The Catholic church uses the same source of authority as the Pharisees did..2 source authority for doctrine ( the torahs.. written and oral ) . As we see Jesus kept pointing men back to the written word of God
Yes, I understand this now and it has certainly clarified why the focus on the authority of their church. But I disagree with that fully. The catholic church does not have the final say in interpretation of scripture....And they do not have the authority to claim any traditions as God breathed as the scriptures are. And certainly the catholic church today hardly reflects that of the apostles teachings or it would have been presented as so in the scriptures. I might say some other things but am concerned my post would be pulled. Still it is truly profound what I have learned on these threads..Thank you.
Seems to me there was a great deal more to the Reformation and solid reasons for that than I was aware...but I am certainly learning!
I do not understand the area of forgiveness in the catholic church. It seems they go to confession to a Priest or screen, (I assume a computer or such), at least once a year.....so they can have a years of sins built up before they can know forgiveness? Then they have to go thru a process of reconciliation as well, also involving a Priest? Can they not just go directly to Christ? and if they can then why do they need the Priest in the first place?
Further they cannot do mass if they haven’t been to confession, which means they cannot take communion that whole year as well.
I ask this because I was reading a list of catholic “duties” requiring that mass and confession need only be done once a year....I’ll assume more often if one wants to but required just once a year. It just seems complicated.