Protestants: Do you know why Catholics confess to a priest?

Question

One of the greatest criticisms Protestants make against the Catholic Church questions our practice of sacramental confession. "Why tell your sins to a priest when you can go directly to God?" they ask. Our reply? Because this sacrament is one of the greatest blessings Catholics have. A sacrament - which no other church has - providing us with absolution of sin. The wonderful Catholic sacrament of reconciliation (confession) through which we who are repentant are assured of the Lord's forgiveness by one of God's special representatives, our priests.



Where in the Bible does Jesus give priests the power to forgive sins? In John 20, verse 23, Jesus says to the disciples, "As the Father has sent me so I send you...receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained." Jesus clearly expected the successors of the disciples, the bishops and priests down through the centuries, to continue

His work...to preach, to pray, to forgive our sins when we are truly sorry for our failures.

The New Testament tells early Christians, "confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will cure you (James 5:16)." The admonition is as important today as it was then.

God's Representative

Catholics do not confess sins to a priest instead of to God. We confess to a priest representing God. The prayer of absolution, which the priest prays while administering the sacrament, says "I absolve you from your sin the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." It is in God's name the priest forgives, not in his own name.

When Catholics receive the sacrament of reconciliation, we have the opportunity not only to be forgiven, but to receive advice from the priest...kind and wise counsel as to how to do better in the future, living the Christian life.

Sin offends not only God, but others. The Body of Christ, the Church, is wounded whenever we sin. (Adultery, anger and racism are obvious examples.)

When the priest speaks the word of absolution, we are forgiven by the Church as well as by God. We are reconciled. Our relationships are healed.

The priest can also advise us, offering ways in which we might make up, to some extent, the offenses caused others.

A communal celebration of the sacrament provides a rich opportunity to experience the social nature of sin and forgiveness. At the same time, penitents at these services confess sinfulness and receive absolution privately, protecting confidentiality.

Answer 1

. Jesus Christ Granted the Apostles His Authority to Forgive Sins
John 20:21 - before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins.

John 20:22 - the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.

John 20:23 - Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.

Matt. 9:8 - this verse shows that God has given the authority to forgive sins to "men." Hence, those Protestants who acknowledge that the apostles had the authority to forgive sins (which this verse demonstrates) must prove that this gift ended with the apostles. Otherwise, the apostles' successors still possess this gift. Where in Scripture is the gift of authority to forgive sins taken away from the apostles or their successors?

Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:10 - Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the "Son of man" has authority to forgive sins on earth.

Luke 5:24 - Luke also points out that Jesus' authority to forgive sins is as a man, not God. The Gospel writers record this to convince us that God has given this authority to men. This authority has been transferred from Christ to the apostles and their successors.

Matt. 18:18 - the apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church.

John 20:22-23; Matt. 18:18 - the power to remit/retain sin is also the power to remit/retain punishment due to sin. If Christ's ministers can forgive the eternal penalty of sin, they can certainly remit the temporal penalty of sin (which is called an "indulgence").

2 Cor. 2:10 - Paul forgives in the presence of Christ (some translations refer to the presences of Christ as "in persona Christi"). Some say that this may also be a reference to sins.

2 Cor. 5:18 - the ministry of reconciliation was given to the ambassadors of the Church. This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance.

James 5:15-16 - in verse 15 we see that sins are forgiven by the priests in the sacrament of the sick. This is another example of man's authority to forgive sins on earth. Then in verse 16, James says “Therefore, confess our sins to one another,” in reference to the men referred to in verse 15, the priests of the Church.

1 Tim. 2:5 - Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness.

Lev. 5:4-6; 19:21-22 - even under the Old Covenant, God used priests to forgive and atone for the sins of others.

II. The Necessity and Practice of Orally Confessing Sins
James 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says “therefore” in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 – these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.

Acts 19:18 - many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church just as it is today.

Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5 - again, this shows people confessing their sins before others as an historical practice (here to John the Baptist).

1 Tim. 6:12 - this verse also refers to the historical practice of confessing both faith and sins in the presence of many witnesses.

1 John 1:9 - if we confess are sins, God is faithful to us and forgives us and cleanse us. But we must confess our sins to one another.

Num. 5:7 - this shows the historical practice of publicly confessing sins, and making

public restitution.

2 Sam. 12:14 - even though the sin is forgiven, there is punishment due for the forgiven sin. David is forgiven but his child was still taken (the consequence of his sin).

Neh. 9:2-3 - the Israelites stood before the assembly and confessed sins publicly and interceded for each other.

Sir. 4:26 - God tells us not to be ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stop the current of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse.

Baruch 1:14 - again, this shows that the people made confession in the house of the Lord, before the assembly.

1 John 5:16-17; Luke 12:47-48 - there is a distinction between mortal and venial sins. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years, but, today, most Protestants no longer agree that there is such a distinction. Mortal sins lead to death and must be absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sins do not have to be confessed to a priest, but the pious Catholic practice is to do so in order to advance in our journey to holiness.

Matt. 5:19 - Jesus teaches that breaking the least of commandments is venial sin (the person is still saved but is least in the kingdom), versus mortal sin (the person is not saved).

Answer 2

This is very well thought out and I admire that for you. The problem is not the Biblical concept of confessing out faults and sins to one another. That is clear as you have layed it out. The problem is seldom the theoretical aspects of the Catholic theology of which many things have a Biblical basis. The problem is the practices and how it is interpreted by the mass of people around the world. Why is it that in all countries in latin America we have to have bars on all the doors and windows? Turn you head and it's gone. The reason is the confessional is taken for the absolution of sins I commit even if I don't change my character. The whole idea of sacraments is a practice of priest craft which has origins in pagan religions not in the early church. It was only started in the 15th century.
You can live in the theory of the Catholic church or the actual but hardly in both... You are a virtual Catholic....read the history books and go back to the beginning and start over...that is what the Mennonites did and they are not protestant.

Answer 3

Yes, we confess to Jesus through the priest but, they dont realize that. Oh they can go through Jesus directly they say---well, why did he leave men in charge of his Church at all then? We could have all just went through Jesus and we didn't need the Apostles at all did we? Another geesh award to them!!

Answer 4

That man is still a sinner ...Romans 3:10 , 3:23 . In the King James version , in John 20:23 ... Jesus is talking to his disciples

Answer 5

Because they don't understand that Christ's sacrifice made the need for an intercedeing priesthood obsolete. Read the book of Hebrews and you will see.

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

In the OT a person could not approach God without the high priest. We have a new high priest in Jesus Christ who has completed his work, and who " having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,

You do not need the priest to get God's forgivness because Jesus Christ IS your priest:


Hbr 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hbr 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;
Hbr 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hbr 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as {we are, yet} without sin.
Hbr 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;
Hbr 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU";
Hbr 5:10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hbr 6:20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hbr 7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Hbr 7:26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
Hbr 8:1 Now the main point in what has been said {is this:} we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Hbr 8:3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this {high priest} also have something to offer.
Hbr 9:7 but into the second, only the high priest {enters} once a year, not without {taking} blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
Hbr 9:11 But when Christ appeared {as} a high priest of the good things to come, {He entered} through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Hbr 9:25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.
Hbr 13:11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest {as an offering} for sin, are burned outside the camp.

If that isn't clear I don't know what is. Please embrace the true saving gospel of forgivness for sin, by grace, through faith alone, in Christ alone before it is too late.

Answer 6

Prior to espousing a theological concept of which you do not know the historical and sociological development, you may wish to investigate the same.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation was developed well after the church had been accepted by Constantine as the official religion of Rome.

Originally, only priest and religious confessed their sins and then only to the bishop of the diocese in which they were in. This was, in fact, a form of control over those same persons.

European royalty, wanting to immitate the relgious began to demand the "sacrament". As the church realized that this gave them a good measure of control over the royalty who provided the armies and funds that supported the Holy Roman Catholic church in its efforts to convert the world (more often than not by force and under penalty of death), the chruch was more than happy to comply with that request.

Many years later, the church extended this sacrament to the general populous, again and primarily as a means of control.

The verses you site were add ons by later editors of scripture according to the leading biblical scholars of our day and as demonstratred by writing styles, changes of sentax, etc found in the Greek and Latin tranlations.

Please, learn to read the original languages as translation are never as good as the original. Photocopies of the oldest existing text are readily availble as well.

With such an education, the "truth" may well set you free!

For further information regarding the development of the Roaman Catholic Church, please read "A Concise HIsotry of the Roman Catholic Church". For a better understanding of Christian scriptures, please refer to the St. Jerome's commnetary.

Answer 7

I suppose that the real die-hard Protestants such as CJ, will find a way to rubbish this piece of holy scripture but perhaps the more moderate will give it serious meditation.....

Answer 8

I grew up catholic,i am no longer a catholic.Jesus is the only one that can reconcile us to God the father through his shed blood on the cross.No man or woman can give you absolution of your sin,God desires us to come to him via Jesus and no other.God wants us to have a real relationship with him,coming directly to him with our petitions of prayer and thanksgiving.I don't want a relationship with someone I cannot have direct access to.,To have to follow all these laws and religious rituals,I'm not interested in that.l just want a real genuine relationship with My Father in heaven.I have also had horrible experiences with priests whom were no kind of example i would want my children around.All the priests in the church i grew up in were perverts,i learned to never go to confession alone as they may try to molest you.It is disgusting to me the number of priests that have destroyed young men and woman's faith in God because they could not experience sexuall intimacy the way God intended.They were sexually frustrated so took it out on innocent children.Has the pope rectified this situation,no they will not even discuss it to the catholic church.Its dysfunction at its finest.

Answer 9

so they can get it off thier chest and not have the priest tell a cop.

Answer 10

If I read that I will all of my point on my "Who has no life chart"