Idol is a deceit. No one can get to God through Idol, rather idol leads to lucifer the father of deception.

Catholic organisation does not installs a medium between God and Man, Christ himself instituted this Sacrament and is stated clear in the quoted references of the Holy Bible.

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.

One of he 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.

"Someone With Skin"
I am reminded of the little boy who was afraid of thunder and lightning.  One night, as he was sleeping, a violent storm blistered the skies.  He awoke terrified, and ran into his parents' bedroom, crying.  His mother tried to calm him.  "Jimmy, I told you God loves you and is with you.   Don't ever be afraid.  You are never alone."  Jimmy replied, "I know, Mommy, that God loves me and listens to my prayers.  But sometimes I need someone with skin!"
   We all need "someone with skin."  When we have sinned, offending God and His people, the Church, we need to open our hearts to another person, "someone with skin."  For Catholics, that "someone with skin" is the priest, ordained by the Church to represent Jesus and the Church herself.  "Someone with skin" from whom we can ask God's forgiveness.   And hear that it is granted.

A Scriptural Foundation
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.

Healing Relationships
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.

Sacred Trust
Protestant friends have told me how embarrassing it would be for them to tell in confession the shameful things that they have done.   Actually, our priests are trained to reflect the compassion and understanding of Jesus to the sinner.  The priest knows that he, too, is a sinner.

How often, for example, have you told a close friend something, very confidential, only to find out later that your confidant then told someone else?   A priest, on the other hand, has a sacred trust.  He may never tell anyone what someone has told him in the secrecy of the sacrament.  Not even if it would save his own life!

Good Health
It is healthy, spiritually an psychologically, to unburden ourselves in a humble way through this wonderful gift of Jesus to His Church.

Yes, all of us can tell God we are sorry in our hearts.  But only the Catholic that has the good sense to confess regularly has the light hearted joy of hearing "someone with skin" say those comforting words, "Your sins are forgiven.  Go in peace."

Fhemmmy:

Read Malachi well and you will be able to tell how and why it was said

Did u read the begining of Malachi where clearly God was rebuking (Levi) priests for not bringing their tithes to him in burnt offerings or when they do they bring items of low quality- Malachi 1 states:


6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. 9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. 13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord. 14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen

mama-gee:

Poster. . .
Maybe, you should go and ask the pope why Catholics confess their sins to man.

Thats what am doing ma dear.

@Macfonse: « #32 on: Yesterday at 09:05:14 PM »

Idol is a deceit. No one can get to God through Idol, rather idol leads to lucifer the father of deception.

Catholic organisation does not installs a medium between God and Man, Christ himself instituted this Sacrament and is stated clear in the quoted references of the Holy Bible.

We in Islam rest our case, an indictment against Christianity's idolatry.

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.

This is idolatry at its higest. Just as the Hindus, te Buhddists, etc. Even the Jews who took their Rabbis to undemine God's Authority. If I were to give you an employment, afte conducting my own interview with you, and you walk in and tak an official position in my father's business, are you really employed, without the Chairman employing you? If am fortunate I will not be punished and be sacked as I should rightfully be. Definitey, you wll be fired and no wages paid to you. For my empty employment that doe not keep you in the office, you will probably be angry, and will be sad tat i deceive you. This will be the condition of you people in the day of Judgement when he priests will be exposed just as the asumption that you have that Jesus gave authority, which he does not have to forgive. Is there more than One God, and we do not have each trying to get ove the others? Impossible.

One of he 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.

The Protestants are in much error as the Catholics. So dont mind them. Let them continue intheir lies and pollutions.
No one can get to God (father?) without the Son? I ask hee and now, the mother of the son must be te wife of the fathr, otherwise the father practiced fornication or adultery, so is the mother and the sons a bastard.

The fact is the Roman Catholic church, as is their custom, has erroneously used a passage to strengthen one of their teachings. They have totally missed the idea of what Jesus said, when He remarked thus:-

"He breathed on them, and said unto them, receive the Holy Spirit. Whose so ever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them, and whose so ever sins you retain, they are retained." Jn.20:23.

Why has the Catholic church limited this statement to its priesthood? Was this remark by Jesus limited to His disciples, or was it intended for the wider diaspora of authorized ministers?

Before I go any further it becomes prudent to define what the key words in the passage actually signify, and these are, remit and retain.

1. Remit means to release, or pardon

2. Retain means to hold in place, or keep in mind.

Now let us look at this passage found in Matthew 16:19 "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."


What do all these passages really mean? Do they mean that the Roman Catholic priests have the power to receive our confessions and to forgive our sins? Can men who are sinful beings themselves be given the responsibility to both receive our sins, and to forgive them all at once? It therefore begs the question. Who does a priest confess his sins to? Another priest who needs to confess his sins too? Who does the pope confess his sins to? A lower-ranked priest? 

Absolutely not!!! That was not what Jesus meant by those remarks at all. Neither did He mean to limit to His disciples that awesome responsibility of ensuring the provision of forgiveness and salvation. For all practical purposes that wouldn't make sense. In other words what would happen when those disciples came off the scene? Those remarks by Jesus had to have had a wider significance, and application than some would have us believe.

When Jesus commissioned His disciples to teach and preach the gospel globally, did He intend to limit that responsibility to the then disciples only, or did He intend for the church on a whole to get involved as well? When the disciples received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and received the gift of tongues, was that gift limited only to the then disciples? Were the other gifts also confined to them as well, or were those gifts in general intended for the wider benefit of the church?

The fact is there had to have been a first set of trail blazers in the persons of Jesus' disciples. They were the forerunners to a line of authorized lineage of ministers, bishops, and pastors who would provide the means by which the sins of men and women could be forgiven, but only in the sense that after hearing the preaching of the gospel, they would take full advantage of such. It must not, and should never bee seen to mean that sinful men would reserve the right to receive confessions, and to be able to forgive anyone's sins.

Only God alone deserves the right and authority to forgive sins.

@ Mcfonse

When a gunman goes into the confessional cubicle in private and confesses his sins, is that process a sacrament? What should a priest do with a murderer's confession? What if the police comes to a priest, who suspects that one member is guilty of murder, and asks such a priest to help bring such a person to justice, what should such a priest do?

All priests would argue that such confessions are a private matter, yet they conveniently forget that "the powers that be", being the state, were ordained by God to deal with evil doers. Surely, the Catholic church is very much aware of the passage of scriptures in Romans 13.

I dare not tell my life to one priest. Imagine having so much information on people's lives. I cannot trust the Catholic church based on its history of persecution against God's people in the past. No one organization should be given so much power over the people.

If priests already are suffering from the setbacks of celibacy, and can hardly be trusted with important agreements of trust, then can you imagine when this same organization becomes the ultimate power broker? All indications point to a return of ultimate control by the RCC. The prophecies cannot lie.

Jesus alone is my Mediator and High Priest.

catholics vs the penterascals


*shake my head* @ the confusions in the christian religion

@ mudley313

*shake my head* @ the confusions in the christian religion

spend

That is because Christianity as a religion is hated by Satan, and hence would exhibit more problems among its adherents. Satan has no time to spend with those who are already touting his errors. His job now is to divide the one true and relevant religion that was initiated by Jesus.

Wasn't it Jesus who said that what He teaches would wraught division among members of the family, and society for His name sake? As long as good and evil run side by side, division among religion, would take place until God sets up His kingdom.

Jesus said ", the end is not yet"

Seal of confession

Regarding the sins revealed to him in sacramental confession, the priest is bound to inviolable secrecy. From this obligation he cannot be excused either to save his own life or good name, to save the life of another, to further the ends of human justice, or to avert any public calamity. No law can compel him to divulge the sins confessed to him, or any oath which he takes — e.g., as a witness in court. He cannot reveal them either directly — i.e., by repeating them in so many words — or indirectly — i.e., by any sign oraction, or by giving information based on what he knows through confession. The only possible release from the obligation of secrecy is the permission to speak of the sins given freely and formally by the penitent himself. Without such permission, the violation of the seal of confession would not only be a grievous sin, but also a sacrilege. It would be contrary to the natural law because it would be an abuse of the penitent's confidence and an injury, very serious perhaps, to his reputation. It would also violate the Divine law, which, while imposing the obligation to confess, likewise forbids the revelation of that which is confessed. That it would infringe ecclesiastical law is evident from the strict prohibition and the severe penalties enacted in this matter by the Church. "Let him beware of betraying the sinner by word or sign or in any other way whatsoever. . . we decree that he who dares to reveal a sin made known to him in the tribunal of penance shall not only be deposed from the priestly office, but shall moreover be subjected to close confinement in a monastery and the performance of perpetual penance" (Fourth Lateran Council, cap. xxi; Denzinger, "Enchir.", 438). Furthermore, by a decree of the Holy Office (18 Nov., 1682), confessors are forbidden, even where there would be no revelation direct or indirect, to make any use of the knowledge obtained in confession that would displease the penitent, even though the non-use would occasion him greater displeasure.

These prohibitions, as well as the general obligation of secrecy, apply only to what the confessor learns through confession made as part of the sacrament. He is not bound by the seal as regards what may be told him by a person who, he is sure, has no intention of making a sacramental confession but merely speaks to him "in confidence"; prudence, however, may impose silence concerning what he learns in this way. Nor does the obligation of the seal prevent the confessor from speaking of things which he has learned outside confession, though the same things have also been told him in confession; here again, however, other reasons may oblige him to observe secrecy. The same obligation, with the limitations indicated, rests upon all those who in one way or another acquire a knowledge of what is said in confession, e.g., an interpreter who translates for the priest the words of the penitent, a person who either accidentally or intentionally overhears the confession, an ecclesiastical superior (e.g., a bishop) to whom the confessor applies for authorization to absolve the penitent from a reserved case. Even the penitent, according to some theologians, is bound to secrecy; but the more general opinion leaves him free; as he can authorize the confessor to speak of what he has confessed, he can also, of his own accord, speak to others. But he is obliged to take care that what he reveals shall cast no blame or suspicion on the confessor, since the latter cannot defend himself. In a word, it is more in keeping with the intention of the Church and with the reverence due to the sacrament that the penitent himself should refrain from speaking of his confession. Such, undoubtedly, was the motive that prompted St. Leo to condemn the practice of letting the penitent read in public a written statement of his sins (see above); and it needs scarcely be added that the Church, while recognizing the validity of public confession, by no means requires it; as the Council of Trent declares, it would be imprudent to prescribe such a confession by any human enactment.

Catholics confess to a priest because Jesus told them to. But why would Jesus want his followers to confess their sins to mere human beings? Why not go straight to Him?

This has being ever since the church was founded by Ou Lord Jesus Christ Himself, it not a Catholic invention. When people quote the Bible to attack Catholics, little do they know that the Catholic Church authority is the one that compiled the books of the Bible written by her members under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

An issue like this would always remain Mystery to the Muslims. Our Lord Jesus Christ came as the image of the unseeing God. Whatever he taught was final. Muhamed introduced islam about 500 years after Christ. God cannot conflict himself, first by sending his begotten Son and later sending another prophet to contradict him. Contradictory is opposition and anything against Christ is against God.

The first Christians went to Jesus to confess their sins, and he told them to go to a priest; Christ himself determined that sins could be forgiven through human intermediaries almost 2,000 years ago(John 20:21-23). Today's modern Catholics honor that ancient and timeless tradition.
What Is Confession, Anyway?

Confession (also called Reconciliation) is a sacrament; a physical, visible sign that accompanies a holy and supernatural event. It is a healing sacrament, along with the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Confession/Reconciliation is the sacrament of conversion and forgiveness; it gives peace, pardon, and a new beginning to the one who receives it.
Can a Priest Really Forgive Sins?

Priests forgive sins only through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave this power to his successors. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples, breathed the Holy Spirit upon them, and said, “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).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms this:

“In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church…. ‘I will give you the Keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ‘Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation, bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops’ collaborators, continue to exercise this ministry.” (CCC 1444,1461)

Why Do Christians Have to Confess Their Sins?

James, leader of the Jerusalem Council and brother of Jesus, instructed members of the early church to regularly confess their sins to each other in order to receive healing (James 5:16). Catholics honor this instruction by confessing their sins to a priest.
Why Not Just Confess Directly to God?

Catholics do ultimately confess their sins to God because God is the only one who can forgive sins. The priest is simply a human extension of Christ’s priestly ministry; a human intermediary who can hear and forgive sins on Christ’s behalf. The priest’s words and physical presence are simply a tangible sign that an invisible (and supernatural) event (God’s forgiveness) is taking place; a sacrament is being given and received. The act of confession can be an indescribably cathartic and healing experience.
Why Do Christians Need Confession? Isn’t Baptism Enough?

When Christians are baptized, their sins are forgiven. However, even the most pious Christian is a work in progress, and imperfect people cannot always avoid temptation and make the right choices. Through God’s love and the sacrament of Reconciliation, sinners are brought back in synch with their loving and forgiving God.

Kai, Macfonse, I feel like clapping. You are one of the Catholics the Catholic Church needs, a Catholic who knows his faith and can defend it when called upon to and not one who gets confused, unable to utter a word and afterwards proclaim to have seen the light on the his left hand side.

Christ clearly stated that his Apostles can absolve or retain sins, making confession to a man therefore is not unbiblical. Right from day one, the Church have been organised in hierarchy and confessions are heard by the priests and not by every Church member, there is no confusion in God's house.

You can also approach God directly in prayer, that also is not unbiblical. If you are not a catholic, you wouldn't know that before the celebration of the holy eucharist (Mass), the priest in the manner of a prayer point would require everyone to examine his mind for any wrong committed against God or man and ask God for forgiveness.

You may not agree with me that the Catholic Church is directly instituted by the Apostles and that her cardinal traditions are directly passed down from the Apostles but you cannot deny that every institution has traditions and even if these traditions are jettisoned along the generational line by some who may not see them in light of those that instituted them, that does not mean they are bad, you simply don't understand them and your background might not allow you to accept them as authentic, that is okay, practice what you understand and let live.

Correct, the church does not exist without tradition. This has being the tradition practised by the Apostles and handed over to Priests that they laid hands on and that continues the Apostolic Succession till date. All Catholic Priests, be it Roman Catholic, Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox Christians, they all have traces of Apostolic Succession. Understanding requires the grace of the Holy Spirit.

True ability to interpret scripture and preserve the teachings of Christ are only fully possible within the Catholic Church. This is evidenced by the wide array of Protestantism, which hold a large amount of conflicting teachings (an example is the necessity of Baptism) even though all claim to be interpreting the Bible correctly. Although much truth exists in other Christian religions, the only infallible truth lies within the Bible and the Traditions of the Catholic Church. If Christ had not established a teaching, living, apostolic church then how could we properly understand the doctrines of the Bible? Note that 2 Peter 1:20 says "know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation". And even the Ethiopian eunuch on his way to Damascus while trying to interpret scripture asks for Philip's help (who is ordained as a priest in Acts 6:5). "Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied "How can I unless someone instructs me?" (Acts 8:30-31) Thus the church has the authority to properly teach the doctrines of faith for our salvation. This is why I am Catholic. Because without the Church I can't be sure that Christ's teachings are being properly preserved. If you read the Father's of the Church their writings correlate with Catholic views on a ministerial priesthood, the sacraments and many other Catholic doctrines. The first Christians themselves were Catholics. Acts 6:1-6 shows the establishment of the priesthood under the apostles of the Church.

Power to forgive sins
It is noteworthy that the fundamental objection so often urged against the Sacrament of Penance was first thought of by the Scribes when Christ said to the sick man of the palsy: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." "And there were some of the scribes sitting there, and thinking in their hearts: Why doth this man speak thus? he blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins but God only?" But Jesus seeing their thoughts, said to them: "Which is easier to say to the sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, take up thy bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house" (Mark 2:5-11; Matthew 9:2-7). Christ wrought a miracle to show that He had power to forgive sins and that this power could be exerted not only in heaven but also on earth. This power, moreover, He transmitted to Peter and the other Apostles. To Peter He says: "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). Later He says to all the Apostles: "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matthew 18:18). As to the meaning of these texts, it should be noted:

* that the "binding" and "loosing" refers not to physical but to spiritual or moral bonds among which sin is certainly included; the more so because
* the power here granted is unlimited — "whatsoever you shall bind, . . . whatsoever you shall loose";
* the power is judicial, i.e., the Apostles are authorized to bind and to loose;
* whether they bind or loose, their action is ratified in heaven. In healing the palsied man Christ declared that "the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins"; here He promises that what these men, the Apostles, bind or loose on earth, God in heaven will likewise bind or loose. (Cf. also POWER OF THE KEYS.)

Remit means to release, or pardon

2. Retain means to hold in place, or keep in mind.

And you still prove the Catholic Church correct.

If we go by your definition it means that the apostles had the authority to release or pardon one from their sins and to hold their sins in place. Either way it is forgiving or not forgiving sins.

Why has the Catholic church limited this statement to its priesthood? Was this remark by Jesus limited to His disciples, or was it intended for the wider diaspora of authorized ministers?

Because it was to the Apostles alone that he gace such authority. He didn't give it to the other disciples that he had. If Jesus intended for all to have this authority then he wouldn't have bothered having 12 disciples in the first place to whom he deposited the faith to.

What do all these passages really mean? Do they mean that the Roman Catholic priests have the power to receive our confessions and to forgive our sins?

Absolutely.

Can men who are sinful beings themselves be given the responsibility to both receive our sins, and to forgive them all at once?

Ofcourse, the men he breated on and told to release sins or hold them are men aren't they?

Mark 2: 7 Why doth this man speak thus? he blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God only? 8 Which Jesus presently knowing in his spirit, that they so thought within themselves, saith to them: Why think you these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

The Jews didn't know Jesus as God and therefore saw Jesus forgive sins as man. Now after the question Jesus answered them as the Son of Man not the Son of God. He could've easily stated that he forgives as the Son of God, but instead speaks of forgiving as the Son of Man (his humanity).

It therefore begs the question

why does it beg the question as to whom the other Priests would confess to? If Priests can forgive then any Priest can forgive sins, duh.

The fact is there had to have been a first set of trail blazers in the persons of Jesus' disciples

But they weren't the only disciples that Jesus had at that time, why did Jesus not give the authority to bind and loose on the other disciples at that time? Why did he not give the power to forgive sins at that time?

If it was to be given to everyone in the Church, why then was Matthias needed to replace Judas?
Certainly, there would've been no point of replacing Judas, everyone could've just gone on their way if the authority was given to all, so what was the point of replacing Judas? What does that signify?

did He intend to limit that responsibility to the then disciples only,

On the contrary the Catholic belief is that it wasn't limited to the then disciples only but to the successors of those disciples. Only those who are validly ordained are direct successors of the apostles, and you know where the direct succession is.

It must not, and should never bee seen to mean that sinful men would reserve the right to receive confessions, and to be able to forgive anyone's sins.

So basically you will determine for God how he will carry out his forgiveness? Even after he has already clearly pointed out that he has given sinful men the authority to forgive sins.

No matter which way you put it, you cannot deny that Jesus did give authority to men to remit and retain sins. But not just any sins, the sins of others. Or is that not what the Bible says?

Only God alone deserves the right and authority to forgive sins

This is where we agree, where we disagree is that you have the right to determine for God how he will carry out his forgiveness. Especially when he's already told us how he will carry out his forgiveness

James 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must "confess our sins to each other," not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which refers to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Therefore, when James says "therefore" in verse 16, which should refer 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.

lady, is your profile picture actually pc given the context?

this is nairaland oh

On the evening of the first
day of the week, when the
doors were locked, where
the disciples were, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood in their midst and said
to them, “Peace be with
you.” When he had said this
he showed them his hands
and his side. The disciples
rejoiced when they saw the
Lord. Jesus said to them
again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me,
so I send you. ” And when he
said this, he breathed on
them and said to them,
“ Receive the holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose
sins you retain are
retained. ”
catholic is one

On the evening of the first
day of the week, when the
doors were locked, where
the disciples were, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood in their midst and said
to them, “Peace be with
you.” When he had said this
he showed them his hands
and his side. The disciples
rejoiced when they saw the
Lord. Jesus said to them
again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me,
so I send you. ” And when he
said this, he breathed on
them and said to them,
“ Receive the holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose
sins you retain are
retained. ”
catholic is one






WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTION @juliusat

mcfonsei realy thank and aprct ur contributions.the issue is that what have these critics been doing with what they are taught in church,those once they even believe are scriptural.it is good to explain to them.what i will like to urge us all is that whatever we believe, let us hold it firm and work with it lest it is taken from us.
personaly i dontlike how some ppl react to posts of nairaland.we should be nation builders and not nation destroyers.lets reach morality rather than religion.lets reach love rather than hatred.

lady, is your profile picture actually pc given the context?

what's pc?

Elewe Obi, thank you and to all positive contributors to this thread. Any one can ask a question, he/she needs answer, in providing solution, it is better for all to seek understanding rather than abusive and insulting. What is, is. What has been has been. Every culture or family has resons to protect their image and the principles laid down by their ancestors. Here, Our Lord Jesus Christ gave out standard. We either accept him and the understanding of those who receive the instructions. May God bless you all!