Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History

The Catholic World Report ^ | Carl E. Olson

[Mr Rogers]

“It is imperative that we make sense of this verse in light of all that has come before it. Too many mistakes have been made in the past by those who have read John 20:23 in isolation or with a sloppy connection to the unrelated words of Matthew 16:19. We must attend to how the Johannine Jesus has already characterized the problem of “sin,” the role of the Holy Spirit, and the nature of his ministry. If not, we risk perpetuating a legacy of misuse and polemic that has muddied this verse across the history of its interpretation.

Jesus is not appointing the church as his moral watchdog; nor does he commission it to arbitrate people’s assets and liabilities on a heavenly balance sheet.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus talks about sin as unbelief, the unwillingness or incapacity to grasp the truth of God manifested in him. To have sin abide, therefore, is to remain estranged from God. The consequence of such a condition is ongoing resistance. Sin in John is not about moral failings; primarily it is an inability or refusal to recognize God’s revelation when confronted by it, in Jesus. (Note what Jesus, says, concerning the world, in John 15:22: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.” Cf. John 9:39-41).

Consequently, the resurrected Christ tells his followers (all his followers) that, through the Spirit that enables them to bear witness, they can set people free (”set free” or “release” is a better translation than “forgive” in 20:23) from that state of affairs. They can be a part of seeing others come to believe in Jesus and what he discloses.

Failure to bear witness, Jesus warns, will result in the opposite: a world full of people left unable to grasp the knowledge of God. That is what it means to “retain” sins (”retain” is the opposite of “set free”). Jesus is not—at least, not in this verse—granting the church a unique spiritual authority. He is simply reporting that a church that does not bear witness to Christ is a church that leaves itself unable to pay a role in delivering people from all that keeps them from experiencing the fullness that Jesus offers.”

https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=887

Also see: https://carm.org/john2023-priests-forgive-sins

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/763-can-man-forgive-sins

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I think it is important to remember how John describes salvation:

“18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” - John 3

John has no tally sheet of sins to be forgiven (or to condemn) as individual sins. If you believe, you are not condemned. If you refuse to believe, you “are condemned already”. We bear witness - all of us. And if we follow the scripture, we offer forgiveness for those who believe, and condemnation for those who refuse.

The links posted as describe the Greek implications, which are hard to see when reading it in English.

[Cronos]

Dispensationalism is non-biblical.

In the Bible the word “dispensation” never refers to a period of time. Invariably its meaning is “a stewardship,” “the act of dispensing,” “an administration.” Read the four New Testament texts in which the word “dispensation” is found: 1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2; and Colossians 1:25. Weymouth’s trans­lation of 1 Corinthians 9:17 reads: “A steward­ship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-13
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Ephesians 3:6
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs (as the Jews), and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

John 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Colossians 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church

The Church, orthodoxy - Catholic, Orthodox, oriental, Assyrian - even the others who follow orthodox teachings as encapsulated in the Nicene creed, are the body of Christ

[allwrong57]

So, show me where it says that the ability to forgive was to be ended with the apostles, or at least show me why it is no longer needed.

As a second comment, your ‘past their dispensation’ makes no sense whatsoever and isn’t backed up by anything. In other words, it’s an attempt to start with an answer, then find a way to prove it.

[Pilgrim's Progress]

All I can tell you is to continue trusting that a man has the power to forgive sins and we’ll see how that works out for you in a 1,000 years from now. In the meantime, you are free to believe what you want.

[allwrong57]

All I can tell you is that when Jesus says that he can give that power to a man, I believe it. The man doesn’t have the power, it comes from Jesus. Why would he give that power to a man if he didn’t want them to use it?

In the meantime, someday your church might actually be in existence for a thousand years!

[otness_e]

“And there have been way WAY worse popes than Francis.”

I don’t know about that. Even the Borgias at least respected doctrine enough to never attempt to outright alter it, and those were definitely among our worst popes. It wasn’t until Francis that the Pope has actually attempted to change doctrine for the worse. I’d say he’s our worst pope for that reason alone.