CATHOLICS ONLY: whats this about confessionals??

Question

Hey everyone, I just have a quick question for Catholic followers:

I just dont understand how I have to confess my sins through a priest. Shouldn't I just confess them directly to God, since He is the one that actually does the forgiving, not the priest? The Bible says that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. I am wondering why there are people that are presented to be better than I am to God, and THEY have to pray for MY forgiveness??? It just doesn't make sense.

The bible talks about Saul, and how he became a Christian after persecuting them for years. He didnt pray to someone else, but he cried out to the Heavens in confession himself. Are you denying that Saul (later known as Paul) was not truly saved because of not confessing through a priest?

I want to clarify that I am not bashing Priests, nor the Catholic faith here, just simply asking what makes some people better that I to God.

Answer 1

+ Reconciliation +

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 with a priest ordained in the name Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.

+ Orally Confessing Sins +

James 5:16 - Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

Acts 19:18 - Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices.

Matthew 3:5-6 - At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him (John the Baptist) and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

Mark 1:5 - People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him (John the Baptist) and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

1 Timothy 6:12 - Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 John 1:9 - If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.

Numbers 5:6-7 - "Tell the Israelites: If a man (or a woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the LORD, he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged."

Nehemiah 9:2 - Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their fathers.

Sirach 4:26 - Be not ashamed to acknowledge your guilt, but of your ignorance rather be ashamed.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

So do you truly opt for a answer or only wanting to argue? the point is that is a commandment of Christ and yet for some unknown reason after being confirmed the position Christ commanded it you nonetheless refuse to except it. of route God can forgive you if a clergyman isn't close adequate to listen for your confession as God is a loving God yet your nonetheless required even as a clergyman is for sale to receive his affirmation of absolution.although the point is he set up a employer to do his will on earth by way of the undeniable fact that is in Heaven(from the lords prayer). Matthew16:19 and Johns Gospel Chap 20:21-23 take under consideration Christ begins out with techniques from affirming because the daddy has despatched me now i deliver you". with any luck you could positioned 2 and 2 mutually and are available up with 4 not 5 like this kind of vast quantity of fundies do.

Answer 3

It's not a question of "better". We as priests are "set aside" - we are ordained into the Apostolic Succession by the laying on of hands by a Bishop also in that unbroken line of Apostolic Succession.

The answer is simple....and it is found in the biblical verses near he end of St. John's Gospel. Jesus, breathed on His Apostles and said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost".

Then He said something very profound. He gave His Disciples the power, under His authority, to forgive sins.

Yes. That's true. See it below. St. John 20:23.

Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. You are correct. But there are different offices, different "jobs" if you will. St. Paul lists them..."some pastors, some teachers, some evangelists"

The Church from the beginning has had special men, who are set aside - not "over" - but "aside" for special duties.

Priests and Bishops are those who, in the line of the Apostles and with that same authority, "forgive sins by Jesus authority."

Answer 4

Christ told the apostles to follow his example: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21). Just as the apostles were to carry Christ’s message to the whole world, so they were to carry his forgiveness: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18). Priests are the apostles of today, under the Pope (Peter, the first Pope).
This power was understood as coming from God: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18). Indeed, confirms Paul, "So we are ambassadors for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20).

Some say that any power given to the apostles died with them. Not so. Some powers must have, such as the ability to write Scripture. But the powers necessary to maintain the Church as a living, spiritual society had to be passed down from generation to generation. If they ceased, the Church would cease, except as a quaint abstraction. Christ ordered the apostles to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." It would take much time. And he promised them assistance: "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matt. 28:19–20).

Note that the power Christ gave the apostles was twofold: to forgive sins or to hold them bound, which means to retain them unforgiven. Several things follow from this. First, the apostles could not know what sins to forgive and what not to forgive unless they were first told the sins by the sinner. This implies confession. Second, their authority was not merely to proclaim that God had already forgiven sins or that he would forgive sins if there were proper repentance.

Such interpretations don’t account for the distinction between forgiving and retaining—nor do they account for the importance given to the utterance in John 20:21–23. If God has already forgiven all of a man’s sins, or will forgive them all (past and future) upon a single act of repentance, then it makes little sense to tell the apostles they have been given the power to "retain" sins, since forgiveness would be all-or-nothing and nothing could be "retained."

Furthermore, if at conversion we were forgiven all sins, past, present, and future, it would make no sense for Christ to require us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors," which he explained is required because "if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:12–15).

If forgiveness really can be partial—not a once-for-all thing—how is one to tell which sins have been forgiven, which not, in the absence of a priestly decision? You can’t very well rely on your own gut feelings. No, the biblical passages make sense only if the apostles and their successors were given a real authority.

Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses directly to God? Yes. First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended. Second, by confessing to a priest, the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is avoided when one confesses only through private prayer. Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic doesn’t get; through the sacrament of penance sins are forgiven and graces are obtained. Fourth, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective "feeling." Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the future.

During his lifetime Christ sent out his followers to do his work. Just before he left this world, he gave the apostles special authority, commissioning them to make God’s forgiveness present to all people, and the whole Christian world accepted this, until just a few centuries ago. If there is an "invention" here, it is not the sacrament of penance, but the notion that the sacramental forgiveness of sins is not to be found in the Bible or in early Christian history.

Hope this helps.

Peace,

Eric

P.S. I am a Catholic.

Answer 5

Sorry, you CANNOT RESTRICT your quesiton ON AN OPEN BOARD!

As a former catholic [many years ago] and Who is NOW A Born Again Christian [John 3:3] I will answer your Question from the Bible!

MANKIND = IS NEVER TOLD TO CONFESS SINS TO A PRIEST!

(1Timothy 2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Perhaps YOU should also read, 1JOHN 1:5-to-10 AND get God's answer?

Thanks, RR

Answer 6

I was a catholic for many years and one day I woke up to the fact that catholicism is all wrong including confession. I havn't been to mass since that day.

Answer 7

The priest is there to advice and to comfort.

God does all the hard work......poor God.

Answer 8

that is a really good question, but I'm not Catholic so I can´t struggle to unwrap the twisted lies, paradoxes and hypocracies that are wrapped tighty around the Church's neck and stumble to explain how Saul was a "special case".

hahaha

you got 'em

Answer 9

You conffess them to a priest and he tells you what to connfess to God afterwards.

Answer 10

WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS BASIC HUMAN NEED?
TO TALK AND GET THINGS OFF ONES CHEST. WHICH @SSHOLES
NEVER LET YOU DO, BECAUSE THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THEIR OWN SELFISH CHIT!