- Sep 24, 2022
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There is a case to be made that the sacrament of confession in the Catholic Church contradicts scripture, but it doesn’t look any thing like the criticism that comes from Protestants. An honest criticism of the way the sacrament of confession has been practiced in Catholicism, as well as the churches in schism, since the fourth century should include the following:
1. In the Epistle of James 2:15, it’s clear that early Christians did not just confess their sins to a priest. They confessed their sins to the entire congregation. In the fourth century, the Catholic Church from the practice of public confession, and changed it to private and confidential confession only to a single priest or bishop. The church decided it was not a good idea to have people’s sins exposed to publicly.
2. Then there is the penance by the sinner and the absolution through the priest. Prior to the fourth century, after confessing his sins, a Christian had to do his penance prior to receiving absolution. For serious/mortal sins, a Christian’s acts of penance could take weeks, months, or even years before he could receive absolution and be permitted to attend the divine liturgy. Since the fourth century, the clergy have been giving absolution prior to the Christian performing his acts of penance, and the acts of penance became relegated to the simple recitation of prayers like ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys. While I do understand the decision for letting Christians make private and confidential confessions, the concept of giving absolution prior to penance seems a little absurd to me.
Instead of Protestants confessing their sins to the entire congregation as described in James 2:15, they simply do away with the practice. For a group of people who claim to be more faithful to scripture than Catholics, this makes no sense.
1. In the Epistle of James 2:15, it’s clear that early Christians did not just confess their sins to a priest. They confessed their sins to the entire congregation. In the fourth century, the Catholic Church from the practice of public confession, and changed it to private and confidential confession only to a single priest or bishop. The church decided it was not a good idea to have people’s sins exposed to publicly.
2. Then there is the penance by the sinner and the absolution through the priest. Prior to the fourth century, after confessing his sins, a Christian had to do his penance prior to receiving absolution. For serious/mortal sins, a Christian’s acts of penance could take weeks, months, or even years before he could receive absolution and be permitted to attend the divine liturgy. Since the fourth century, the clergy have been giving absolution prior to the Christian performing his acts of penance, and the acts of penance became relegated to the simple recitation of prayers like ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys. While I do understand the decision for letting Christians make private and confidential confessions, the concept of giving absolution prior to penance seems a little absurd to me.
Instead of Protestants confessing their sins to the entire congregation as described in James 2:15, they simply do away with the practice. For a group of people who claim to be more faithful to scripture than Catholics, this makes no sense.