Ask a Catholic

[kat8585]

Why on earth do you go thru a priest to ask for forgiveness of your sins? When you can go directly to the Father. It's no one's business but mine and Gods's what my sins are. And how can a priest forgive those sins???!!!

Kat, during his life Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman taken in adultery (Jn 8:I-II). He exercised this power as MAN, "to convince you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins while he is one earth" (Mk 2:10). 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, would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was necessarily a communicable power, one that could be passed on to their successors since, obviously, the apostles would not always be on earth either. "He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit; when you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven, when you hold them bound, they are held bound" (Jn 20:22-23).

Christ told the apostles to follow his example: "As the Father sent me, so am I sending you" (Jn 20:21). What he did, they were to do. "I promise you, all that you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and all that you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt 18:18).

Keep in mind that the priest does not forgive sins, he absolves them.

Hope this helps.

But why bother to go thru a middleman, when I can go into my closet, as Jesus has said to do, and go straight to the Source? Has Jesus said to do this, or is it just a tradition? Does God not have time to listen to everyone's prayers of confession?

So if the priest "absolves" sins, God is the one who ultimately forgives them, right? So why not go diectly to Him in the first place?

[Michael333]

But why bother to go thru a middleman, when I can go into my closet, as Jesus has said to do, and go straight to the Source? Has Jesus said to do this, or is it just a tradition? Does God not have time to listen to everyone's prayers of confession?

So if the priest "absolves" sins, God is the one who ultimately forgives them, right? So why not go diectly to Him in the first place?

Because that was commanded and instituted by Christ himself. How do you explain the scripture passages that speaks of "...all that you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and all that you loose on earth is loosed in heaven"?? This is clearly showing that Christ passed on this authority to man, namely the Apostles and the successors of the Apostles, that is, the bishops.

If the apostles and disciples believed that Christ instituted a priesthood that included the power to forgive sins in his stead, we would expect the successors of the apostles and Christians of later years to act as though such power was legitimately and habitually exercised. On the other hand, if the priestly forgiveness of sins was what fundamentalists term it, an "invention", and if it was something foisted on the young Church be ecclesiastical or political leaders, we would expect to find records of protest. In fact, in early Christian writings we find no sign of protests concerning priestly forgiveness of sins. Quite the contrary. We find confession to a priest was accepted as consistent witht the original deposit of faith.

Note that the power given to the apostles by Christ was two-fold: to forgive sins or to hold them bound, which means to retain them unforgiven. Several things follow from this. First, the apostles could not know what sins to forgive, what not to forgive, unless they were first told the sins by the sinner. This implies confession. Second, their authority was not merely to proclaim that God had already forgiven sins or that he would forgive sins if there were proper repentance.

Such interpretations do not account for the distinction between forgiving and retaining -- nor do they acocunt for the importance given to the utterance in John 20:22-23. If God has already forgiven all a man's sins or will forgive them all, past and future, on a single act of repentance, then it makes little sense to tell the apostles they have been given the power to "retain" sins, since forgiveness would be an all-or-nothing thing and nothing could be "retained". If forgiveness can be partial, how is one to tell which sins have been forgiven, which not, in the absence of a priestly decision? One cannot very well rely on gut feelings. No, the biblical passages make sense, hang together, only if the apostles and their successors were given a real authority.

So how does these scripture passages hold up to "go straight to the source"? Where in scripture does it say to only confess to Christ himself? If that was the case, the above scripture passages and the ones I quoted earlier make no sense. Maybe Christ was just teasing the apostles to make them think they had power or something??.

[Floatingaxe]

"...all that you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and all that you loose on earth is loosed in heaven"?? This is clearly showing that Christ passed on this authority to man, namely the Apostles and the successors of the Apostles, that is, the bishops.

What? All His power is given to us! Everyone can tap into the power of God througfh the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We are all called to be ministers of the gospel in every aspect! Each individual, living in Christ, is part of the holy priesthood!

1 Peter 2:5

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

[Michael333]

Still, some people are not convinced. One is Paul Juris, a former priest, now a fundamentalist, who has written a pamphlet on this subject - called "The forgiveness of Sins". The pamphlet is widely distributed by organizations opposed to Catholicism. The cover describes the work as "a study of John 20:23, a much misunderstood and misused portion of Scripture pertaining to the forgiveness of sins". Juris begins by mentioning "two main schools of thought", the first being the Catholic postition, the second the fundamentalist. He puts the fundamentalist position this way: "In this setting and with these words, Jesus was commissioning his disciples, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to go and preach the Gospel to every creature. Those who believed the Gospel, their sins would be forgiven. Those who refused to believe the Gospel, their sins would be retained."

He correctly notes that "among Christians, it is generally agreed that regular confession of one's sins is obivously necessary to remain in good relationship with God. So the issue is not whether we should or should not confess our sins. Rather, the real issue is: How does God say that our sins are forgiven or retained?" Juris says, "Since John 20:23 can be interpreted in more than one way, it will be necessary to examine this portion of Scripture not only in its context, but also in the light of other Scriptures pertaining directly to this subject. And, since we know that God' Word never contradicts itself, what better way could we arrive at the true meaining of this verse of Scripture, than be comparing it with other Scriptures?"

This sounds fine, on the surface, but this apparently reasonable approach masks what really happens next. Juris engages in verse slinging, listing as many verses as he can find that refer to God forgiving sins, in hope the sheer mass of verses will settle the question. Yet none of the verses he lists specifically interprets John 20:23, and none contradicts the Catholic interpretation. For instance, he cites verses such as these:

"Be it known therefore to you, brethren, that through him [Christ] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and in him everyone who believes is acquitted of all the things of which you could not be acquitted by the Law of Moses" (Acts 13:38-39);

"And he said to them, Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned" (Mk 16:15-16)

Juris says verses such as these demonstrate that "all that was left for the disciples to do was to 'go' and 'proclaim' this wonderful good news (the Gospel) to all men. This is NOT a proof; these verses, and others he lists, do not interpret John 20:23. Juris does nothing more than show the Bible says God will forgive sins, something no one doubts. The only thing he does is sidestep the evident problem in the fundamentalist interpretation of the verse.

Another Point. Fundamentalist writers often ignore John 20:22-23 since it is troublesome. They shift focus, insisting there is "only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ" (I Tim 2:5). True, but they draw an improper inference. Christ was at liberty to decide how his mediation would be applied to us. It is a question of fact. Naturally enough, the one who is offended does the forgiving. When we sin, we offend God, so it is he to whom we look for forgiveness. But he can arrange his forgiveness either personally and immediately or through an agent. Which did he declare to be the usual (though not exclusive) way to forgive sins: by direct application to him or by means of confessing to a priest? If the first, then John 20:22-23 becomes unintelligible. The words would not remotely mean what they so clearly seem to say.

[Michael333]

Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses straight to God? Yes. First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended it to be sought. Second, by confessing to a priest the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is conveniently avoided when one confesses only through private prayer -- and how we all desire to escape humbling experiences! Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic does not get; through the sacrament of penance not only are sins forgiven, but graces are obtained. Fourth, and in some ways the most important, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective "feeling". Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the furture, while the non-Catholic praying in private ramins uninstructed.

True, Christ could have decided that sins would normally be forgiven merely through private prayer, but he knew the world would grow old before his return. With himself gone, he wanted his followers to have every possible consolation, every possible assurance, every possible help, so he instituted the sacrament through which we are reconciled to God. During his lifetime Christ sent out his followers to do his work. Just before he left this world, he gave the apostles special authority, commissioning them to make God's forgiveness present to all lands, to all people, and the whole Christian world accepted this until just a few centuries ago. If there is an "invention" here, it is not the sacrament of penance, but the notion that the priestly forgiveness of sins is not to be found in the Bible or in early Christian history.

Don't merely fall back on your canned anti-Catholic answers to confession. Open your Bible, read the Scriptures, and think about it. Then post an educated answer. Lets not approach the Bible with "already-held" views and engage in verse slinging as many, such as Paul Juris, does. It gets us nowhere.

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

through the sacrament of penance not only are sins forgiven, but graces are obtained.

So Grace is something that can be attained or merited by ones own efforts?

Peace,

Dave

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

Because that was commanded and instituted by Christ himself. How do you explain the scripture passages that speaks of "...all that you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and all that you loose on earth is loosed in heaven"??

This command and now the Breathing out of the Holy Spirit upon them in John 20:20 was nothing more than the fulfillment of the Commissioning of the Great Commission. That by it these men and now we have the ability through the Preaching of this Gospel, 'Repent and be forgiven of your sins". To loose folks by Gods Word which brings repentance or to bind them according to their reception of such. It is not we who are doing this but God by His Word. We are the vehicle and we can claim no such Right because we received it as such ourselves.

It is the Preaching of this Word and the Great Commisssion that accomplishes this work. Since these things came forth from God. Only He can forgive mankind their sins. We just Re - Present Christ and His Gospel. The Word itself will not return void.

Zec

[Live4Eternity]

I have a couple questions if you would be so kind to answer ...

how come, if I'm not a Catholic, I cannot participate in communion?

I went to a Catholic service, midnight mass for Easter with my wife's side of the family (we are both Christian). It came time for communion and we were told not to participate. The reasons were:

1 - we were not Catholic

2 - we have not been to the coffesion booth.

This didn't make much sense to me because I'm sure of my relationship with Christ.

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Second question.

How come Catholics pary to deceised catholics or saints? I've been told the reason is:

1 - they're not actually dead since we are 'alive in Christ'

But the bible teaches that we 'sleep' in our graves. Please explain.

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Third.

Purgatory.

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Fourth.

Penance.

Lol, I hope I didn't flood you with too much my friend! lol.

Thanks for helping.

God bless!

[Floatingaxe]

Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses straight to God? Yes. First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended it to be sought. Second, by confessing to a priest the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is conveniently avoided when one confesses only through private prayer -- and how we all desire to escape humbling experiences! Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic does not get; through the sacrament of penance not only are sins forgiven, but graces are obtained. Fourth, and in some ways the most important, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective "feeling". Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the furture, while the non-Catholic praying in private ramins uninstructed.

True, Christ could have decided that sins would normally be forgiven merely through private prayer, but he knew the world would grow old before his return. With himself gone, he wanted his followers to have every possible consolation, every possible assurance, every possible help, so he instituted the sacrament through which we are reconciled to God. During his lifetime Christ sent out his followers to do his work. Just before he left this world, he gave the apostles special authority, commissioning them to make God's forgiveness present to all lands, to all people, and the whole Christian world accepted this until just a few centuries ago. If there is an "invention" here, it is not the sacrament of penance, but the notion that the priestly forgiveness of sins is not to be found in the Bible or in early Christian history.

Don't merely fall back on your canned anti-Catholic answers to confession. Open your Bible, read the Scriptures, and think about it. Then post an educated answer. Lets not approach the Bible with "already-held" views and engage in verse slinging as many, such as Paul Juris, does. It gets us nowhere.

It is a ridiculous notion to suggest that believers live by a "feeling" of forgiveness. A true believer knows that when we come to the CROSS, we receive full forgiveness in Christ, and we are viewed as righteous in God's sight. It is a promise. We need no agent other than Jesus Christ. YOU read the Bible yourself!

Regarding authority: we have all been given all the authority of Christ, by Christ Himself!

Catholic believers are no less receivers of God's grace and forgiveness than any other true believer! If you believe this then you are guilty of the sin of favouritism. All those who accept Jesus Christ's atonement for our personal sins before the Most Holy God is saved from hellfire. We are all under GRACE. We are all better off--no more than any other brother or sister in Christ! What you are believing is heretical and non-biblical.

[Fiosh]

Absolve and forgive are synonyms, in case anyone was wondering. No human can forgive sins.

forgive - to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.

absolve - to free from guilt or blame or their consequences, to grant or pronounce remission of sins to