Can protestants go to confession like catholics and be excused from their sins?

Answer 1

Unfortunately non-Catholics may not receive legitimately receive any Catholic Sacraments except under extreme circumstances like danger of death.

Prior to receiving Confirmation and Eucharist in the process of coming into full communion with the Catholic Church, baptized persons do receive the sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

Non-baptized persons joining the Catholic Church usually receive Reconciliation for the first time one or two months after Baptism.

However a non-Catholic may talk to a priest about any issue in their life without receiving absolution.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I don't think that there are any Protestant religions that have confession, so therefore I don't think Protestants can go to confession. If there are such religions that exist, I'm unaware.

As a Catholic myself, I would like to clear up some misconceptions of confession. Firstly, the priest doesn't forgive our sins, but rather mediates for Christ here on earth. The priest doesn't literally absolve us from our sins. God and God along does that. He's just there to listen, give advice on how to stop a particular habitual sin, etc., and give us a form of penance, which is usually in the form of prayer. I personally think that showing God(through penance) that you're contrite for the sins that you have committed is neccessary. You do the crime, you pay the time. Contrary to what you all believe, we are very much so encouraged to confess our sins to God on a daily basis, and go to confession as often as we can, so that we can be instructed on how sin affects us and our relationship with God, as well as how we can truly show God that we are sorry for our sins. You have to show God somehow that you're sorry for your sins and there's nothing wrong with penance to show that you are contrite.

Answer 3

Yes, sort of, and no.

Yes, a protestant can sort of go to confession. A priest/minister will listen to a confession of sins but there is no ritual or rite associated with it. It would be similar to confessing something to a psychiatrist.

No, a protestant cannot be excused from their sins by a priest/minister. Protestants believe that forgiveness can only be given by god.

In the protestant church, the priest/minister is there only as a fellow participant. He does not stand between the congregation and god in the way that a catholic priest does.

Answer 4

I don't know why someone gave "Dave P" and others the thumbs down for saying that Protestants don't have confession, because we don't. Not formally, anyway. Dave is right in that most Protestant churches have optional "counseling" meetings instead. Counseling can be done by the minister, or by a lay volunteer, by special appointment. It is a rare thing for most people.

Protestants are taught to confess their sins directly to God.

Some Protestant churches encourage their members to form "accountability groups" of close friends in the church to serve as an informal confessional, in order to encourage people to stay honest (James 5:16). There is NO anonymous confessionals in Protestant churches, as far as I know.

===edit===

Since it is obvious that you don't like the answers that you are getting (since you are giving everyone the thumbs down), may I suggest that next time you word your question better so that we don't misunderstand what you are trying to ask?

Answer 5

Episcopalians have Confession (the Rite of Reconciliation of a Penitent). You can find it in the Book of Common Prayer. And "excused" might be a misleading term. It's not as if people waltz in, make a half-hearted confession, and then go on their merry way. It is far more involved than that.

Here is the Episcopal rite for making a confession:

http://www.bcponline.org/PastoralOffices/reconciliation.htm

Answer 6

No- one of the big differences between protestant faiths and catholic beliefs is the fact that protestants are supposed to communicate directly with God. Therefore, no middle man (e.g. priest in confessional) is necessary. The theory is that God will forgive your sins if you ask Him to, so it accomplishes the same thing as going to confession for a Catholic.

Answer 7

The only person you need to confess to is the Lord, nobody on earth can forgive you of sins.

Answer 8

You can be forgiven of your sins by simply asking God to forgive you.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
You don't need a priest or any other person to confess your sins. Just pray to Jesus because He is the one and only mediator between us and God.

I Timothy 2:5 "For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

Answer 9

Absolutely, Christ payed with his blood the sins of the world.

And catholics and protestants are Christians both.

Answer 10

Most Protestants don’t believe that men have been authorized to forgive sin, even though the Bible says otherwise:

“'But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ -- he then said to the paralytic – 'Rise, take up your bed and go home.'" And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” (Matthew 9:6-8)

“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.'" (John 20:21-23; emphasis mine)