Catholics: RE: Confession to a priest?

Question

Catholics: Are you tired of being confronted about confessing your sins to a priest? Do you find yourself unable to locate & quote the scriptures that support confession? Do you want to be able to effectively defend your Church's teaching in a charitable & loving way? To learn the basics about defending confession, go to this link: http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp

After reading that introduction, dig deeper by reading these books:
"Catholicism and Fundamentalism" by Karl Keating
"Where's That in the Bible" by Patrick Madrid

Also, you can listen to archived broadcasts of Catholic Answers Live at:
http://www.catholic.com/radio/calendar.php

Catholics: If these resources help you, I'd love to hear about it.
"Pax Vobis".

To "bookish": Why defend our faith? Read the epistles of Peter: "Be ready to give a defense of the hope that is in you".

Answer 1

At 21 I found myself uneducated, unemployed, pregnant, and in full blown congestive heart failure alone in this world. I hadn't been to church in years but knew I wanted my son to have a good Catholic upbringing. I called the sister of our church and talked for a long time. She then sent me on to Father and he offered me more encouragement and laughter than I thought possible at that time.

Being questioned about my faith only reminds me of how important it is to me. My son is almost 8 and since having him my perceptions of the world have changed. I have more respect for all faiths and am proud to say that these types of resources help me guide my son through our faith as well.

These resources are very good and as silly as this sounds you might considering the "Catholicism for Dummies" book. It made me laugh but it also answered many of these questions about why we as Catholics confess to a priest, or pray for forgiveness, honor the Blessed Mother, and are thankful for so many blessings in our lives.

Answer 2

Hebrews 4:16 (King James Version) "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Where exactly is this throne of grace? 1 Peter 2:9 (King James Version) "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" if you are already a priest why do you need to go to a priest for confessions? 1 John 2:1,2 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world"

Answer 3

Excellent resources -- I've read Keating and Madrid, and also heard Madrid in person at a Catholic conference on this subject. Shortly afterward in a conversation with my dad, an Evangelical, this came up -- timely, no? He's still not sure he accepts it but does understand the Biblical basis for it.

Answer 4

I kind of agree with bookish that I don't feel the need to justify confession through scripture. I think it's a good idea but I haven't been for years. I think it's good for some people because some people get really hung up on the idea that they've done something wrong and probably need to be told that it's okay and that they can move on. Like any project as well I think you need a little critical evaluation in your life and I think confession is just a formalised way of doing this. I don't think this because I've been brainwashed, I think this because it works for projects at work/school/college so why shouldn't it work for life - it's logical.

For myself I think I could probably do with a little more critical self-evaluation, but hey.

Answer 5

Why would Catholics feel they had to "defend" their Church's teaching? And, honestly, confession is the least of the things that need defending in the Catholic church. From what I know of the church, and I was raised Catholic but have since come to my senses and know there is no god, they don't do a lot of reading the Bible directly, and especially not the old testament The Catholic church seems to prefer having their followers given the word of god through them, not directly from the Bible. So, whether there's a scriptural basis for confession or not wouldn't trouble them very much.

Answer 6

The ONLY true forgiveness comes from those you have wronged. Anything else is a meaningless cop-out to make yourself feel good. A priest or God has no authority to forgive your sins that you have committed against other people, you must confess directly to them and hope for their forgiveness or else you have been forgiven for NOTHING.

Answer 7

I love my faith as is, no need to change it or defend it. There will always be romaphobes in this world, nothing i can do about it.

Answer 8

Being a non-Catholic, I don't belittle what I don't understand.

Answer 9

why go to web site links to learn about your false beliefs? Catholics are afraid to read the Bible for themselves because it will disprove what they believe. The confessing to a priest has no Biblical backing.

Answer 10

Good job, Terry. And an excellent choice of books - I own both.

:)