"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them. Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." If you can't see that you are contradicting these explicit words of Jesus, you are wasting your time owning a Bible--or any other printed material. http://biblehub.com/john/20-23.htm It is not I who is contradicting anything...I just posted scriptures of Jesus that contradicts what you have posted...
The bible doesn't end at the book of John, or even acts...In fact the epistles to the Gentile churches starts at the book of Romans...
Rom 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints
1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
2Co 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia
Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) Gal 1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
You post obscure scripture that gives no explanation and was never recorded to have been put into practice (which indicates it may be a future prophecy)...Your religion invents it's own doctrine outside of the scriptures which contradicts the rest of the scriptures and the epistles written specifically to the churches...
Eph_4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
1Ti_1:3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
So ironically, those epistles written to the churches that you guys ignore apparently from unfamiliararity warns us in many places about your religion...
I don't see how you can consider yourself to be a purvayer of scritpure when you can't even discuss the scriptures outside of the talking points of your religion...Where did you learn that??? Certainly not from the apostle to the Gentile church...
Act_20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
You're a priest, and you can't even discuss the bible??? You were never required to study the bible, right??? And it's clear you do not possess the desire for the pure milk of the word, let alone the meat...
1Pe_2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
It is an abuse of Scripture to cite a verse to answer a question that the author was not discussing. There are many passages in the New Testament that speak of God's desire to save all men, and of the power of the Christ's blood to save all men. To cite those passages as though they nullify the words of Jesus ("Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.") is to ABUSE those passages. The authors were not discussing the Sacrament of Penance, or the need to confess sins, or the power to forgive or retain sins. They were discussing the overarching desire of the Father and the power of Christ to save all men. Abusing a passage of Scripture, pretending it answers a question that the author was not discussing, is something like those editors at "Sixty Minutes," who take a question from the interviewer, and splice it to an answer that was given TO A DIFFERENT QUESTION. Those who deny the sinlessness of Mary cite "All have sinned..." as "proof" that Mary sinned. But St. Paul was not discussing Mary at the point. He was addressing an audience--ALL OF WHOM WERE SINNERS. He wasn't discussing the exceptions--such as unborn babies, or newborn babies, or the retarded--or Mary. The passage "All have sinned..." does NOT mean that all unborn babies have sinned, or that newborn babies have sinned, or that the retarded have sinned, or that Mary sinned. They were not under discussion. How could it be a GOOD thing to "retain" sins? Some decades ago, a teenage boy confessed that he was having intercourse with his girlfriend. I said, "That's a serious sin. Do you intend to stop?" "No," he said. I told him I was unable to give him absolution. Now, if there were no Sacrament of Penance, or Confession, this young person could easily engage in self-deception, as millions of people do who claim "I can confess my sins directly to Jesus." But, as it was, there was an audible human voice there to tell him the truth: Namely, that he was engaged in grave sin, and that he could not be forgiven unless he intended to stop. As you can see, there is NO CONTRADICTION between "retaining sins" and the desire of God to save all men. Men cannot be saved without repentance. It is a BENEFIT when they hear this truth spoken aloud by an objective observer.