Scripture says "The Only way to the Father, is through the Son" Then why do Catholics confess to a Priest .

Answer 1

Jesus instituted the outward signs to give Grace to those who follow Him. Forgiveness of sins is one Jesus gave directly to His apostles.

Look at the heart of the message, not just the ink on a page.

Jn 20:23 whose sins you forgive/retain are forgiven/retained
2Cor 5:17-20 given us the ministry of reconciliation (confession)
James 5:13-15 prayer of presbyters(priest) forgives sins
James 5:16 confess your sins to one another
1 Jn 5:15 there is sin that is not deadly.

Answer 2

Catholics confess to God through the ministry of the priest, because that is the way the Son set it up. It was the Son who breathed upon the first priests, a sign of empowerment with the Holy Spirit, and then told them, "whose sins YOU forgive, they are forgiven them". The Son didn't go around empowering people and giving them new charisms unless He intended them to use such powers. And, since He did not give His priests the power to read minds when He gave them the power to forgive mens' sins, obviously the sins to be forgiven must be confessed. It's all pretty straightforward if you read the Bible, and have access to correct, authoritative interpretation.

You don't have any human ministers in your church? You only go directly to the Son for your spiritual needs? Never to the pastor? What church is that??

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Answer 3

Excellent point! If a priest can forgive sins then Christ has died for nothing. The Bible is clear on this issue as the Lord has said that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. We have a high priest who has passed into the heavens even Jesus Christ the righteous who makes intersession for us as as the only thing that forgives our sin is the blood of Christ. The Bible states that there is no other name under heaven given to men than Jesus whereby we MUST be saved. The Catholic Church was built on a total Misinterpretation of the scriptures as Christ was not referring to Peter as the rock but to himself. A study of the scriptures will reveal that Christ/God is refered to as the "rock" some 48 times and Jesus would never establish his Church on common man as man is only on earth for a short while. Little wonder the Lord will finally destroy the Catholic Church during the tribulation as they have turned the truth of the simple Gospel of Christ into a huge lie and have caused countless millions to follow false doctrine which can't save anyone. Please read Revelations Ch.17 V.1-9 which reveals the mind of God concerning the Catholic Church and its destruction.

Answer 4

The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus, with its traditions first established by the Twelve Apostles and maintained through unbroken Apostolic Succession.
The Church traces its institution to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter, the leader of the Apostles, who is regarded as the first Pope. The first known use of the term "Catholic Church" was in a letter by Ignatius of Antioch in 107, who wrote: "Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."
Central to the doctrines of the Catholic Church is Apostolic Succession, the belief that the bishops are the spiritual successors of the original twelve apostles, through the historically unbroken chain of consecration . The New Testament contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as Christianity, and shows how reference was made to the leaders of the Church to decide what was true doctrine. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the continuation of those who remained faithful to the apostolic and episcopal leadership and rejected false teachings.

Answer 5

Are all of our sins—past, present, and future—forgiven once and for all when we become Christians? Not according to the Bible or the early Church Fathers. Scripture nowhere states that our future sins are forgiven; instead, it teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).

The means by which God forgives sins after baptism is confession: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining forgiveness—the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance, or reconciliation.

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power "glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8; note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).

Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults, we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave or mortal sins—but it is required, or Christ would not have commanded it.

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done "in church," as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates.

Penances also tended to be performed before rather than after absolution, and they were much more strict than those of today (ten years’ penance for abortion, for example, was common in the early Church).

But the basics of the sacrament have always been there. Of special significance is their recognition that confession and absolution must be received by a sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for "[w]hoever . . . eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).

Answer 6

Because Jesus gave his disciples the authority to forgive and retain sins (John 20: 21-23) and this authority is passed down to the priests.

A better question is why DON'T YOU confess your sins to a priest since that is what Jesus intended

Answer 7

That 's what Protestant are becoming take place. It is not strange. In Jesus time also the priests were taking place of somebody's confession to God. Jesus against them and they all hate Jesus to death. Do you know Jesus was crucified because of the accusation of blasphemy that time. They considered Jesus as taking their place. Jesus open ppl's mind to understand the truth and the way of the life and wrong ideas of the religion then. He died for it . He died for showing us the truth and so that we can really be clear about God's will and saved fr sins (wrong doings). Don't just say "Jesus saved me fr sins"without knowing what is all about. It is not that he died and you are saved and nobody will understand.

Answer 8

I believe Jesus said to confess your sins and repent. The blood of animals in the Old Testament were used to cover the sins until the Lamb of God was slain to take away the sins of the world.

Only Jesus can do that ,not priests, not St. Peter and not the Virgin Mary.

Hebrews 10:1-10
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' "[a] 8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

John 1:23-31
23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "[h]

24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26"I baptize with[i] water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

Answer 9

The priest is there In persona Christi (in the person of Christ). Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins. He said "Whoevers sins you forgive, will eb forgiven, whoevers sins you retain will be retained."

Priests have had this power passed down to them through the generations from the apostles themselves. Therefore they have the power Jesus gave the Apostles..the power to forgive sins.

God bless,
Shane

Answer 10

That a good point.

I am not a catholic, but I am a christian and I pray directly to God. or to the Father through the Son.