On the face of the former, they don't even need to be, as it is the pharisees say that only God can forgive sin. But even taking the word of the Pharisees as inspired in this instance, Christ (God) has placed the Holy Ghost (God) into the apostles and then empowered them to forgive sin. The only reason this is met with any mental resistance in the Protestant world is the extrascriptural anticlerical indoctrination.
I disagree. It is interesting that Jesus, starting with the very next verse in Mark, "Immediately" issues a correction to the Pharisees. However, the one point He does not correct at all is the one we are talking about. That speaks volumes to me.
I don't need any "extrascriptural anticlerical indoctrination" to be against the idea of God delegating away His sovereign powers. I'm just looking at the scriptures as they are. You are forced to completely re-write Mark 2:7 in order for it to conform to Catholicism. I object to the re-writing of scripture by men.
And what, FK, is Jesus correcting??? That HE is God and the Pharisees should already know that - thus had the power to forgive sins??? We are talking about Mark's Gospel - where NO ONE knows WHO Jesus is (except for the demons He casts out) until the centurion on the cross recognizes Him.
Jesus sets out to PROVE that God forgives sin through MAN BY healing the man first. Jesus was a man, fully. No one knew He was God at that point! Jesus is correcting their understanding that as a divine messenger exemplar, His deeds and teachings proved He was from God. Thus, being from God, He had the authority to even forgive sins - proven by the fact that God worked through Jesus to cure that man. Would God cure the paralytic through a man giving false teachings?
Perhaps you should consider the Matthew version of this story. Here is the pertinent verse for you:
"when the multitudes saw [it], they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." Mat 9:8
See, WE know that Jesus is God. These people did not. Thus, when they witnessed Christ forgiving sins, and THEN curing the man of his physical maladies, the people understood that God was blessing Jesus' words and confirming them. Thus, their response in Mat 9. Thus, it was quite easy for them to understand that this power was passed onto the Apostles with John 20:23. The people regarded that this ministry of forgiving sins through men continued with the Apostles, as Paul says in 2 Cor 5.
And why wouldn't it? Christ came to heal men. Psycologically, what better way are we healed then to actually hear the words "I forgive you" from the person we have offended - Jesus Christ - through the voice of the priest? God doesn't just provide abstract healing...
Regards
Once again, the idea of delegation of divine power is clear from the entire commission of the Apostles, and specifically, the power to bind and loose given the apostles.