Catholics: One more and I think I am done. Confession?

Question

First do you believe a person can confess their sins directly to God without a priest.

Second am I correct in understanding that you see the priest as a representative of God in the confessional? You basically see it as confessing directly to God. And the priest is not actually forgiving your sins but merely telling you that you have been forgiven.

Third what would happen if someone like me went to confession? I am a protestant but I was baptized in the Catholic church as a baby. Also before anyone asks I mean if someone went and was respectful and not there as a joke or a lark.

KM - I understand what you say and I agree somewhat. However I see a lot of bashing here between Catholics and Protestants. I am just trying to understand their beliefs. I want to see if they are as different as some people claim. I am finding them not to be.

Lisa H - I am actually a Pentecostal Christian. I have been in church almost all my life. Christ found me years ago. I am just trying to understand a bit about Catholics.

Answer 1

Except for the third, I agree with you.

Our sins are confessed to a priest because that's the way the Bible tells us that our sins are forgiven by God. In the answer to the preceding responses Jesus commissioned the apostles with the authority and responsibility to forgive sins. When they forgave sins it wasn't they who were doing the forgiving, it was Jesus. "He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." (Luke 10:16, KJV)

Of the fact that this authority and responsibility was passed on to others by the apostles is not in question because we are told "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven." (James 5:14-15, NIV)

This is what we call the sacrament of the anointing of the sick for those with a physical illness but the next verse clarifies this even more. This verse starts with the word "therefore" which should cause us to look to see what it is "there for": it is providing a summary of the teaching just concluded.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16, NIV)

Who are these "each other?" None other than the sick person and the elder of the church (some translations use "presbyter" rather than elder, the Greek is presbyteros from which the word "priest" is derived). When the spiritually ill, those who have sinned, confess their sins to the priest the sins are forgiven and the healing process begins.

'Confession' for Non-Catholics
Surprising as it may sound, anyone can go to confession. Only Catholics who are willing to try to overcome their sinful nature can receive absolution. For all others, including Protestants, a meeting with the priest (and Christ) in the confessional can be a very valuable counseling session which will begin to re-order their lives.

Answer 2

First do you believe a person can confess their sins directly to God without a priest.

ANSWER: Yes. Even Catholics can. But the advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation is manifold:

Absent perfect contrition and authentic repentence, there is typically no complete forgiveness of sins .. for anyone. Never has been. never will be.

The power of the sacrament makes up for deficiencies that typically exist in the quality of our contrition, and in the sincerity of our repentence.

Catholics can work these problems out with the help of the priest, and remedy them, right here and right now, and then walk out of the confessional KNOWING that their sins have been totally and absolutely forgiven by God ... or not.

Those who insist on going directly to God have no such supernatural assurance, and no such professional, priestly assistance in dealing with their sins, and frankly, many of them don't even know what God actually requires of them.

Merely believing that "Jesus will forgive" is presumptious at best, and careless, at worst ... and based on the level of ignorance and apostacy out there, a lot of people are going to have a lot of surprises, come Judgment Day.

*****

Second am I correct in understanding that you see the priest as a representative of God in the confessional? You basically see it as confessing directly to God. And the priest is not actually forgiving your sins but merely telling you that you have been forgiven.

ANSWER:

It was Jesus who personally gave the apostles the power to forgive sins, in his name. What I believe about it is irrelevant.

Based on the words of Christ, and on the authority and power that he clearly and personally gave to the church alone, for the express purpose of our salvation, who am I to doubt it?

**********

Third what would happen if someone like me went to confession?

ANSWER:

Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.

I spent 20 years in the wilderness, came back, spent an hour and forty five minutes in confession, and all was forgiven.

It was the greatest couple of hours I can remember.

I did it on a Saturday afternoon, and the gospel reading the next day was "The Prodigal Son".

God is good!

Answer 3

Minor veniel sins can be forgiven by going directly to God and asking for forgiveness. Mortal sins, or those sins that lead to death, must be confessed to a priest.

Yes, the priest does forgive sins. it is very important to note that the priest does this by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit acts through the priest to forgive sins. Read John 20: 21-23 and you will see jesus giving the disciples the Holy Spirit for the purpose of forgiving and retaining sins.

Think of a guitar. Does music come from a guitar? Yes and no. Without a person strumming the strings, there is no music. But without the guitar, there is also no music. it is the person using the guitar that results in music. it is the holy Spirit using the priest results in the forgivness of sins.

I sincerely do not know what the effect would be if you went to confession as a Protestant. As I said before, minor, veniel sins are forgiven by perfect contrition. this is true for the Catholic, so I am guessing this is true for the Protestant.

Would your mortal sins be forgiven? i am not prepared to say that a Protestant's mortal sins are not forgiven unless they confess to a priest.

Answer 4

Catholics believe that Jesus founded His church by giving Peter authority to make spiritual decisions on earth, and God would recognize that authority.. Matt. 16:18-19 "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Catholics believe that authority has been passed down through the priesthood and the Church.
As to the practice of Confession. The protestants believe it should be directly to God. The Catholic faith believes biased on the previous text that it should be done to a fellow Christian that represents Peter I.E. The Church.
James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” 1John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
As to your final question. I would suspect that an honest confession from you would have to start with your confession that you are now protestant. You would then be considered outside of the Catholic church and you would have to repent from leaving what the priest believes to be the "True" church before you could proceed to participate in any Sacrament that the church could offer. If you choose to remain protestant that is fine, but you conversely would not expect a Baptist church would allow you to join their fellowship without accepting their baptism... It works both ways..

Answer 5

First, the priest is acting as Jesus' representative. Sure you can confess directly to God and you'll be forgiven but sometimes it helps to talk to somebody who knows a bit more about life than you do.

Second, Now days most churches have face to face counseling style confession. My suggestion is find a young priest and talk to him about it. If you are in college or close to one check out the Newman Center. It's the Catholic church on campus for Catholics.
Remember nothing, that's absolutely nothing, can be repeated by the priest. He can't even say whether he's talked to you.

Answer 6

1) Yes
2) Yes. We rely on the Scripture in Matthew 18 as the basis of our understanding of the forgiveness found in the Confessional.
3) If you are not a practicing Catholic, you may go and visit with a priest, but I don't think it would be a "sacramental confession" the way we think of it. However, the state of your soul ultimately lies with God and His mercy. He is not bound by the Sacraments; they are given to us for OUR sanctification.

Answer 7

First off do not listen to the person with the first answer ......

Ok to answer your question...when Jesus was on the cross the curtain in the Holy of Hollies was split from TOP to bottom, meaning God tore it saying that we no longer have to go to a priest or anyone to ask forgiveness or seek forgiveness. The curtain has been ripped down, when Jesus took our sins upon himself, it now means we can go to God directly through Jesus. Meaning we just need to know and talk to Jesus and have a personal realtionship with Him.
No man can be the inbetween. We are to go directly and boldly into His presence through Jesus. The Bible says there is no other name unto which we might be saved but the name of Jesus.
God is NOT a she. He said He created Adam in His image.
Also sin entered into this world through the disobediance of Adam and Eve. Then anyone else born was born with the sin nature.
Read the Bible and as you read ask God to reveal His word to you. He will.
Being baptized as a child does not save you from sin, will not make you go to heaven. Even Jesus had John the Babtist babtize Him in the water when He ws down here on earth.

Sorry to say but the Catholic Church is just as the Pharasis in the Bible time. The CAtholic Church is not what you think, study it and learn what it is all about. Open up your eyes and ask and search for truth. Through modern tech such as the web and computers we have that ability to search out the truth right ehre on line. Sounds like you really want to know Jesus.
All one needs to do is go off by yourself and talk to Jesus and ask for forgiveness and confess your sins to Him and ask Him to come into your heart and life, and then he will show you His ways and the Truth and all you need.
Trust God. Do NOT trust man.

Answer 8

You know I'm not Catholic. But here is where you're wrong. The Priest CAN forgive sins. But he is not the only way for forgiveness.

John 20:21-23 says "So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Answer 9

If there is a god, then....

yes, to your first question...

I am ambivilant to your second question..as it is the same net effect...

As to the third, in the ideal world your denomination would not matter to the preist
but we live in the real world where priests are not suppose to molest little boys either.

In short, when it comes to god, it does not matter what other people think, it only matters what you think within the confines of the general teachings of your christian faith.

On the other hand, when you are older just remember, tooth fairy, easter bunny, santa claus, God

Good Luck in Life

Answer 10

A lot of Catholicism is visual and symbolic.

It's easier to have a human body there when you're confessing your sins.

Just as you said.....it's not the priest who is forgiving you....it's God and the priest is just saying the words.

Talk to a priest or get a book called Catholicism for Dummies and it will have all the explanations you want.