RECAP - the following two questions were not answered last week:
 

I have a lot of trouble with the Catholic practice of confessing sins to a priest. 

1)  Where in the Bible does it say to confess your sins to a priest?

2)  Why should I confess my sins to a human being who is
     probably a bigger sinner than I am?

Yours truly,

Gill T. Less

In your note you asked, “Where in the Bible does it say I should confess my sins to a priest?”

I would counter with, “Where in the Bible does it say you should go to Church on Sunday?” 

Sunday worship isn't in the Bible. It comes from the tradition that Jesus handed down to the apostles, as do many things, and has been practiced since before the Bible was completely written.

I want to remind you that the last words of the Bible were probably not written down until close to the end of the first century, roughly 80 or 90 years after the birth of Christ. The church was 50 years old by then, with masses and bishops and priests and deacons. 

Read authors like Ignatius of Antioch (50-117 AD). There was no real agreement on exactly what books comprised the Bible until after a few centuries. The bishops of the Catholic Church met and decided what books were to be acknowledged as divinely inspired scripture.

My point is this: for Protestants the Bible is the mother of the Church. 

For Catholics the Church is the mother of the Bible. 

As I've said, there was a fully functioning church for 50 years before the last word of the scriptures went from pen to paper. The appearance of the seven sacraments has changed and developed, but their substance hasn't.

There are two texts that clearly refer to the sacrament of penance, or confession. The first is found in John, chapter 20 verse 23. "Whose sins you shall forgive are forgiven whose sins you shall retain are retained." Jesus came for the forgiveness of sins. He clearly established that ministry of reconciliation in his church, sharing it, not with all believers, but with the leadership that He appointed. They were His successors and they believed that this ministry should be passed on in the church until the Lord should return. James reiterates this in his letter, (James 5:16) "Confess your sins to one another."

Since you are so big on doing what the Bible says, I ask you, to whom are you confessing your sins? The Bible says you have to confess your sins to other human beings. Have you found anyone sinless enough so as to be worthy of hearing your confession? Good luck.

It seems that in the early church confession was a very public thing. Serious sins seem to have been confessed in front of the whole church community and the forgiving of those sins was reserved to the local bishop in his role as visible head of a local church. The church, inspired by the Holy Spirit over the years. extended that power to presbyters (priests) who are in communion with their bishop and made it more private, so as to be more pastorally effective.

Changes aside, the ministry of reconciliation, of forgiving sins, was given to the Church by her Lord and is one of His greatest gifts to humanity. So, the Bible does say that you have to confess your sins to other human beings, and the power to forgive those confessed sins is clearly in the hands of those appointed by Christ. 

Why would Jesus insist that we confess our sins to sinful human beings? This is the substance of your second question: Why should I confess my sins to a human being who is probably a bigger sinner than I am?  The reason is simple. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). We are in this together, sinners saved by grace.

The reason that we go to confession, frequently confessing the same old sins, is to let ourselves know that we really are weak and sinful people. 

I am curious that you think you are so much better than the poor sinful priest to whom you have to confess. Could it be that you simply don't have the opportunity to sin grandly? 

The scriptures say that "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep are scattered." (Matt.26:31) 

Don’t you think the devil is far more interested in corrupting the clergy than he is the rank and file?

Do you know what temptation your neighbor faces? Do you know what temptation your confessor faces? That makes me think you should really scurry off to the nearest confessional to repent of your arrogance.

You see, dear Mr. Less, no one is guiltless.

Yours always,

Rev. Know-It-All