Guest Adal Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I am a Catholic and have never understood why Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest. Wouldn't it be better to confess directly to Jesus and ask for forgiveness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Elly Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 9 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 415 Content Per Day: 0.08 Reputation: 15 Days Won: 2 Joined: 07/31/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/02/1945 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I am a Catholic and have never understood why Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest. Wouldn't it be better to confess directly to Jesus and ask for forgiveness? A priest cannot forgive anyone's sins I don't believe. Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God as our intercessor and he will forgive us our trespasses. When Jesus forgives you, you know your sins are gone. I wonder if the Catholic priests want sins confessed to them so they can maintain "control" over the people????? Don't know and don't want to get into a debate over "Catholic" vs "Protestant". God bless you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunterpoet Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Removed from Forums for Breaking Terms of Service Followers: 0 Topic Count: 128 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 2,704 Content Per Day: 0.44 Reputation: 25 Days Won: 1 Joined: 05/29/2007 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/08/1950 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I am a Catholic and have never understood why Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest. Wouldn't it be better to confess directly to Jesus and ask for forgiveness? 1John1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm not catholic, but I grew up in a catholic neighborhood with many catholic friends and saw the weakness of this practice. Many would say things like, " well the priest forgave me " or " all I had to do was 10 hail mary's ". Here is the problem, as I see it, 1) a priest cannot forgive or absolve sin. 2) Mary has no intercessory power whatsoever, so prayer to her is futile and idolatry. Christ Jesus is our only intercessor. With a sincere and repentant heart all you need do is pray to the Father in Jesus name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 683 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 11,128 Content Per Day: 1.99 Reputation: 1,352 Days Won: 54 Joined: 02/03/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/07/1952 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I have always used this scripyure as my guide. Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Jas 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. So confession to other believers is good. I don't want to get into the whole confessional debate here, but it is right and scripural to confess to others. Blessings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~candice~ Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted October 2, 2009 I have always used this scripyure as my guide. Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Jas 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. So confession to other believers is good. I don't want to get into the whole confessional debate here, but it is right and scripural to confess to others. Blessings Fez, for sure, confessionals to other believers is good and scriptural. But, is it good for growth and maturity as a believer, or for forgiveness? I think the former. Forgiveness comes from confession and repentance to God. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 683 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 11,128 Content Per Day: 1.99 Reputation: 1,352 Days Won: 54 Joined: 02/03/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/07/1952 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I have always used this scripyure as my guide. Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Jas 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. So confession to other believers is good. I don't want to get into the whole confessional debate here, but it is right and scripural to confess to others. Blessings Fez, for sure, confessionals to other believers is good and scriptural. But, is it good for growth and maturity as a believer, or for forgiveness? I think the former. Forgiveness comes from confession and repentance to God. JMHO Agreed andy, repentance has to be part of asking forgiveness, it is the next step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~candice~ Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted October 2, 2009 Agreed andy, repentance has to be part of asking forgiveness, it is the next step. Fez, do you agree that confession to other believers is not for forgiveness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 683 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 11,128 Content Per Day: 1.99 Reputation: 1,352 Days Won: 54 Joined: 02/03/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/07/1952 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Agreed andy, repentance has to be part of asking forgiveness, it is the next step. Fez, do you agree that confession to other believers is not for forgiveness? Yes I agree, it is the first step, shining a light on the problem, not hiding our sin, only Jesus can forgive us, but we can forgive others. Mat 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, Mat 6:15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Am explaining myself well enough? this flu is getting in the way of my thought process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~candice~ Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted October 2, 2009 Agreed andy, repentance has to be part of asking forgiveness, it is the next step. Fez, do you agree that confession to other believers is not for forgiveness? Yes I agree, it is the first step, shining a light on the problem, not hiding our sin, only Jesus can forgive us, but we can forgive others. Mat 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, Mat 6:15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Am explaining myself well enough? this flu is getting in the way of my thought process Makes perfect sense to me, Fez. Hope you start to feel better soon. Nothing worse than feeling like an airhead . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted October 2, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 683 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 11,128 Content Per Day: 1.99 Reputation: 1,352 Days Won: 54 Joined: 02/03/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/07/1952 Share Posted October 2, 2009 My decidedly unchristian revenge meter is going into the red Beware! go boil an egg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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