Confession

[Me Myself]

The problem is where the church says that ONLY by confesing yuor sins to the priest can they be forgiven.

That part is unscriptural to me. I can accept a priest with the ability to tie and untie on earth and let it be tied and untied in heaven. What I cannot accept is that they say that is the only way. Or EVEN the most common.

It´s not. No jew asked forgiveness to Jesus when he said "Forgive them father, because they don´t know what they are doing".

So Jesus can forgive whoever he wants, even if he hasn´t confessed to a priest but only directly to him and EVEn if he HAS NOT asked for forgiveness or even repented.

I do would think generaly you need to at least ask forgiveness to God, or in the case of atheists, have the internal resoulton of not doing it again and fix what you can of the wrong yu have done, but beyond that they are putting too much limits to God´s power and love.

I don´t dig that.

 

[horizon_mj1]

Who is God, the church or God? Who is it than can grant Absolute Forgiveness, God or the Church? Personally I will take my chances with the Divine/God, I do not need a mediator for my own personal relationships.

 

[Christina83]

Who is God, the church or God? Who is it than can grant Absolute Forgiveness, God or the Church? Personally I will take my chances with the Divine/God, I do not need a mediator for my own personal relationships.

Totally agree!!!
If you need to talk to the doctor about a really important issue and he is just there next door waiting for the next patient, why would you want to speak to his temp secretary who does not know anything about health or medication?

See ya!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The problem is where the church says that ONLY by confesing yuor sins to the priest can they be forgiven.

It doesn't say that, actually.

For starters, the Catholic Church actually agrees with you on one point ("Jesus can forgive whoever he wants"): their general position is that while God instituted the sacraments (including confession) and therefore presumably sees good in them and wants people to follow them, he isn't bound by them himself and can choose to do what he wants even if it doesn't align with the normal framework.

Also, the Catholic Church doesn't teach that confession is always necessary for forgiveness. In fact, they teach that if a person has perfect contrition, then they're already forgiven even before they confess... although they still consider it good and proper for a person to confess their sins even if they do have perfect contrition.