Should one confess his sins to God or Priest?

Godistruth1 said:

I agree with lot in OT and its tells what to do and what not. Muhammad did not make his own rules. Everything he did and said was inspired by God after he became a messenger of God

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Weren’t you rejecting the Old Testament as violent not so long ago?

Godistruth1 said:

I know the hadith which is why I said if one person confessed it does not become a rule. Also the reply of prophet is answer to ur question again. Perhaps u missed to read the last line

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On the contrary Mohammed’s last statement confirms my claim, the man confessed to zina and Mohammed told him to repent to Allah and seek to his forgiveness, he confessed his sin and got spiritual advice from his supposed “prophet.” This is exactly what priests do, they don’t tell people, “your sins are forgiven.”

Godistruth1 said:

Yes. Islam is a complete way of life.

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Then it’s a state, not so much a religion anymore.

The Catholic practice is predicated on the Biblical words of Jesus "whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven..." I do believe that it is spiritually helpful for us to confess our since to another person, and the cloak of confidentiality with a clergy member makes it easier to do so. But I do not believe that it is essential or required for forgiveness, which comes from God.

Godistruth1 said:

Because priest is self made priest not God made.

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So, again, your issue isn't that people sin. Your problem is that you believe that only prophets are called by God to serve His faithful.

How would you prove this?

We confess our sins to God because He alone can forgive them. And we come to Him through Jesus, our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4). So the answer is both!

We can also confess to each other (James 5).

Godistruth1 said:

We don't believe in word religion. We judge by deen which means way of life.

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We don’t believe in a worldly religion either which is why our religion doesn’t interfere in worldly matters like politics unlike your religion. Deen literally means religion, I think the correct term your looking for is dawla.

Godistruth1 said:

There are changes made eg God resting, creation of world, God not knowing future etc

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Accepting laws of the Bible yet denying what it says is called hypocrisy even by Muslim standards.

Godistruth1 said:

Yes. Islam is a complete way of life.

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Christianity is also a way of life.
But we do not need the church to teach us how to wash our face and do other things which come naturally to civilized persons.

We need the church to teach us what God wants from us, how to get closer to Him, what pleases Him and what displeases Him.

For this we should look directly to God, not to another man, especially one that could not be considered a light from God, as was Krishna, for instance.

Godistruth1 said:

Your views please and please mention why priest or God?

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1) Christ gave His apostles the charge to pronounce forgiveness of sin, "Whoever's sins you forgive are forgiven them." (John 20:23)

2) Our Scriptures teach us to freely confess our sins to one another, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." (James 5:16)

3) Confessing our sins to a pastor/priest is not to the exclusion of confessing our sins to God. It's not either/or. We have pastors, the successors of the holy apostles, in the Church for good order, to be servants of Word and Sacrament. They preach the Word and they administer the Sacraments for the common good of the Church. As such the pronouncement of the forgiveness of sins is part of their calling and vocation as servants, which they do in the name of Christ for our good.

As such I can go to my pastor, say to him that I would like to confess my sin, and when I am done he can say to me, "In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." (Lutheran Service Book). And I can know my sins are forgiven, not because my pastor has magic sin-forgiving power, but because there is forgiveness freely found in Jesus Christ, and the word of Christ is living and active, and He gave His servants the authority to proclaim His word, again, "Whoever's sins you forgive are forgiven them."

This is not to the exclusion of confessing my sins to God, as though if I were to go to my pastor and confess my sins that I am not also confessing my sins to God, because I am. God knows my sin, and hears my confession. And it is God who uses this means of Holy Absolution for me to hear the word, "Your sins are forgiven" that I am given confidence and assurance of forgiveness from God, on Christ's account.

Neither am I under any obligation to confess to my pastor, rather than to confess privately to God alone. But God has established in His Church the availability of the pastoral office, through Holy Absolution, that I might hear that word, "Your sins are forgiven" and have confidence and assurance in the Gospel promise, that yes, indeed, I am forgiven even as God has declared it to be. For I am in Christ, belonging to Him on account of my baptism, and the One who gave His life for me forgives me all of my sins, and gives me peace with God. All of these things come to me, freely, as gift. And so that I can know that they are most certainly true, there is here in Absolution these words, "Your sins are forgiven." Thanks and glory be to God alone.

-CryptoLutheran

Godistruth1 said:

Your views please and please mention why priest or God?

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God's priest is Jesus Christ.

Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

1Jn 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Godistruth1 said:

Your views please and please mention why priest or God?

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Only to God through a priest - the advantage being that He has an opportunity through an independent mind, to hear and absolve, or teach to repentance for that purpose, whereas doing so privately subjects us to our own flesh. The idea that a priest is always representing God is dangerous, because it is common enough for a priest to be overtaken by sin. The one confessing should first have recognised their Lord in the priest before assuming to entrust their faith to another person's judgement. This means, according to 1 John 4:8, that we can confess and be absolved through His representation outside of clergy, but the advantage that clergy has (or we should hope so), is that they understand the mechanism of atonement and the importance of regarding confession such that the devil does not get a foothold through later bringing an absolved sin back to a present fear. An average person doesn't understand any of these things, it is dangerous to give a weapon to a baby, but then again, it is even more dangerous to give it to a trained enemy.

Godistruth1 said:

Your views please and please mention why priest or God?

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At John 20:23 Jesus gave his apostles the authority to forgive sins. That authority has been handed down to their successors since. The priest acts under the authority of a bishop, who has the authority of the apostles, who have the authority of Jesus Christ.

Godistruth1 said:

Priests themselves in many cases are humans and so sinners. Why confess to them? Do u believe people can be more pious & closer to God than priests in many cases?

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Called and ordained ministers in the Church have the ministry to pronounce the forgiveness of sins.

Hearing a private confession is a serious matter and some churches have chosen to delegate that responsibility only to those called to that ministry as recognized by the congregation.