confession of sins to a priest?

Question

Why do Catholics confess sins to a priest or bishop?
This is based on three simple Biblical principals:

1) Christ gave this authority to His apostles: "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) (Elsewhere the Bible even says that God "had given such authority to men" Matt. 9:8. )

2) This authority was handed down from the apostles to their successors, the bishops, through the laying on of hands: "Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you" 1 Tm 4:14, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ" 2 Corinthians 5:20

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God "had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20)

Questions? Comments?
SOURCE:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp

To "Bambino8" : You would think so, but in actuallity, it is very liberating, and it feels good doing something tangible as a reperation to God

To "jweston2" : True, only God can forgive sin, but the question is: How does channel that forgiveness?

Answer 1

I'm a Conservative Lutheran. While confession to a Priest (Pastor) is not mandatory, private confession and absolution is supported, and encouraged by Scripture, and our Church.

The Sacramental act of private confession (The Office of the Keys) does have the benefit of guidance and comfort from not only the Pastor, but as the Bible tells us, Christ Himself, as well as Christs personal forgiveness.

Mark

Answer 2

though i'm not catholic, i'm a confessional lutheran (LCMS), so i sometimes defend the catholic church in R&S when questions like these are posted by anti-catholics, since we have the same beliefs concerning with confession and absolution.

anyone who doubts the scriptural basis of confession and absolution can check the bible themselves for the passages listed below.

these verses all deal with confession. they tell us who we should confess to and what we should confess:

psalm 32:3, 5, psalm 51:1-4, psalm 19:12, proverbs 28:13, 1 john 1:8-9, james 5:16, matthew 5:23-24, 2 samuel 12:13

these tell us of pastoral confidentiality and the benefit of private confession:

psalm 103:12, proverbs 11:13, 1 timothy 3: 1-2, psalm 32:2, 2 samuel 12:13, matthew 9:2

the last three deal with absolution:

isaiah 1:18, matthew 18:18, luke 10:16, john 20:23

those passages, along with the ones you and ''cristoiglesia'' have given, provide more than ample sctriptural basis for the practice of confession and absolution. in case the next answerer doesn't have a bible on hand, i'll post this link;

http://www.biblegateway.com

Answer 3

I confess my sins to a priest. The High Priest, Jesus Christ. He is the only priest I need. Why go to an earthly man for forgiveness when I can go to Jesus himself.

Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Answer 4

fireball226, catholics DO talk directly to the Lord. They're called to do both(private confession and sacramental confession)

but when confessing with a priest(sacramental confession i think its called) you are probably more sorry because you had the guts to tell someone. and you recieve the VERY calming(?) "your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more", coming from the priest in the place of Christ. to a penitent(the person confessing) that's like the greatest thing ever.

elaine- look up the definition of "hyperbole"

Answer 5

No. Confession is pronounced 2 distinctive techniques in the Bible. the 1st is the training to "Confess your sins, one to a distinctive." which means as quickly as we are incorrect, we ought to consistently no longer attempt to conceal it, yet carry it out into the open and make it precise. the 2nd is a factor of the stairs to transforming into to be a believer. After listening to the best information of the gospels, and believing it, you mostly repent of your sins, then confess including your mouth, that Jesus the Christ is the Son of the residing God. while Jesus pronounced this elementary certainty, it sealed his destiny to be placed to dying on the go. as quickly as we are saying it, it seals our destiny besides. At that element we "die" to the international of sin, and are buried under the waters of baptism, purely to upward push up out of the water a clean creature, in the likeness of Christ.

Answer 6

All during Old Testament times, the way to God was through the Priest. The people brought their prayers to the temple along with a sacrifice and the priests presented their prayers to God. When Jesus died the veil of separation in the Temple was torn apart, signifying that the people would no longer need an intercessor on Earth. They could now approach God directly (Ephes. 3:12). I confess my sins directly to God in accordance with the bible.

Answer 7

Most protestants find this distasteful because of their egocentrism. THEY have a relationship to God unique among humankind, THEY know God better than anyone else, God is THEIR best friend. It feeds their presecution complex and their paranoia.
Similarly, they think they know the Bible and their religion better than anyone else. Look at the answers people post on here. Many of them apparently have never even cracked the Bible, let alone read the whole thing several times and made notes.

Answer 8

again, biblical truth, and only Jesus would think up confession, we sure wouldnt have. It is hard to go to another and tell the sins you have committed, but then again Jesus knew it would be humbling for us, and He wants us to be like unto him. By the way, can you answer the question on biblical reference to the immculate conception? To me it is only logical, but then I have a better idea of who God is, and his holyness, that he requried a holy person to dwell in, biblical references please ??

Answer 9

Confession of sins to a priest (a mediator between God and man)

See I Timothy 2:5—“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” / I Peter 2:5 (speaking of all Christians being a priesthood)

http://christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005a.html

Answer 10

I appreciate what you are saying, but as a non-catholic Christian I feel so odd talking to what is still a man, vs God himself. Do others in the Catholic Chrurch ever feel this way?