Question About Confession

[Grateful4God]

Confession?

The Bible clearly states to confess out loud with your mouth your sins.

How did the Catholic Chruch start their form of Confession?

In my church we just take a moment to Confess with our mouths out loud, some are loud, others quietly say it like a wisper. I feel comfortable this way because it is what the scriptures say to do.

I confess often in my prayers and ask daily for forgiveness. I feel I dont need a Chruch Elder to tell me how to be forgiven.

Can a Catholic give me some Biblical backround to their form of confession? Also do any other Denomonations practice confession as they do?

I should add I do think either way is wrong. I am just curious.

 

[Momzilla]

The Bible also tells us to confess our sins in front of one another.

In the Orthodox Church, we do not confess "to" a priest. We confess to Christ in the presence of a priest, who is there as a witness. The priest can provide vital spiritual counsel and guidance in his pastoral role.

That said, both the Orthodox and Catholic liturgies contain a general confession of sins before the Eucharist, and I have no doubt that many Orthodox and Catholic bring particular sins before the Father during their personal prayers (I know I do).

I hope this is helpful.

 

[a_ntv]

Confession?

The Bible clearly states to confess out loud with your mouth your sins.

How did the Catholic Chruch start their form of Confession?

In my church we just take a moment to Confess with our mouths out loud, some are loud, others quietly say it like a wisper. I feel comfortable this way because it is what the scriptures say to do.

I confess often in my prayers and ask daily for forgiveness. I feel I dont need a Chruch Elder to tell me how to be forgiven.

Can a Catholic give me some Biblical backround to their form of confession? Also do any other Denomonations practice confession as they do?

I should add I do think either way is wrong. I am just curious.

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

That is the will of Jesus, that He gave to His Church

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

It is clear that the Church has to task to forgive the sins, or not.

We call that: Sacrament of Reconciliation, that sometime it is called "Confession", because the penitent speaks (confess) his sorrow for the sins.

For moderators: because the OP refers only to the CC, please move this thread on OBOB.

 

[outhwaar]

Here are a couple:

John 20:22-23 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven;if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."

The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that the Apostles, the first Catholic priests, are being given authority to firgive sins in Christ's name.

2 Corintians 5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the formal Catholic name for confession. This verse is interpreted to refer to the administration of that sacrament.

 

[Grateful4God]

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

That is the will of Jesus, that He gave to His Church

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

It is clear that the Church has to task to forgive the sins, or not.

We call that: Sacrament of Reconciliation, that sometime it is called "Confession", because the penitent speaks (confess) his sorrow for the sins.

For moderators: because the OP refers only to the CC, please move this thread on OBOB.

No I do not only refer to the Catholic Church, I used it as an example but I am really intersted in how all Denominations practice repentance.

 

[Grateful4God]

Here are a couple:

John 20:22-23 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven;if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."

The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that the Apostles, the first Catholic priests, are being given authority to firgive sins in Christ's name.

2 Corintians 5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the formal Catholic name for confession. This verse is interpreted to refer to the administration of that sacrament.

So there are cases where a priest may not forgive? This is what confuses me. As we are also taught all sins are forgiven.

 

[a_ntv]

double post- sorry

 

[a_ntv]

Anyay the teaching of the Catholic Church is that we shall always ask forgive to God when we pray (we shoud pray every day, morning and eve...)

This sorrow, if true, is 'technically' enough for the forgivness of the sins.

But we shall anyway later ask forgive in front the Church, because we are ontologically part of the Church, and our sins dont touch only us but all the Church (this feeling is very string in CC)

So there are cases where a priest may not forgive? This is what confuses me. As we are also taught all sins are forgiven.

So there are cases where a priest may not forgive? This is what confuses me. As we are also taught all sins are forgiven.

Yes of course:
The priest does not give the absolution (it is Christ that forgives), when
- if the penitent doesnt show sorrow
- if the penitent declares he was right to sin
- if the penitent has the will to do again such a sin
- if the matter of confession is so heavy (like abortion) that the priest is not delegated in that by his bishop, because the priest can confess ONLY because he is delegated by his bishop (the only one with a full sacramental ministry), and usually the 'proxy' doeas not cover all heavy sins.

 

[outhwaar]

So there are cases where a priest may not forgive? This is what confuses me. As we are also taught all sins are forgiven.

In order for a priest to absolve a pentient from sin, the penitent must have some sense of contrition, some level of genuine repentence. This is another matter of free will. We must be disposed to accpet God's mercy. He respects the free will he has given us to such a degree that he will even allow us to refuse His forgiveness.

 

[GraceInHim]

Mod Note:

CF changes daily and we have a new forum called Sacramental Theology. Moving this thread to this forum. Will leave a redirect for those who wonder where this thread has gone

Peace

 

[Ave Maria]

http://www.catholic.com/library/Confession.asp

http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp

 

[PaulAckermann]

Confession?
The Bible clearly states to confess out loud with your mouth your sins.
How did the Catholic Chruch start their form of Confession?
In my church we just take a moment to Confess with our mouths out loud, some are loud, others quietly say it like a wisper. I feel comfortable this way because it is what the scriptures say to do.
I confess often in my prayers and ask daily for forgiveness. I feel I dont need a Chruch Elder to tell me how to be forgiven.
Can a Catholic give me some Biblical backround to their form of confession? Also do any other Denomonations practice confession as they do?
I should add I do think either way is wrong. I am just curious.

You are right that in the NT Church the sins were confessed publicly. But I disagree with you that whispering your sins is sufficient.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

James 5:16

How can they be confess their sins to one another if the other couldn't hear it? To me, whispering is just trying to find a legal loophole.

Now, join this with what Jesus said:

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
John 20:22, 23

So I see the picture of the New Testament Church as this: A person would stand up publicly in front of everyone else and confess his sins so that everyone can hear him. An apostle or a bishop delegated by the apostle would then absolve him of his sin.

Imagine how dificult this was! Imagine how difficult it would be to tell the whole church that you had lusted after someone other than your wife, and your wife and children sitting right next to you. Imagine how much gossiping this kind of public confession would cause!
For this reason, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, around I think the 3rd or 4rth century, allowed the individual to go to the priest or bishop privately to confess his sins, as long the sins were not adultery, idolatry, or murder. Later on, the Church allowed for private confession for even these sins.

Jesus said to the future leaders of the Church "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:18). Because the Pope and the bishops have the authority to bind and loose the rules, they have the authority to change the rules from what is was in the NT Church and allow for private confessions before a priest. Without this authority of binding and loosing, we still would be stuck in publicly confessing our sins, not whispering our sins, to everyone else in the church, even our most embarrassing sins.

 

[helenofbritain]

Confession?

The Bible clearly states to confess out loud with your mouth your sins.
How did the Catholic Chruch start their form of Confession?

Well, we still have to confess out loud with our mouths - we just don't do it in front of everone. But seriously others have already answered this question well, so I'll move on.

I feel I dont need a Chruch Elder to tell me how to be forgiven.

We don't have one of those either.

The priest is acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) at the moment of absolution (just like at the Consecration). Christ does the forgiving - not the "church elder".

So there are cases where a priest may not forgive? This is what confuses me. As we are also taught all sins are forgiven.

All sins are forgiven if you are sorry and ask for forgivness. If you are having an adulterous affair (for instance) and confess it, and the priest tells you to stop the affair, and you say no, then you're probably not actually really sorry for what you are doing, are you?

You are right that in the NT Church the sins were confessed publicly.

So I see the picture of the New Testament Church as this: A person would stand up publicly in front of everyone else and confess his sins so that everyone can hear him. An apostle or a bishop delegated by the apostle would then absolve him of his sin.

Imagine how dificult this was! Imagine how difficult it would be to tell the whole church that you had lusted after someone other than your wife, and your wife and children sitting right next to you. Imagine how much gossiping this kind of public confession would cause!
For this reason, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, around I think the 3rd or 4rth century, allowed the individual to go to the priest or bishop privately to confess his sins, as long the sins were not adultery, idolatry, or murder. Later on, the Church allowed for private confession for even these sins.

The Irish monks in the 6th or 7th century started private confessions for everything - they were evangelising the British at the time - because, as PaulAckermann said, public confession can cause a whole lot of scandal

 

[StatePSO]

Confession



Are all of our sins—past, present, and future—forgiven once and for all when we become Christians? Not according to the Bible or the early Church Fathers. Scripture nowhere states that our future sins are forgiven; instead, it teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).

The means by which God forgives sins after baptism is confession: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining forgiveness—the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance, or reconciliation.

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power "glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8; note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).

Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults, we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave or mortal sins—but it is required, or Christ would not have commanded it.

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done "in church," as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates.

Penances also tended to be performed before rather than after absolution, and they were much more strict than those of today (ten years’ penance for abortion, for example, was common in the early Church).

But the basics of the sacrament have always been there, as the following quotations reveal. Of special significance is their recognition that confession and absolution must be received by a sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for "[w]hoever . . . eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).


The Didache


"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).


The Letter of Barnabas


"You shall judge righteously. You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).


Ignatius of Antioch


"For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).

"For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop" (ibid., 8).

The above is taken from Catholic.com

 

[WhiteWillow]

Well said State.