I did read the post but did not reply in large part because I am not familiar with Roman Catholic confessional and pennance practices and am not in a position to provide a critique in any detail.
As a non-Catholic who has been a church elder for many years I do believe that confession has a place in the spiritual life of an individual and the church. I encouarage believers to confess their sins to God without delay as soon as they are cognizant of their disobedience. We encourage believers to hold one another acountable spiritually and to intercede for one another in areas of spiritual struggle. We encourage people to examine themselves prior to coming to the table of the Lord and to seek reconciliation with their brother prior to partaking.
As an elder I do a good bit of pastoral counseling which includes discussing the counselee's spiritual life and areas of disobedience. Often there is a discussion of what the Bible says and a time of confession. Frequently, our elders are asked by individuals to pray for them and annoint them with oil. They either come to us or we go to them and confession is often a part of these sessions.
As elders we are involved in handling cases requiring church discipline and have sadly had to remove persistently unrepentant people from the fellowship. These discussions as elders are by far the most difficult issue we deal with since often the facts are hard to discern and the motives are even more elusive. We seek to honor the Scriptures in our handling of these cases and in the decisions we reach. We believe God will honor His word.
This post is not a critique of the article but hopefully it explains in brief fashion how one Protestant pastor and elder addresses the issue of confession practically.
From the little I do understand of Catholic confessional and pennance practices it does seem to be a far more elaborate system than I see in the Bible. On other posts I have discussed the issue of pennace and will not repeat that entire discussion and my biblical concerns here.
So Polycarp, feel free to freepmail me anytime you desire me to hear your confession, give you spiritual counsel and pray for you. Drstevej's e-fessional is open.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Actually I do not have a HUGE problem with the IDEA of confession.. I do take the admonition seriously that we are to confess our sins to one another. I think that we need to go to one we have sinned against and confess.
My "problem " with confession as practiced in the church are two fold .
First that the sin to be forgiven must be forgiven by the priest..but I do understand the RC believe he represents God..so in a representitive way I can live with that. But I think that the greater call is to confess to the offended and to forgive those that have offended you
My biggest problem is with penance.....
I believe that Christ paid for my sins..there is nothing I can do to pay the price..so to make absolution contingent on the completion of the penance looks like an attempt to pay the price for my own sin.
That is a price I could never pay ...one already paid on the cross.
I do not believe that confession is a matter of salvation one way or the other as long as the person understands that it is Christ not the priest that judges and forgives