Yes ... let's do!
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "
Our Lord instituted the Sacrament of Penance on the day of His Resurrection when He entered the Upper Room and gave the Apostles the power to remit sin by saying: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven; and whose sins you shall retain they are retained."
The present-day priest or minister has the God-given right to forgive men's sins or hold them bound for God. Would not the Christian church have died out with the last apostle if these "gifts from God" were not passed on to the present-day clergy through Apostolic Succession?
"God never threatens the repentant, rather He pardons the penitent. You will say that it is God alone who can do this. True enough, but it is likewise true that He does it through his priests, who exercise His power." - St. Pacianus of Barcelona (4th century A.D.)
I refuted that in #478. All you've done here is restate what was refuted.
" The present-day priest or minister has the God-given right to forgive men's sins or hold them bound for God. Would not the Christian church have died out with the last apostle if these "gifts from God" were not passed on to the present-day clergy through Apostolic Succession?
No the Church would not have died out. The Church's job is to carry on the teaching. One of the teachings is the Lord's prayer. Folks that say that prayer ask for forgiveness, as they forgive others. The bound and binding is done according to adherence to what the individual has done. Should the individual leave it up to the Church to forgive such things as adultery? Certtainly not. It is irrelevant? God has forgiven those that do not reject the Holy Spirit. The individual is judged on the basis of what they forgive. It is their acceptance and practice God is looking for. Repentence is one of those considerations. Confession is man's invention, not God's. The invention renders that part of the Lord's prayer pointless.
The Church's business is to teach the word of God and promote the works requested in His name.
"You will say that it is God alone who can do this. True enough, but it is likewise true that He does it through his priests, who exercise His power." - St. Pacianus of Barcelona (4th century A.D.)"
None of the priests know whether, or not someone has rejected the Holy Spirit. It's the individual's heart God looks at, regardless of what the priest thinks. In the priest's case God looks at what is in his heart, not what it says on the paper he waives.