Posted on 01/11/2015 12:54:31 PM PST by NYer
Freedom of speech is a great thing. Unfortunately, it comes at an unavoidable price: When citizens are free to say what they want, theyll sometimes use that freedom to say some pretty silly things. And thats the case with the 12 claims were about to cover.
Some of them are made over and over, others are rare. Either way, while the proponents of these errors are free to promote them, we as Catholics have a duty to respond.
5. "You don't need to confess your sins to a priest. You can go straight to God."
As a former Baptist minister, I can understand the Protestant objection to confession (they have a different understanding of priesthood). But for a Catholic to say something like this...it's disappointing. I suspect that, human nature being what it is, people just don't like telling other people their sins, and so they come up with justifications for not doing so.
The Sacrament of Confession has been with us from the beginning, coming from the words of Christ Himself:
"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, '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)
Notice that Jesus gives His apostles the power to forgive sins. Of course, they wouldn't know which sins to forgive if they weren't told what sins were involved.
The practice of confession is also evident in the Letter Of James:
"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." (James 5:14-16)
It's interesting that nowhere does James (or Jesus) tell us to confess our sins to God alone. Rather, they seem to think that forgiveness comes through some means of public confession.
And it's not difficult to understand why. You see, when we sin, we rupture our relationship not just with God, but with His Body, the Church (since all Catholics are interconnected as children of a common Father). So when we apologize, we need to do so to all parties involved God and the Church.
Think of it this way. Imagine you walk into a store and steal some of their merchandise. Later, you feel remorse and regret the sinful act. Now, you can pray to God to forgive you for breaking His commandment. But there's still another party involved; you'll need to return the merchandise and make restitution for your action.
It's the same way with the Church. In the confessional, the priest represents God and the Church, since we've sinned against both. And when he pronounces the words of absolution, our forgiveness is complete.
That's very weird. There are many examples were Jesus forgives sins and never asks for a laundry list. The apostles learned from Jesus, so they would follow his example.
I can hear the rationalization that Jesus knew the sins because he is God, so he didn't need to be told, but if a laundry list was so important to forgive sins, then why isn't there a clear statement of this prerequisite?
Additionally, if the apostles can only forgive sins that have been enumerated, then they would leave some of the sins unforgiven? Just weird.
Every week, we practice public confession and absolution. Private confession and absolution is available, but not a prerequisite for forgiveness.
**Additionally, if the apostles can only forgive sins that have been enumerated, then they would leave some of the sins unforgiven? Just weird.**
Some people will say “And for all the sins I have forgotten/omitted” at the end of their list.
Notice that Jesus gives His apostles the power to forgive sins. Of course, they wouldnt know which sins to forgive if they werent told what sins were involved.**
Where does it talk about confession to anyone other than God??? Where's the example of someone in the bible confessing to one of these apostles??? Oh, it's not there, is it...That's because it doesn't exist...
Another false doctrine your religion made up to put Catholics under more bondage...
Upon starting to read this article, I went to find out more about Deal Hudson’s other views and came across this:
Deal Hudson resigns from Crisis magazine, stays with publishing house
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0405221.htm
Deal Hudson’s Fall
http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-sands_celebrity.htm
From the second article:
“
But all that has changed. Just as the final installment of my series was going to press, Deal Hudson suddenly and spectacularly fell from his high pedestal. The thrice-married Baptist minister convert¾the beneficiary of two Novus Ordo annulments since his entry into the Church in 1982¾was toppled by his own remarkably sordid past. It seems we didnt know the half of it.
“On August 19th the National Catholic Reporter broke the story of Hudsons sexual relations with Cara Poppas, an 18-year old freshman student of his at Fordham University, where he was a professor from 1989-1994. Hudson, then age 44, was already married to his current wife when he took advantage of Poppas in his car and office on Fat Tuesday in 1994. According to the written account Poppas supplied to Fordhams legal counsel (none of which Hudson has disputed), Hudson knew beforehand that Poppas was emotionally disturbed and that her unfit parents had left her a ward of the state. The details of Hudsons conduct as recounted by Poppas are not fit for publication, although NCR published them all.”
I also see he published a piece in the fall of 2013 in support of Pope Francis against charges he was allowing himself to be misinterpreted, but despite him blogging regularly, he seems quiet on Francis and the Family Synod.
You go in with a rote confession??? Interesting...
We've read the scriptures time and time again...That stuff is not there...
I have to ask...What is the date of the piece you posted? It’s missing.
I do not belief your statement as the Priesthood was finished when Christ became our great High Priest and the ONLY Mediator between God and man.
A Priest has nothing to do with one confessing their sins for they did not lay down their life, nor give their blood for any man on Calvary... Jesus did.... Furthermore the only reason the Priesthood was established by catholic leadership was to maintain the revenues they directly or indirectly brought into the leadership coffers.....
.... Not to mention the robes and all the glitz they copied from the Governing Royals at that time. The wanted the same “Royal” treatment of the people that was afforded the Government at that time and felt entitled to for their “partnership” with Rome.
Even today many catholics love to flaunt the glitz and glitter, which Jesus nor His disciples ever afforded themselves...and they certainly were “worthy” of such far more than then the Pope or the Priesthood that there is today...which has, we full well know, more than simply been “tempted”.....but encouraged and covered despicable crimes....for decades.
The Christian church was established and instituted on the foundation of the prophets and the fulfillment of them fully in Jesus Christ, and is the body of ALL who have given their life to Jesus Christ no matter what building or file they worship in...
...Catholicism is “something else” entirely...and of which lost it's way centuries ago....and is when Christians finally “came out from among them” just as Jesus said we should do.
Sounds good til one actually reads the scriptures and sees there not an ounce of truth to it...The veil is gone...There's no function for a priest in the New Testament...No sacrifices to be made...We pray and confess our sins directly to God...
Why do you ask?
Why do they keep on pushing stuff which Jesus never did nor asked us to do?
His past came out in August, 2004. Here’s a N.Y. Times article on it:
I ask because others are.
Yes understand the link has the info. However Salvation keeps coming on Evangelical threads demanding dates in the article headers.
So Salvation shall we stop this nonsense.
You don’t want me getting in folks heads here.
" "Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lords Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70)."
When you walk out of the church after confession there is a definite feeling of having a weight lifted off of your shoulders.
********************************************
I get the same feeling after praying to God in my truck
No the greek had a specific word for priest ...and it was not presbuterous
the greek word for elder is different than the greek words for priest.. archiereus which translates into "High Priest" and hiereus which translates one that OFFERS SACRIFICES.
The role of the priesthood in scripture was to offer sacrifices.. That is what a priest does in scripture.. God set aside one tribe to be priests, they were not granted any land as God was their inheritance .
The greek have a couple words for priest
hiereus
1) a priest, one who offers sacrifices and in general in busied with sacred rites
a) referring to priests of Gentiles or the Jews,
2) metaph. of Christians, because, purified by the blood of Christ and brought into close intercourse with God, they devote their life to him alone and to Christ
and archiereus
1) chief priest, high priest
2) the high priests, these comprise in addition to one holding the high priestly office, both those who had previously discharged it and although disposed, continued to have great power in the State, as well as the members of the families from which high priest were created, provided that they had much influence in public affairs.
3) Used of Christ because by undergoing a bloody death he offered himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God, and has entered into the heavenly sanctuary where he continually intercedes on our behalf.
Christ fulfilled the role of Priest on the cross.. there is no more sacrifice for sin
He is now our Priest..
The word for elder is presbyteros here is the GREEK definition
1) elder, of age,
a) the elder of two people
b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior
1) forefathers
2) a term of rank or office
a) among the Jews
1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly men)
2) of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice
b) among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches)
The NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters interchangeably
c) the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on thrones around the throne of God
Now the Holy Spirit knows the difference in the greek words.. there is no priesthood provided for in the NT church.
There was no priests in the new church.it was about 300 AD before the first priesthood appeared.. Greg Dues has written Catholic Customs & Traditions, a popular guide (New London: Twenty Third Publications, 2007).
On page 166 he states, "Priesthood as we know it in the Catholic church was unheard of during the first generation of Christianity, because at that time priesthood was still associated with animal sacrifices in both the Jewish and pagan religions."
"A clearly defined local leadership in the form of elders, or presbyteroi, became still more important when the original apostles and disciples of Jesus died. The chief elder in each community was often called the episkopos (Greek, 'overseer'). In English this came to be translated as 'bishop' (Latin, episcopus). Ordinarily he presided over the community's Eucharistic assembly."
"When the Eucharist came to be regarded as a sacrifice, the role of the bishop took on a priestly dimension. By the third century bishops were considered priests. Presbyters or elders sometimes substituted for the bishop at the Eucharist. By the end of the third century people all over were using the title 'priest' (hierus in Greek and sacerdos in Latin) for whoever presided at the Eucharist."
Garry Wills, Professor of History Emeritus, Northwestern U., Pulitzer Prize Winner author of WHY I AM A CATHOLIC, wrote the following in his Best Seller WHAT JESUS MEANT page 81.
"The idea that Peter was given some special power that could be handed on to a successor runs into the problem that he had no successor. The idea that there is an "apostolic succession" to Peter's fictional episcopacy did not arise for several centuries, at which time Peter and others were retrospectively called bishops of Rome, to create an imagined succession.Even so, there has not been an unbroken chain of popes."
Ohhh yea..God can not forgive you if you get the words wrong
Legalism after legalism
So are you saying that it’s OK for prots to come on Catholic threads, but it’s not OK for Catholics to post on prot threads? That’s what it seems like to me.
***snicker***
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