“They were closer to the times and what was passed down then us. “ How many years from the believers who knew? Closer than you are. It’s all in the semantics. May God Bless You!~ Praise Jesus!
Everything I need to know about the Church Jesus is the head of, I can find in scripture. It is your Church that wants you to look elsewhere. In that vain, they have added 13 different people you posted here to justify confessing to a priest, a priest giving penance and/or binding and loosing.
None of the first 6-7 of these writings say anything about a men confessing sins to a priest instead of God. First time AD 220 or 248.
The 10th on these list states salvation comes through confessing to a priest instead of Christ alone. A.D. 251
It is the 13th, and last, on this list before evidence of a priest forgiving sins and binding and loosing. A.D. 387
I suggest you do what you stated you needed to do to find truth, go the ones closest to the time of the apostles. All of them make no mention of a man confessing his sins against God to an earthly priest.
They must have believed Jesus when He told His apostles, and us, to pray to His Father to forgive their and/or our sins.
My God bless us with His truth, BVB