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Ok, does it differ to Catholic confession at all?
Sorry to 'bump' a relatively old thread, but another question came to me. It's a hypothetical.
Does one have to be a member to ask for, and go to confession?
Could one, say on holidays, or from a different denominational background, all of a sudden ask a Lutheran pastor to hear confession and receive absolution?
Sorry to 'bump' a relatively old thread, but another question came to me. It's a hypothetical.
Does one have to be a member to ask for, and go to confession?
Could one, say on holidays, or from a different denominational background, all of a sudden ask a Lutheran pastor to hear confession and receive absolution?
Again, speaking for our church and my husband only, ABSOLUTELY.
So just to clarify:
Lutheran confession differs because the clergyman doesn't forgive the sins of the confessor but declares God's forgiveness?
How much detail must one go into? must we confess (for example) sexual immorality or the specifics therein?
"Upon your confession, I by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and 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 the Son and the Holy Spirit."
Thank you. so according to my understanding:
-At a private confession, one receives the forgiveness of Christ (absolution), the pastor is, under the command of Christ, speaking absolution unto the repentant confessor
-In most cases a Lutheran pastor will hear the confession of anyone whom he sincerely believes wants it?
Just for the record, I'm going on holidays later and this will be an optimal time to experience a Lutheran service. I've been indirectly told (from a Baptist upbringing) not to confess to a priest. However with this understanding that it is Christ's forgiveness I feel as though I may ask for a pastor to me. I'll have to pray on it
I have read the LC-MS website on this issue but I am still a little confused. My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution? If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?
I have read several of Luther's writings on this but still need to dig into it deeper. He seems to, at times, contradict himself on this one. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a very simple explanation of it given here.
Justin
I addressed the last part in a previous post; as to the first bit (not sure why I missed it); it's my understanding that in the Catholic Church the teaching is the same as ours.
From our liturgy:
Read again the quote you put in for the liturgy. Yes the Pastor announces the Grace of God, but he also forgives the sins as he stands in the stead and by the command.
As for the Roman Catholic position, they hold to "doing penance" to show their remorse, but Luther said we must be penitent.
Just for the record, I'm going on holidays later and this will be an optimal time to experience a Lutheran service. I've been indirectly told (from a Baptist upbringing) not to confess to a priest. However with this understanding that it is Christ's forgiveness I feel as though I may ask for a pastor to me. I'll have to pray on it
I will pray for you as well. I don't know why they would've said to not confess to a priest - confession IS good for the soul. God's blessings on your journeys.
Mark is right, penance is the only difference but from a Catholic perspective ones sins are forgiven and eternal punishments remitted/ wiped away at the moment when absolution is given or pronounced (even if penance is never performed by the penitent).
This thread--and what you said above remind me of something I recently watched (and you can easily find it on Youtube). It was a lecture by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller (LCMS) on his journey out of evangelicalism and into confessional Lutheranism. He made a point I never considered.
That point was that many churches actually conduct some form of confession and absolution under the term "pastoral counseling." Though no formal confession and absolution takes place, it's not uncommon among many to discuss a problem or particular sins with their pastor. Many times in the meetings, the pastor will respond with the reassurance that their sins have been forgiven, so it ends up being a kind of de facto confession and absolution.
From the gift of our liturgical tradition (grounded thoroughly in God's Word), there is a more solid form of confession and absolution, which ensures that every time a penitent sinner departs, he or she has definitely heard their sins forgiven by Christ's authority.
In my experience, there is little discussion of private C & A in either WELS or LCMS these days. I could be wrong, but it seems that WELS is trending towards the pastoral counseling model while some in LCMS are trending toward traditional private Confession and Absolution. (There's even a local LCMS parish whose pastor holds set weekly hours for it.) I have no insight on ELCA in this regard.
This thread--and what you said above remind me of something I recently watched (and you can easily find it on Youtube). It was a lecture by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller (LCMS) on his journey out of evangelicalism and into confessional Lutheranism. He made a point I never considered.
That point was that many churches actually conduct some form of confession and absolution under the term "pastoral counseling." Though no formal confession and absolution takes place, it's not uncommon among many to discuss a problem or particular sins with their pastor. Many times in the meetings, the pastor will respond with the reassurance that their sins have been forgiven, so it ends up being a kind of de facto confession and absolution.
From the gift of our liturgical tradition (grounded thoroughly in God's Word), there is a more solid form of confession and absolution, which ensures that every time a penitent sinner departs, he or she has definitely heard their sins forgiven by Christ's authority.
In my experience, there is little discussion of private C & A in either WELS or LCMS these days. I could be wrong, but it seems that WELS is trending towards the pastoral counseling model while some in LCMS are trending toward traditional private Confession and Absolution. (There's even a local LCMS parish whose pastor holds set weekly hours for it.) I have no insight on ELCA in this regard.
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