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.
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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.
As I see it, it's power and control, not to mention billions upon billions of dollars over the years...
They started out with Constantine killing Christians and destroying their bibles...Pretty similar to the ISIS muzlims today...Convert or die...And many did...
They even forced the Roman armies to convert under duress...
With indulgances and baby baptism they have millions under their bondage...All in the name of God...They have to keep pushing this stuff...It's what keeps their religion together...Once Catholics searching for Jesus get their hands on a bible and read it, they move away from the Catholic religion...
But just as there is an anti-Christ, there is an anti-Christianity...
This is freerepublic. Anyone can respond. I know of no Evangelical or Protestant caucus threads. We tend to keep it open.
I was pointing out some sermons do not have a date time group. Some were given over 100 years ago and then compiled in a sermon index without dates. Every piece metmom put up had a link for any curious poster to examine.
If the RF required a date of publication or posting, the drafting would require it before posting.
If we try to post a piece without an author or http we get a warning to provide. Not so for the date of the piece.
All that work just fell on deaf ears. It’s hard breaking devoted cultists from certain practices.
...”As I see it, it’s power and control, not to mention billions upon billions of dollars over the years”...
But that is exactly what cults and false religions are about. They use rituals, leadership and tactics to keep people under their sway....with major guilt trips to those who want to leave or question their teachings.
It just seems to me without their Priesthood the entire church would fall apart because it is so dependent on it. Which could be why they protect their Priests at all cost.
.....”The veil is gone”....
I will never forget the day that truth became so vivd and understandable in light of Jesus’s crucifixion. It was the first thing which tied in the New Testament with the Old in my own private study, and I was truly young in the Lord, but with a heart like a deer panting for water.... I was so excited as He taught me this connection to the Jewish History that I couldn’t put the scriptures down for the entire afternoon!
I will spare you all that God taught me that afternoon...but there were many WOW moments....most of all that it was He teaching little ol me!...and HE still does!
Might be because you shared your sins with another rather than confess them to Jesus himself. ....That happens when we unload to other people as well...how did you tell the difference between the “feeling” one gets of a shared burden and that of forgiveness from Jesus by asking Him directly for forgiveness?
That’s cool, caww!
Furthermore it goes on that God only "effects" reconciliation.....there's a lot missing from this equation as it stumbles to retain it's legalistic approach.
Yes...I can remember the hunger for the words of God...I still have it...
That ripped veil ends the priesthood...All those books and chapters in the Old Testament speaking of the Temple, the priesthood and priests; GONE...That one act gave access to God by all Gentiles (which we are) and Jews...God destroyed the priesthood in one fell swoop while Jesus hung on the Cross...
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Well said!
We find out, beginning in Acts 2, whose sins are forgiven and whose are retained. (We also find out what had been bound in heaven and what had been loosed.)
A list is perfectly acceptable. The act of Contrition is not really the focus of the Confession but former Protestants in particular are always concerned that they are not going to say it right at their first reconciliation. Despite numerous assurances from instructors, sponsors and priests they still want to do it the correct way (as they understand it) way. So what?
You acutally have no idea. But I am glad that what you do brings you peace.
You continue to try to argue us out of positions that we have held all our lives.
There are people in our church who do not do what they are supposed to do. There are people who have no clue what they are talking about. There are people in our Church who are trying to undermine the Church. The Church is under attack both from within and without. So what?
To be Catholic you take the good with the bad and you don't cut and run if the priest doesn't phrase something properly or doesn't publicly rebuke a politician that is trying to play both sides of the fence.
There is a God you know! HE DOES THE SORTING!
When I was little and had to go to confession every week, I really did not have many sins to tell on myself. So if I had none that I could think of, I made up a list of sins so I would have something to confess.
My sisters admitted to doing the same thing and we even compared our list of made up sins finding they were the same. So we decided to confess to sometimes making up sins so we would have something to say to the priest on Friday night. When I confessed this sin of making up sins, the priest laughed and said just tell me the truth and I’ll help you find a sin to confess.
Not the corrupted concept of "church" perpetuated by the Catholic Church He didn't. He established an ekklesia of those who are called out to be His. The Catholic Church corrupted the meaning of that to wrest control from Christ and retain it for themselves.
Matthew 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,....
Matthew 6:12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
Pentecost was the time God gave the indwelling Holy Spirit to men. In the OT the Holy Spirit was on them,not in them( there was one exception, the man that designed the garments for the levitical priesthood). Remember David prayed that the Holy Spirit not be taken from him??
In the NT Jesus promised that he would send another comforter to those that were His and that He did on Pentecost..This comforter was to lead them into all truth, and convict them of sin, and He would never leave them ??.
The Holy Spirit is the life force in the believer.
You make the assumption that "the church"Christ speaks of is Rome.. nothing could be further from the truth
No where does Scripture tell us that the "authority of Christ " was given to Peter it was given to the church not Peter
No where in scripture is extraordinary "authority " given to Peter
So it's by your efforts that you attain heaven?
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