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Why do you offer spiritual advice to your church members?
Why do you lead your congregation in prayer?
Why do you preach with Power Point?
And lastly:
John 20:21-23
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”
Dear Julian,
The Protestants offer advice to church members because their churches are the daughters of the Roman church, and their leader, father, and teacher is Paul, and they all follow Paul's lead. This is not in keeping with the testimony of Yeshua (Mt 23:8-10)
As for John 20:21-23, priest cannot forgive nor can they retain sins. James 5:13-16,13 Is anyone among you suffering ? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful ? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick ? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
If priest had the power to forgive sins, then they would also have the power to heal, of which they do not. That power is held by the members of the true church, which "keep the Commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua." (Rev 12:17) The power of the Roman church is limited to monetary influence, and its' intimidation of its' members. Without regeneration through births within the church, it would probably pretty much die within a generation.
If priest had the power to forgive sins, then they would also have the power to heal, of which they do not. That power is held by the members of the true church, which "keep the Commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua." (Rev 12:17) The power of the Roman church is limited to monetary influence, and its' intimidation of its' members. Without regeneration through births within the church, it would probably pretty much die within a generation.
By a priest forgiving one's sins (thru the power of God), HE IS healing (one's soul), is he not?
Dear Julian,
The Protestants offer advice to church members because their churches are the daughters of the Roman church, and their leader, father, and teacher is Paul, and they all follow Paul's lead. This is not in keeping with the testimony of Yeshua (Mt 23:8-10)
As for John 20:21-23, priest cannot forgive nor can they retain sins. James 5:13-16,13 Is anyone among you suffering ? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful ? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick ? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
If priest had the power to forgive sins, then they would also have the power to heal, of which they do not. That power is held by the members of the true church, which "keep the Commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua." (Rev 12:17) The power of the Roman church is limited to monetary influence, and its' intimidation of its' members. Without regeneration through births within the church, it would probably pretty much die within a generation.
Your entire post is a huge straw man. That is not good form in a debate. The forgiveness comes from Jesus, the priest is simply passing the message. You base your entire apology on the wrong premise, a very bad straw man.
Secondly, as admitted by you Protestants seek guidance from their pastor all the time. The only difference is that Protestant ministers cannot trace their ordination to the Apostles and therefore cannot transmit the forgiveness of sins from Jesus. Other, than that I bet the interaction between the parishioner and the minister is similar to what a priest may say to a Catholic.
Lastly quite often sinful Protestant parishioners are asked to confess their sins publicly to the church. Remember the confession of Jimi Swaggart? He could have gone directly to God in private.
Confession to another fellow human being is often a good thing. Ideally, it is best with a priest because of the Apostolic Succession and Matthew 16:19.
John 20:21 - before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins.
John 20:22 - the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.
John 20:23 - Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.
Confessing sins to a priest is something that was a universal practice and never debated in the Early Church. Below are several quotes from the Early Church Fathers confirming that the basics of this most powerful sacrament have always been part of the Church.
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)
Origen
"[A filial method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, "I said, to the Lord, I will accuse myself of my iniquity." " (Homilies in Leviticus 2:4 -- A.D. 248)
Basil the Great
"It is necessary to confess our sins to those to whom the dispensation of God’s mysteries is entrusted. Those doing penance of old are found to have done it before the saints. It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist [Matt. 3:6], but in Acts [19:18] they confessed to the apostles." (Rules Briefly Treated 288 -- A.D. 374)
John Chrysostom
"Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed." Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding: but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven? "Whose sins you shall forgive," he says, "they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men [Matt. 10:40; John 20:21-23]. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven." (The Priesthood 3:5 -- A.D. 387)
Ambrose of Milan
"For those to whom [the right of binding and loosing] has been given, it is plain that either both are allowed, or it is clear that neither is allowed. Both are allowed to the Church, neither is allowed to heresy. For this right has been granted to priests only." (Penance 1:1 -- A.D. 388)
Are you a Christian Jew? The first Christians were Jewish.
No, I am a Gentile living in the current dispensation of Grace.
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