, 9:06 am |
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spouse of Jesus
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| Uriel said: | | Caraffa said: | John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. |
Ilike how the Catholic Church capitalized on this and made it sin only forgiven if you confess before a priest. Even though the apostles were never priest. Blaa..good old boy club in action again I see.
I am still Catholic just that many of the dogam we Catholics take for granted are not founded on the truth of the Bible...but on MAN'S ideas and wants of the time. |
THEY WERE MADE BISHPS BY JESUS! AND EVERY BISHOP IS THEIR SUCCESSOR!
IF you deny the sacred and apostolic Tradition, you are a sola scriptura = protestant!
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spouse of Jesus
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It Is in the Tradition and the bible testifies to the Tradition.
About the fact that some of apostles were married, it makes no hinderance, since they left all to follow our Lord.
Uriel I understand your issue with confession... You feel sad because of your sins and cannot trust any priest. Don't allow the devil to take disadvantage of this... don't allow.
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