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The debate about forgiving -- is it just priests that forgive?

Darren Court

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For example, see here: What Are Grounds for Annulment? Note the comments about how someone not genuinely intending to live up to the commitments made in the marriage, invalidates the marriage!
Frankly, this link is absurd and I think it demonstrates the futility of this dialogue going further and your desperation not to admit you're wrong. The fact you quote Catholic practices here that are not part of your church is desperate.
 
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Paidiske

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I'm making the assumption that a church that takes marriage seriously would ensure that those who enter into a marriage inside that church would ensure that it is taken seriously... nothing more. What kind of church would not do that?
I would argue that I take marriage seriously but I have no way to "ensure" that the parties take it seriously. Marriage preparation as I do it is not so much about the vows as it is about things like relationship expectations and styles, conflict resolution, and so on. The knowledge and skills that will actually equip that couple to live out their marriage.

I do, however, explain to couples some of the things that can invalidate their marriage.
No, you're mixing education and teaching outside of confession unless you are claiming such education and teaching goes on in confession... something that is entirely new to me despite being part of many different Anglican churches and discussing with hundreds of Anglicans including several Priests who are my friend over the last thirty years ,
Again, have you read the rites? I would argue that it would be exceptionally difficult for someone to participate in the rite, in full, and come away with the impression that their sincerity was not required in the process.
 
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Darren Court

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No, consent and sincerity are not the same. Nor have I said that they are.

What I am saying is that consent expressed insincerely invalidates a marriage, just as repentance expressed insincerely invalidates a confession.
You did not say so directly but you did by stating that consent means sincerity and that is plainly not always true!

consent expressed insincerely invalidates a marriage ... just trying to play on words.
 
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Paidiske

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Frankly, this link is absurd and I think it demonstrates the futility of this dialogue going further and your desperation not to admit you're wrong. The fact you quote Catholic practices here that are not part of your church is desperate.
Why is it absurd? It demonstrates exactly what I've been saying. On this point, Catholics and Anglicans agree, and frankly, the Catholics put out better resources. So why shouldn't I use them?
 
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Paidiske

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You did not say so directly but you did by stating that consent means sincerity and that is plainly not always true!

consent expressed insincerely invalidates a marriage ... just trying to play on words.
Not a play on words. A very serious and important point. True consent to a marriage requires sincerity. Mouthing the words but not meaning them isn't enough.
 
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Darren Court

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I would not be so hasty to decide that God does not forgive despite a sincere, if imperfect, attempt at repentance. That's different from pretending a repentance one does not actually commit to living out.
Another attempt to obfuscate matters. The fact is that the bible clearly teaches we can fool ourselves into thinking we are sincere in our faith, in our sincerity, etc. If we can delude ourselves into thinking we have faith when we don't, and the effect is that we are not saved and we have to be sincere in confession, then it's pretty safe to conclude we are not forgiven not matter the reason for our insincerity. It's incumbent upon us to test our sincerity.
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Furthermore scripture is absolutely clear without sincerity there is no forgiveness, no matter what wiggle room you'd like to create!
 
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Paidiske

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Another attempt to obfuscate matters.
Not at all.
If we can delude ourselves into thinking we have faith when we don't, and the effect is that we are not saved and we have to be sincere in confession, then it's pretty safe to conclude we are not forgiven not matter the reason for our insincerity. It's incumbent upon us to test our sincerity.
It's incumbent on us to test our sincerity, yes. But it's also possible for us to lack self understanding. That's very different from wilfully expressing repentance we don't mean, and I'm more prepared to think that God's grace will cover the former.
Furthermore scripture is absolutely clear without sincerity there is no forgiveness, no matter what wiggle room you'd like to create!
If we are consciously lying, sure. If it's more complex than that, if we're confused or deceived; it's not so much a matter of wiggle room as a matter of recognising that in fact we are never perfect. As we grow to understand better, we should be open to ever-deeper repentance.
 
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Darren Court

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Why is it absurd? It demonstrates exactly what I've been saying. On this point, Catholics and Anglicans agree, and frankly, the Catholics put out better resources. So why shouldn't I use them?
Absurd because i) You're not Catholic and saying Anglican and Catholics are the same on this does not make it so. If it is so, then produce the Anglican evidence not Catholic ii) I see no reference to sincerity
Not a play on words. A very serious and important point. True consent to a marriage requires sincerity. Mouthing the words but not meaning them isn't enough.
No you mixed in all the words to try to make the point that you deny you're making.... consent and sincerity are the same!
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You keep evading the reality that we can consent to things without sincerity and in doing so deny the truth that there is such a thing as reluctant consent and delusional consent.
 
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Darren Court

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It's incumbent on us to test our sincerity, yes. But it's also possible for us to lack self understanding. That's very different from wilfully expressing repentance we don't mean, and I'm more prepared to think that God's grace will cover the former.
If we earnestly want to know the truth, we will seek and find. Sure there are times we can simply "lack self understanding" but this cannot continue if we truly and sincerely seek a life in relationship with God. In such a relationship will the Holy Spirit allow us to continue without knowing we are insincere? "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
.

Your position here seems like straining to avoid admission of error by deliberately focusing on the creation of possible forgiveness without sincerity through the creation of spurious circumstance and without any scriptural support. The fact is without sincerity there is no forgiveness.... something that can and should be easily rectified if we err and do so without knowing.
 
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Paidiske

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Absurd because i) You're not Catholic and saying Anglican and Catholics are the same on this does not make it so. If it is so, then produce the Anglican evidence not Catholic
I don't know where to find a good Anglican source on this online, so you might have to take my word for it that this is what I was taught.
ii) I see no reference to sincerity
That's where they talk about intent, and whether the party intends to live in accordance with the marriage commitment. For example, not intending to be faithful, or not intending to remain in the marriage until death, is the same sort of thing I'm talking about as not making a sincere commitment to the marriage.
No you mixed in all the words to try to make the point that you deny you're making.... consent and sincerity are the same!
No, again, that's not my point. My point was to draw an analogy between possible insincerity in consent in marriage, and possible insincerity in repentance in confession, and the way our rites handle both in similar ways.
You keep evading the reality that we can consent to things without sincerity
That's not consent as I understand it.
 
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Paidiske

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Your position here seems like straining to avoid admission of error by deliberately focusing on the creation of possible forgiveness without sincerity
Nope. That's not my position. My position is that it is extremely unlikely that anyone would go through a formal rite of reconciliation, and walk away believing themselves to have been forgiven by God, even after having been insincere in their expression of repentance.
 
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Paidiske

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Then in your understanding there is no such thing as reluctant consent else delusional consent. Interesting!
Reluctant consent? As in, I don't really want to do this but I choose to do it anyway for whatever reason? Sure, that's a thing. (Note: coercion is a different matter).

Delusional consent? I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

But saying you commit to something while intending something else is not true consent.
 
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Darren Court

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Reluctant consent? As in, I don't really want to do this but I choose to do it anyway for whatever reason? Sure, that's a thing. (Note: coercion is a different matter).

Delusional consent? I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

But saying you commit to something while intending something else is not true consent.
LOL.... we're done!
 
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BobRyan

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It's not at all clear to me that Paul is making a distinction here as to how one is determined to be married
It does tell us that in the Romans 7 context/definition for LAW - he thinks that marriage is legal and this is presumably the case even if one is not married under the Roman empire.

The wedding at Cana in John 2 also makes it appear that it is a formal event with public witness.
(whether by secular Roman or Jewish religious law), since he's using this as an illustration for a completely different point. He's certainly not claiming that Scripture establishes any particular form of wedding observance as requisite for believers.
He is not specifying exactly what they did - but he does tell us that it is a legal form and that adultery is determined by that form such that it is unlawful when one is married to then be joined to someone else. Which is certainly an idea that Jews and Christians would be familiar with based on the Ten Commandments that are also quoted from in Rom 7 and Rom 13.
 
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GDL

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And there goes another 300+ posts with little to no agreement. Such it seems is the [sad] state of Christendom.

While watching this thread periodically, I've also been reading through this site Church, The (as @Paidiske essentially said, Catholic resources are more abundant) and comparing a few things it says to Scripture. To go through it in detail and compare it all with Scripture would be quite a project. Besides, I know others have compared Roman doctrine with Scripture for centuries now and have substantial, published, detailed disagreement. Inevitably in my experience, when I go through anything like this, no matter the denomination, there will be things that I just cannot agree with. Certainly, many things I question.

One example having to do with this thread: What's a priest in the NC Writings? A quick search in the NKJ translation shows 964 occurrences of priest(s) in the Bible. Switching over to the Greek word it shows 795 with only 33 instances in the NC. Glancing through these NC uses it's used to speak of the OC priests, Jesus Christ as the new Priest, and in Revelation believers as the Kingdom of Priests of God and Christ. At quick glance I see no office of priest other than the just mentioned.

So, where do we get this picture presented by our Anglican priest, the garments, the collar, the seeming confusion about authority to absolve of sins among other authorities? The RCC article I'm reading is using the word "priest" to translate the Greek word for "elders" - a word used in the LXX word for "old" people and elders in Israel. Why does RCC use "priest"?

When we start looking at the matter of elders, we have Peter talking to elders as a "fellow elder" (1Pet5:1). We have John referring to himself as 'the elder" (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). On the one hand the theory is that the "keys" & office of Apostle given to Peter (& John) were losing relevance as the Lord's Community was being established in many locales with elders being put in place. On the other hand, we have Rome's theory of succession and authorities from which come all this [theoretical] hierarchal structure of "The Church". And from there we have many breaks based upon many factors. We also have discussion on what exactly is "The Church"?

Why are we simply to believe that oral traditions are to be recognized? It was a problem in the first century (and before) when Jesus (the Jew) was on earth. Paul (the Jew) wrote about his tradition vs. traditions of men. It seems logical to assume traditions are still a problem. Why rely on them? I see a judgment stated by Jesus that I'm concerned with (John 12:48). I'm not much concerned with theoretical traditions and theoretical hierarchies who cannot know my heart absolving me from anything (Matt 6:14-15; Matt 18:45; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 17:3-4; 1 John 1).

Re: absolution of sin: here's an article on this matter from the same site. Near the end it speaks of various practices of other denominations Absolution . Pick your camp, I guess. Then we argue & some take it personally.
 
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Darren Court

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And there goes another 300+ posts with little to no agreement. Such it seems is the [sad] state of Christendom.

While watching this thread periodically, I've also been reading through this site Church, The (as @Paidiske essentially said, Catholic resources are more abundant) and comparing a few things it says to Scripture. To go through it in detail and compare it all with Scripture would be quite a project. Besides, I know others have compared Roman doctrine with Scripture for centuries now and have substantial, published, detailed disagreement. Inevitably in my experience, when I go through anything like this, no matter the denomination, there will be things that I just cannot agree with. Certainly, many things I question.

One example having to do with this thread: What's a priest in the NC Writings? A quick search in the NKJ translation shows 964 occurrences of priest(s) in the Bible. Switching over to the Greek word it shows 795 with only 33 instances in the NC. Glancing through these NC uses it's used to speak of the OC priests, Jesus Christ as the new Priest, and in Revelation believers as the Kingdom of Priests of God and Christ. At quick glance I see no office of priest other than the just mentioned.

So, where do we get this picture presented by our Anglican priest, the garments, the collar, the seeming confusion about authority to absolve of sins among other authorities? The RCC article I'm reading is using the word "priest" to translate the Greek word for "elders" - a word used in the LXX word for "old" people and elders in Israel. Why does RCC use "priest"?

When we start looking at the matter of elders, we have Peter talking to elders as a "fellow elder" (1Pet5:1). We have John referring to himself as 'the elder" (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). On the one hand the theory is that the "keys" & office of Apostle given to Peter (& John) were losing relevance as the Lord's Community was being established in many locales with elders being put in place. On the other hand, we have Rome's theory of succession and authorities from which come all this [theoretical] hierarchal structure of "The Church". And from there we have many breaks based upon many factors. We also have discussion on what exactly is "The Church"?

Why are we simply to believe that oral traditions are to be recognized? It was a problem in the first century (and before) when Jesus (the Jew) was on earth. Paul (the Jew) wrote about his tradition vs. traditions of men. It seems logical to assume traditions are still a problem. Why rely on them? I see a judgment stated by Jesus that I'm concerned with (John 12:48). I'm not much concerned with theoretical traditions and theoretical hierarchies who cannot know my heart absolving me from anything (Matt 6:14-15; Matt 18:45; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 17:3-4; 1 John 1).

Re: absolution of sin: here's an article on this matter from the same site. Near the end it speaks of various practices of other denominations Absolution . Pick your camp, I guess. Then we argue & some take it personally.
You're absolutely right.
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The problem is that the basis upon which such consideration changes according to what supports the belief. Thus Catholics will accept the bible in part but also insist that the tradition they choose can also influence but will reject tradition that doesn't support their position. In like manner Anglican's will argue that scripture is not definite, whilst some Protestants will argue that scripture is everything. If they can't agree on what the sources of authority and guidance are, they are never going to agree on conclusions.
 
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GDL

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You're absolutely right.
.
The problem is that the basis upon which such consideration changes according to what supports the belief. Thus Catholics will accept the bible in part but also insist that the tradition they choose can also influence but will reject tradition that doesn't support their position. In like manner Anglican's will argue that scripture is not definite, whilst some Protestants will argue that scripture is everything. If they can't agree on what the sources of authority and guidance are, they are never going to agree on conclusions.
And there's that key word - "authority". At the end of all of this, at this point, I have to rest my thoughts that He will be the final determination of who was rightly oriented to Him in Spirit and truth, and who was not. Most of this denominational stuff seems like a side-show of men & presumed human authorities. Really, much of Christendom seems like a side-show.

One of the first things Jesus said about who it was that God was now seeking is in John 4 where He uses the word "worship" 8 times in 4 verses. This is substantial emphasis in wording by none other than The Christ who would establish His Community accordingly. But the word is not best translated as "worship". It means to bow in obeisance as to one in authority. It's bowing the knee. Based in some of the discussion as this thread has continued, I'm also satisfied and live by the fact that He is a perfect judge of sincerity and truth to depths within us that we barely realize. Some of this I think is contained in the "Spirit & Truth" phrase in John 4.

To think that some person in some purported position of presumed authority in some denomination in this part of this long era can absolve me of my sins and know my heart and the status of my forgiveness of others, seems like a waste of energy. I'm not using "absolve" as I would use "forgive".
 
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GDL

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If you'd like more reading on the topic, here's a hypothetical discussion on the priest and absolution from sin. Personally, I'm not impressed by the argument from the Roman side but we're not going to change them nor any denomination that carries this foundation. How Can a Priest Forgive Sin?
 
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The Liturgist

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Again, have you read the rites? I would argue that it would be exceptionally difficult for someone to participate in the rite, in full, and come away with the impression that their sincerity was not required in the process.
Exactly. I even quoted some bits from the old BCP. The old BCP and also the 1928 revised version which is in Common Worship in further revised form and was used in the 2011 wedding of Prince William, implies a high risk of bad things happening at the Day of Judgement if either party is dishonest with the officiating priest or bishop. When the liturgy implies if you are insincere you will likely be consigned to the outer darkness, and also literally begins this phrase with “I require and charge you both, as ye shall answer at the dread day of judgement…”, being insincere does not seem to be presented as a viable option.*

*This is partially due, as a matter of liturgical stylistics, to classically Cranmerian liturgical language; he did not mince words or hesitate from maledictory phrases, for example, the Commination, which was at one time popular on Ash Wednesday but all recent BCPs replace it with A Penitential Service, and the Protestant Episcopal Church, now the Episcopal Church USA, even deprecated Quincunque Vult from the very beginning, since the founders in the 1780s were uncomfortable with the stated impossibility of salvation if one does not accept it.
 
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