Posted on 09/22/2007 6:09:42 AM PDT by NYer
Americans are flocking to confess their sins as Protestant churches have joined their Catholic counterparts in modernising the sacrament of penance.
Thousands of people are attending confession at weekends and just as many are posting their repentance on videos that are played back to congregations or shared on websites such as YouTube.
New technology is fuelling the boom, but so is clever marketing by Churches that are portraying confession as a form of self-improvement — always popular with Americans — rather than some sort of punishment.
Church leaders also attribute the boom to the fashion for self-analysis peddled by daytime television programmes such as The Jerry Springer Show and to a wider theological trend in which Christians are looking for firmer moral guidance.
Some Protestant churches are trying to make confession less forbidding, allowing people to shred their sins in paper shredders, for example.
In a shopping mall in Colorado Springs, three Catholic priests are available to hear confessions six days a week in a small office equipped with a box of tissues and the Ten Commandments.
The priests say they hear 8,000 confessions a year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Pope ordered priests to make confession a priority in February, but the changing attitude of Protestant denominations is more surprising.
Although some theologians say that Martin Luther opposed private confession to a priest, the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church – which has 2.5 million members – voted this summer to revive the ritual after ignoring it for a century.
The Catholic Church opposes group confessions and those conducted on the internet but some of its US parishes have had considerable success with special confession events.
More than 5,000 people attended a "reconciliation weekend" in Orlando, Florida. A "24 Hours of Grace" penitence open house held by five parishes in Chicago drew 2,500 people. A rotating team of 70 priests listened to their confessions.
Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando sent out 190,000 pamphlets in March asking local Catholics to confess.
He told the Journal: "Every day on Jerry Springer we see people confessing their sins in public and, certainly, the confessional is a lot healthier than that show."
Protestant denominations are less averse to using new technology in their confession drives. More than 7,700 people have posted their sins on ivescrewedup.com, a confession website launched by the evangelical Flamingo Road Church in Florida.
The XXX Church, an anti-pornography Christian group, videotaped members confessing their use of pornography and put the video on YouTube. It has since been watched 15,000 times.
Jordy Acklin, 21, a student who appeared in the video, said: "There's a reason why they talk about confession in the Bible – you're not supposed to keep it inside you. The weight just goes off your shoulders."
An assertion like that belies Scripture.
This can happen even after confessing sins from the past. Prior to surgery this year, I made an appointment with my pastor to hear my confession. At the time, I felt burdened by something others might have viewed as inconsequential. Yet, as it came forth from the heart, tears welled up. God bless this holy priest! He was about to say something but held back as the tears flowed. We both recognized the actions of the Holy Spirit at work on that day. Not much to say but totally sincere and THAT is what counts. Prior to going into surgery the next day, Father came to visit me at the hospital and administered the Sacrament of Healing. He then accompanied me down the hall to the elevators, making the sign of the cross, one final time, on my forehead.
Oftentimes, it is not the surgery that kills but the anesthesia. It was such a tremendous relief to "set sail" with a pure conscience and blessed with chrism. (BTW - the surgery took place in a Catholic hospital and the nurses were all astounded to see a Catholic priest at my bedside. It is that rare in this diocese. But I have Abouna who administers to his parishioners, regardless of where they are located. He even drove 3+ hours to Boston, to administer the Sacrament of Healing to a dieing child and console the parents. This is unheard of in the Diocese of Albany. Then again, he is a Maronite priest who cares for his parishioners. God bless this holy priest!)
I haven’t stopped studying the position yet. I am jealous of the relationship God has provided through faith in Christ between the individual believer and the Father through the Son and do not lightly consider those who seek to become intermediary of that explicit relationship.
In my experience, the men I have observed claiming that authority, as ‘Catholics’ have been the least to advocate His salvation and continuing sanctification of the Holy Spirit in the individual believer, while I have observed a preponderance of worldly believers counterfeiting organized activities independent of faith through Christ as substitutes for His Plan and then rationalizing their activity by claiming Christ had given an authority to a handful of men which has trickled down to their status, independent of the faithfulness of other believers. However, just because the vast preponderance of Catholics I have observed are so lacking in faith, doesn’t mean Christ didn’t intend the doctrine as suggested. For this reason, I continue to study the issue.
At present, the quote provided, “In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers.” reads into His Plan something I do not find there, yet He is able to provide by gifts of the Spirit.
Yes, it is possible for some to understand the thinking of others without verbal communication. Such is the basis of the spiritual communication gifts of Pastor-Teacher and Evangelist, which is discernible from simply a talent of speaking from the gab. I have not only witnessed this in an immediate proximity, but to have extended in spiritual perception over decades such that a spiritual perception gleaned through faith in Christ might occur decades in advance of actual occurrence.
Likewise, it may have been possible for the Apostles to have spiritually discerned and determine what was to be forgiven and retained as part of His Plan for all of Creation to observe and partake.
IMHO, the text in no way makes it clear that forgiving sins is to be a soulish exercise independent of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the human spirit. On the contrary, John 20:22 explicitly commands “Receive thee the Holy Ghost”, then continues “Joh 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” ..But, I’m still studying the doctrinal basis of the position.
It might also be the case that a lineage has been offered through what is known in worldly aspects as the Catholic Church (RCC/Orthodox/Anglican) to demonstrate to all Creation how even with that authority, those who stray from faith in Christ in ANY and ALL things simply manifest incompetence in all domains resulting in promotion of evil in the long run.
In His Holiness, His perfect Justice demands Perfect Righteousness, while His perfect Righteousness demands Perfect Justice.
Through faith in Christ, I have found perfect rightoeusness and perfect justice in direct fellowship with Him through faith in Christ. I cannot say this of the RCC/Anglican/Orthodox church in today’s world. On the contrary, I have been attacked with irreversible harm from persons who claim allegiance to those organizations, but who reject the fundamentals of Christian faith.
I may forgive and still consider that they ultimately have faith in Christ, but have acted as degenerate sinners and then treat the “Catholic Church” as their trump card to avoid accountability for their behavior, thinking, and arrogance. I might also retain that their offence, establishing a higher degree of justice, so that others who are innocent and faithful through Christ aren’t as maligned as I have been. This, however, doesn’t prevent or change anything immutable in God’s nature where He might accept their personal repentance and confession, forgiving them and continuing their sanctification.
I suspect the issue may also be involved in the adjudication of good and evil, which hasn’t been resolved in the same fashion that sin has been handled, once and for all on the Cross.
That ability to forgive or retain, though, is not unique amongst the RCC/Anglican/Orthodox/whatever denominational variant which may arise in Catholicism. It is a spiritual issue which is part of a longer standing issue, which, IMHO, shall probably play out over several more dispensations for all of Creation to witness.
Thank You very much for your kind post.
I’m going to respond with a few notes, simply as I’m studying them, not in adversarial fshion, but just in notekeeping of various thoughts,,,through faith in Him,,..Thanks.
The BIBLE SAYS
CONFESS YOUR FAULTS ONE TO ANOTHER
THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED.
Note on John 20:23
The assembly recorded was of His disciples, not the Apostles, in fact it is further mentioned that Thomas wasn’t present at the assembly, therefore the command to Receive the Holy Spirit, and then followed by the statement, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” isn’t necessarily a command, but rather a statement of fact to those with the Holy Spirit.
In some places, yes it does...But in others, it agrees with me (or I with it) a hundred percent...The fact that the Reformation took place testifies to that...
How many millions of Reformed Protestant Christians lived and died since Martin Luther that would possibly have been Catholic would it not have been that thanks to Martin Luther, the scripture was revealed to the masses???
People that chose the 'scripture' over 'religion', also chose NOT to be Catholic...
Sure the bible says some groups of people can lose their salvation...But for the Bride of Christ, eternal security is all over the scriptures...
Your popes put a lot of emphasis on Catholics being the friend of the BrideGroom...I have never heard a Catholic comment on this verse but not everyone that attends the Wedding will be in the Wedding Party...One would do well to study (II Tim 2:15) the 'friends' of the Bridegroom...
Joh 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
For that matter, neither was St. Paul. The power to 'bind and loose' was also given to the Apostles. In Matt. 9:8, we see that God has given the authority to forgive sins to "men." This tradition was passed on, as confirmed by texts from the early Church.
“In church confess your sins, and do not come to your prayer with a guilty conscience. Such is the Way of Life...On the Lord's own day, assemble in common to break bread and offer thanks; but first confess your sins, so that your sacrifice may be pure."
Didache, 4:14,14:1 (c. A.D. 90).
I have been attacked with irreversible harm from persons who claim allegiance to those organizations, but who reject the fundamentals of Christian faith.
While I don't know the particulars of each situation, nor those involved, it has been my experience that what appears to be an "attack" is the result of frustration at the inability to communicate (properly) what one knows to be the Truth. This is truly unfortunate! Anyone who speaks more than one language will quickly admit that language is one of the worst forms of communication. Words have meanings but some words have several meanings and that leads to confusion.
The Norwegian alphabet is the shortest; hence it limits the construction of words. One word, spelled the same way but with a change in accent, can have very different meanings. Amongst themselves, they can communicate. It poses great challenges for those who are not proficient in that language.
I have also seen this with 'dead' languages, such as Lebanese. In the course of a conversation, someone will reach the point of having to use a word that does not exist. The solution? Grab a word from the local language. At the time the field of computers was emerging, I worked for a French company in NY. There was no word in French for 'computer', so our documents substituted 'le computer' in that spot. Shortly thereafter, I received a document from the French Ministry for Language, with a lengthy list of freshly minted computer terminology. We were ordered to immediately begin using the proper terminology. So, 'le computer' now became 'l'ordinateur'.
As you can imagine, similar problems arise today in translating ancient texts from Aramaic and Koine Greek into English and then into colloquial English. Much gets lost in the translation.
That said, I am interested in your definition of fundamentals of Christian faith. Thank you!
In James 5:16, James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says “therefore” in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 – these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.
WRT fundamentals, one of the most fundamental is faith through Christ.
I see several issues at hand regarding confession.
One of them may be how to have fellowship between brethren in the body of Christ. For this cause, I see no problem with confessing sins to one another. There might also be cases of confessing to unbelievers, in a display of grace and righteousness, but some caution is recommended in that one might be throwing pearls before swine and unwittingly encouraging their further separation from God.
Another issue is within our own souls. By confession, we admit to our wrongs and unrighteousness, allowing the Holy Spirit to not only work upon our spirit, but allow our thinking to accept righteous guidance by Him in our soul, our thinking processes. It also may inhibit physical processes from happening in our bodies which might tend to ‘hard-wire’ our sinful thinking into our neurological controls, so to speak.
Another issue is how to return into fellowship with God Himself. We know He is sure and just to forgive sin Himself by our confession of sin through faith in Christ. That forgiveness, by Him also allows Him to further our sanctification by the work of the Holy Spirit. It also draws us closer to Him, rather than to another priest.
The is another basic problem in relying upon a third party to forgive sin. If the priest hearing a confession is not in fellowship with God through faith in Christ, at the time he claims to be forgiving sin, then the sin isn’t forgiven nor retained. Then God is not free to continue to grace us with further sanctification until the sin is removed. Even if we have faith in Christ, we have no certainty or assurance of the proper action of the third party priest, should we later be tempted to doubt his action.
This is not the case when we confess our sin directly to God through faith in Christ. Through faith in Him, we know He is worthy our trust.
My observations have been otherwise.
Both in my life and the lives of my fellow parishioners, I've observed that
simply plainly applied the Scriptures in James about confessing--most typically to those whom they needed to confess most to--those closest to them as well as those they'd offended etc. by their sins, selfishness, thoughtlessness, pride . . . rebellions and idolatries
In my experience, simple faith in God and His word
Personal ping to some possibly interested in this pontification.
hello mrs.
of course you are right. There has been a diminution of all things Catholic. But the return is on full speed. Here at Notre Dame confessions are available at the Basilica three times a day for an hour with usually two priests scheduled. A parish I go to often has 90 minutes of confessions on Friday and again on Saturday with usually two priests. So the revival of this sacrament is full on here. Wish it were true everywhere.
Does it matter if they're a practicing pedophile?
And, of course, I also believe in the Priesthood of all Believers.
From the Protestants I know, no reunion is in the offing soon, but such developments I believe are signs of an eventual return. Praised be Jesus Christ!
Those go into the file cabinet, of course.
Yeah...that was the first thing that caught my eye, too!
This is an idiotic article similar to the same idiotic article that was posted months ago about some "alleged" Protestant movement toward confession. It's laughable.
Public or personal confession to those we've wronged is light years away (thank God) from confessing your sins to "another Christ" and asking for his absolution.
It's more accurate to say RCs are leaving their church in droves and heading for Protestant denominations because they cannot find ritualized confessions, co-redeemer, transubstantiation, "another Christ," idol-worship and dozens of other extra-Biblical fables hawked by the RCC.
And I've looked for but have not found any substantiation regarding what exactly transpired within the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church and their purported "revival of the ritual after ignoring it for a century."
Somehow I don't think the Missouri Synod would approve of this article's assessment of its worship.
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