Where does it talk about Confession in the bible?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic : One Thread

i was interested in knowing where there are specific references to confession in the bible. . thanks.

-- katherine (patootybut@aol.com), December 13, 2001

Answers

Hi, Katherine.
I hope that you will find what you seek in this interesting essay.
JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 13, 2001.

Katherine,

Please look up in Bible; John 20:21-23, Matthew 9;2-8, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, and James 5:14-16. I think this will help you find what you are looking for in Bible.

God Bless You.

David S

-- David S (asdzxc8176@aol.com), December 13, 2001.


Katherine, besides what David S. gave you, you can also go to Prov.28:13 and Josh.7:19

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), December 15, 2001.

Katherine, as well as those listed above, from my concordance I have found the following which you might be interested in reading:

God forgives sin: Mark 2:7, Luke 5:21

Christ has the power to forgive sin: Matt. 9:6, Mark 2:10, Luke 5:24, Col. 3:13

Confession instituted by Christ: John 20:22-23 (mentioned above)

Forgiveness is through Christ: 2 Cor. 2:10

Confession is for reconciliation with Christ: 2 Cor. 5:18

Reconciliation is from Christ: Roman 5:11, Col. 1:20, Heb. 1:3

Power is delegated by Christ: John 20:23, 2 Cor. 5:18 (mentioned above)

Degrees of Sin (mortal or venial): 1 John 5:16

Penance reconciles sinner to community of saints 2 Cor. 2:5-8

What is bound on earth is bound in Heaven: Matt. 18:18

Forgiveness of Sins, anointing of the sick, confession: James 5:14-16

St. James, Mary Our Blessed Mother and all of the Saints, pray for us!

Ed

-- Ed Lauzon (grader@accglobal.net), December 17, 2001.


Marylu,

You might find this thread helpful.

-- . (Topper@.........), March 15, 2004.



I am sorry, but in neither of my Dauay Rheoms nor my King Jmaes did these verses mention Confession.

John 20: 21-23 is below.

21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

This discusses forgiveness, but not Confession.

Mathew Chapter 9, below ( Form the DR, as above.) Also tends to mak eno mention of Ocnfession. Indeed, it mentions Jesus healing a cripple.it also deals with forgiveness.

2 Corinthians reads this way form the DR.

18 But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ; and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their sins; and he hath placed in us the word of reconciliation. 20 For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us. For Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God. 21 Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of God in him.

This si abotu contrition and reconciliation, not confession.

James chapter 5 does mention confession.

14 Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.

So does proverbs,

13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

The Joshua reference is taken out of context. It was refrign to a spafcific event and people.

19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

2 And behold they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. 3 And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. 7 And he arose, and went into his house. 8 And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), March 15, 2004.


I am sorry, but in neither of my Dauay Rheoms nor my King Jmaes did these verses mention Confession.

Just as the Bible speaks of the Trinity without using that word, so the above verse speak of confession of sins without using that phrase. To a reader with an open mind, the confession of sins is clearly implied in the texts, most clearly in John 20. Here Jesus tells the Apostles that they he is giving them the power to forgive or retain (refuse to forgive) sins. It is clear to open-minded readers that the Apostles could not make a judgment whether to forgive or deny forgiveness of sins unless they could hear a confession of those sins and make a judgment as to the sinner's contrition (attitude of repentance and intention to avoid further sinning). Besides the obvious meaning of the text, though, we have the historical record of the Apostles (and all their successors for 2000 years) putting this meaning into living practice.

-- A penitent (Ego@Te.Absolvo), March 16, 2004.


I think Zarove is right in his way. Here is what I mean: When we Catholics hear (or look at) the original question we hear 'confession' and immediately take that to mean the 'Sacrament of Reconciliation' and all that goes with it. From repentance, penance, absolution, the Church's authority in this matter, and of course, auricular confession. But I think, when Zarove (a non-catholic) saw the word confession, he thought of only the immediate meaning of the word, that is auricular confession - saying your sins out loud. So from his point of view he is right, some of the passages do directly speak of it, and some don't. Some indirectly imply it (as the above post points out), but the original question was looking for specific mentions.

So in the end both are right. The 'Catholic' answers to the 'Catholic' understanding of the question are right on the money. While Zarove's comments on the answers from the limited perspective are also bang on. This is one of the most interesting things about ecumenical/apologetic dialogue, not only do we not give the same answers, but we don't even hear the same questions!

To be fair, I think Katherine was asking the 'Catholic' question with its more loaded meaning, and so the answers given above are what she is looking for. But, then again, I am a Catholic, so maybe I can't get beyond my Catholic ears.

In Christ,

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), March 16, 2004.


I think Zarove is right in his way. ... So in the end both are right.

No, Dano. If Protestant and Catholic doctrines collide, they cannot both be right. Zarove was not "right," because he misinterpreted the Bible and arrived at a wrong conclusion. He was not "right," because his goal was to put forward a Protestant doctrine -- that confession other than directly to God is not biblically approved.

-- A penitent (Ego@Te.Absolvo), March 17, 2004.


A penitent,

Slow down man. Zarove comes here alot and contributes good and balanced messages. He is never a rabid ANTI-CATHOLIC, and he is not here to convert us all away from our 'misguided church'. I think he is wrong that these bible references have nothing to do with confession (in the big sense), but he is right that the ones he points out that do not mention confession (saying your sins out loud). I think he legitimatly heard a different question than we Catholics did. As such, he comes up with a different answer. If you said to Zarove, "hey, she meant confession as in the Sacrament" he would probably agree that some of those other passages do have something to other aspects of Reconciliation than the 'auricular confesison' part. I understand where you are coming from, there is a constant stream of folks that come here and spout anti-cahtolic hate (this new Dan for instance), but Zarove is not one of them. Even when he disagrees, he does so in an acceptable fashion. Please don't chase away one of the few good protestant posters we have here.

Again, I think he misunderstood the question, but his answer to the question he did hear was correct.

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.



PS: Zarove, I made some assumptions on your behalf. If I misstep please forgive me.

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.


I think there is some confusion over the term confession in the bible. There are TWO distinct meanings, which is where the hang up comes in.

1) Confess to the Lord, confess the Lord-- This context is to proclaim yourself Christian. As in, "I am for the Lord"

2) Go forth and take confessions (NIV) or Whose sins you forgive... (Ignatius)-- to recieve the sacrament of confession and give absolution of sins.

simply put, zarove, you are not explicitly wrong, but have incorrectly interpreted. that is: confess you FAITH to the Lord, and confess your sins to a preist (an apostle with the power to forgive your sins. Got it? (I can hunt through the bible and find all the supporting verses for the above, if people would like, but reading the already posted bible quotes will show the same thing).

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), March 17, 2004.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ