Catholics?

Question

Why do you guys confess your sins to man? Did Jesus not say "confess your sins to no man"? And why do you call your priests or whatever, Father,? Did Jesus not say call no man Father? And why do you go into a system that admits changing GODs laws? I am not attacking the Catholic people but the system and how it deceives many.

Funny story...I had a friend who was Catholic and i went to visit his house and I walked in and they had a Bible set on the entrance table thingy, so i grabbed it and i was looking at it and he came to me and said "NOOOO....what are you doing that is The Holy Bible" I said i know, he said why did you open it, it is Holy you are not allowed to read it. His Priest had told him that he couldnt read the Bible and he didnt need to because the preist was telling him about it..lol

Ok, you say that they are acting like a bridge to God like Jesus....So you compare them to Jesus? Jesus said himself that no man can forgive sins. Father is not a figure of speach when it comes into the church. Call no man Father for i am the only father who created you.

Matthew 23:9
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

James 5:16
16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

This does not mean that we should confess our sins to man it means that we can tell people our faults but no man can forgive us of our sins...Jesus died on that cross, not no Catholic priest. If a Catholic priest wants to forgive sins lets have him beat, stabbed, spit on, and torchered like Jesus was. and then lets see him rise....it wont happen so Go to Jesus for forgiveness!!

Answer 1

Worse is that you aren't supposed to worship idols. BUt they bow to idols of the saints. And that "no man comes to the father but by the son" but they instead pray to mary instead of Jesus.

They should read the bible instead of just trusting others to tell it to them.

Answer 2

+ Why do you guys confess your sins to man?

I looked and could not find your quote "confess your sins to no man." Instead, I found, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." (James 5:16)

The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."

When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or her) sins are immediately forgiven.

Catholics also believe that when someone sins they not only hurt their relationship with God, they also injure the entire church, the body of Christ. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.

+ And why do you call your priests or whatever, Father?

In context, the Scripture reads, "... And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

This is call for humility for those in leadership roles and not to be taken literally.

We are not to deny our male parent and cut the Commandment to honor our father and mother in half.

Some leaders in any church may fall into the same folly as the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

+ And why do you go into a system that admits changing God's laws?

What laws do you mean?

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Ever say you're sorry to someone you've offended? That's what it's for...plus they beleive in receiving a special sacrament upon their confession.

Calling a priest Father is in reference to Jesus, whom the Catholics believe ordained the apostle Peter as head of the church...popes and priests through the ages have the same title accordingly.

Answer 4

I agree with AMDG and will not repeat any points that he/she correctly states.

Secondly I don't believe your point about the Bible on the table.

Thirdly, have you ever gone up to somebody you committed an offence against and verbally told them sorry and meant it? Its very difficult to do but it is a powerful thing regardless of the response you get. You are confessing your sins to Jesus through the sacrament of confession and it is not taken lightly.

Answer 5

your really confessing your sins to god and the priest as acting as a go between sort of. We call priests father because it is in reference to god, as i said before they are sort of like our phone line to god...if that makes any sense, im sure other people can explain it better than me. Well, Gods laws were interprited by man and are therefore prone to flaws.....god didnt write the bible, man did. and he did it thousands of years ago so of course there might be some things that with time have realized might be misinterpreted. hope that answers some of your questions.

Answer 6

Priests act like a bridge to God, just like Jesus acted like a bridge to God. Priests are acting on behalf of Jesus in his name until he returns.. forgive sins, etc. Jesus gave authority to the church.."whatever you bound loose here shall be bound loose in heaven, etc." Priests act as a way we can observe holyness through our senses since we can't observe spirit

Answer 7

Okay, I believe you are confused first of all. Most people who refer to themselves as Catholics are not. The man who claims to be pope is not. He and the four before him have all been men of heresy and therefore cannot be popes.

Traditional Catholics are true Catholics (attending the latin mass and following pre-vatican 2 laws of the church which are loyal to Christ's teachings to the "T")

We confess to priests because they have been given the power to forgive our sins. This was passed down to them from Jesus to His apostles. "Whose sins you shall forgive are forgiven." Jesus spoke this ONLY to His apostles, not to all His followers. He only gave the priesthood to His apostles and for them to pass down to the priests they would ordain in the future. Confession is a sacrament. The priest is there for Our Lord. When we confess, we should believe we are speaking to God and apologizing to Him for what we have done, not a man. This is why priests lips are sealed by what is revealed in confession. He is an instrument of God.

A quote from Radio Replies (an excellent book written by two priests): "To say that Christ did not confer a true power to forgive sin is to rob the whole ceremony and the words of Christ of any real meaning. And it was obviously a power to be exercised, Christians applying to the Apostles for forgiveness."

You have misinterpreted the Bible. This is why St. Peter warned laypeople not to read the Bible and try to interpret it for themselves. We are not wise enough to understand it. Theologians have studied it for centuries and they can help explain it's meanings. I suggest the Douay Haydock Bible which is filled with notes on understanding what is written in the Bible.

About "Father", again from Radio Replies (an answer to your identical question):
"Your rigid interpretation would forbid your calling an earthly parent father. Yet God Himself, in the commandments, terms one of your rparents father, and tells you to honor him as such. Your text means simply, "Call no one your father as if you had no other father with rights over you." That is, you must realize that all paternity is of God, and that you owe your being, and all that you have, including your earthly father, to Him. Nor can any claims of an earthly father avail against our duties to God, our heavenly Father.... A priest, by God's Providence and by the authority of Christ, is a father in the spiritual sense, just as a natural parent is a father in the earthly sense..."

Through the sacraments, a priest helps guide us to our Father in heaven.

And the Church has never admitted (nor has it) changed God's laws. What are you referring to?

Answer 8

Yes, you make good points. Protestants believe that the Catholic church is flawed. This is why they broke away from the church following Martin Luther.

Answer 9

Let's take this one by one.

Why do Catholics confess their sins to a man?
Catholics do not confess sins to a priest instead of to God. We confess to a priest representing God. The prayer of absolution which the priest prays while administering the sacrament says, "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." It is in God's name the priest forgives, not in his own name.When Catholics receive the sacrament of penance, we have the opportunity not only to be forgiven, but to receive advice from the priest . . . kind and wise counsel as to how to do better in the future, living the Christian life. In John 20:21-23, Jesus says to the disciples, "As the Father has sent me so I send you . . . receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained." Jesus clearly expected the successors of the disciples, the bishops and priests down through the centuries, to continue his work . . . to preach . . . to pray . . . and to forgive our sins when we are truly sorry for our failures.
The New Testament tells early Christians, "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will cure you" (James 5:16). The admonition is as important today as it was then.

Why do we call our priests Father?
In Matthew 23:9 Jesus says, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Many people interpret this to mean, “Do not call a priest “father,” and do not call your dad “father.” Some who hold this opinion go further and believe that calling a priest “father” is a sin because it directly violates a command from Jesus. Many Protestants make this a common objection against Catholicism. If we believe these opinions, then what are we to make of the Scriptures that contradict this one? For example, in Mark 7:9-13, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and scribes for not honoring their “fathers.” Furthermore, calling the apostles and their successors “father” was common within the early Christian communities (1 Cor. 4:15, 1 Jn. 2:12, Acts 7:2, 22:1). As in the case of all scriptural interpretations, we must understand this passage in light of the rest of Scripture (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20; 3:16). This interpretative principle is called the “analogy of faith” [Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism), no. 114]. In Deuteronomy 5:16, God commands, “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” God made this command after telling us to honor Him. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to conclude that God Himself considers others to be “fathers.” Jesus upholds this commandment in Mark 7:9-13. In that passage, He berates the scribes and Pharisees who used traditions to rationalize not providing assistance to their fathers. It is clear that He means someone other than God. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave His Church the gift of the ministerial priesthood. He gave His apostles the authority to act in His person with the authority given by the Father. He had made clear in Matthew 10:40 as noted above, and He emphasized it again in John 17 when, while praying to the Father, Jesus said, “While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which though hast given me…As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (v. 12,18). This sacrament of Holy Orders makes present the graces necessary for our spiritual rebirth and sustenance in Christ. For it is at the hands of priests that we are baptized, confirmed, and receive the precious Body and Blood of our Lord.

Why do Catholics Change God's laws?
My dear, it was not the Catholics who changed the laws od God, but the Protestants, starting with Martin Luther. He didn't agree with some teachings, so he started his own denomination. And that has happened with other denominations. It's so popular now to just start your own denomination when you disagree with something or dislike something. Scientology was started by a science fiction writer who though he had the answers to everything straight from God. So no, it wasn't Catholics who changed God's law, it was the protestants and other denominations who came after.

Funny Story
It's doubtful because no priest would ever tell someone not to read the bible. In fact, we are encouraged to read the bible in addition to listening to Gods word at church on Sundays.

Answer 10

Yep! Great questions :) I'd like to know the answers too!