Is Confession Of Sins To A Priest Biblical?

• Defining The Issues:

          -The Roman Catholic Church teaches that in order to obtain God's forgiveness of "mortal" sins, we must confess them to an ordained, ministerial priest (CCC # 980). In Catholic theology, this practice and water baptism are said to be necessary for the salvation of our souls (CCC # 1257, 2020). Roman Catholicism further maintains that Jesus Christ gave the twelve apostles the authority to absolve sins confessed to them. The primary biblical text cited to support this concept is John 20:23. 

          -The premise of this teaching is elaborated on by the claim that apostolic authority was passed on to successors (i.e. Roman Catholic bishops and priests of future generations) from the original apostles. Roman Catholics are required by the papacy to embrace the practice of confessing mortal sins to a priest, under penalty of anathema. The idea of confessing sins to an ordained priest is found in Eastern Orthodoxy, but the focus of this article is primarily the Roman Catholic Church.

• Confession To A Ministerial Priest Is Contrary To Biblical Teaching:

          -The New Testament Scriptures are silent about the church having an ordained ministerial priesthood. Never do we see the Greek word "hiereus," which is the Greek word for priest, filling in the role of any New Testament church offices. Instead, we are told that all Christians have been called to be priests (biblical references where that Greek word is used), who offer spiritual sacrifices to God under the High Priesthood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10). We serve God through the preaching of the gospel and living according to its principles.
          -In the Bible, we see that the confession of sin took place in the presence of the offended individuals (Matthew 3:6; 18:15-17; Mark 1:4-5; Acts 19:18-19; James 5:16). In the New Testament, confession of sin was never done privately, as in a Roman Catholic confessional. It was a public act for all members of the church to see and hear. Further, primitive Christians confessed their sins to another. In Scripture, we always see people praying directly to God for mercy without going before a priest (Psalm 32:5; Luke 18:13-14). 

• Do Matthew 16:19 And John 20:23 Affirm That We Must Confess Our Sins To A Priest Or That They Have Been Given Power To Forgive Them?:

          -These passages say nothing about the confession of sins. They say nothing about apostolic authority being passed on to future leaders of the Christian church in a line of successors. In the New Testament, we never see the apostles acting as if they had been given the authority to absolve sins. Matthew 16:19 and John 20:23 do not even limit the ability of "binding and loosing" or "forgiving and retaining sins" to the leaders of the church. The comments provided here are equally applicable to both passages.
          -The "keys" represent the authority to proclaim the salvation of converts and the condemnation of sinners (Luke 10:16). They are knowledge of the kingdom of God (Matthew 23:13; Luke 11:52). The door of salvation is opened to those who accept the message of the gospel, whereas the door of condemnation is opened to those who reject it (Acts 14:27; Romans 1:16). John 20:23 occurs within the context of the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:45-49). It uses more judicial language for the idea of sending disciples into the world to declare the message of salvation.

          -In the Book of Acts, converts such as Paul and Cornelius received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They rejoiced as a result of hearing the proclamation of eternal salvation from sin. However, note that Jesus instructed the original disciples to shake the dust off their feet when they encountered cities who rejected them for preaching the gospel (Matthew 10:14-15; Mark 6:11; Acts 13:51). This is a perfect way of applying the principle of "loosing," or announcing the condemnation of sinners. Today, we serve as ambassadors for Christ by performing the ministry of reconciliation through the preaching of the gospel and conversion of perishing souls (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Christians have been authorized to declare the terms of forgiveness as provided by the gospel.

• Sins Have Been Forgiven Or Have Already Been Forgiven?:

          -The Greek grammar of John 20:23 is unique. The first pair of verbs found in this passage, which are "forgive" and "retain," are in the present tense. In the same verse, both of the second pair of verb phrases (i.e. "are forgiven" and "are retained") are in the perfect tense, which points to an action that happened in the past but is still taking place. The grammatical structure of John 20:23 strongly suggests that God responds accordingly to a man's reaction to the gospel being made known to him before the proclamation of that decision to accept or reject the message of salvation. It is simply a proclamation of what God has already done in response to a person's decision to either accept or reject the gospel. This verse seems to read, "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins HAVE ALREADY BEEN (or "shall have been") forgiven." Thus, Jesus simply gave His disciples the authority to proclaim the forgiveness of people who were already justified in the sight of God. We simply announce and confirm what God has already done through the words that He has given us.

• Background Information On The Historical Development Of Auricular Confession:

          -The idea of auricular confession evolved over centuries, influenced by various cultural, theological, and pastoral needs. To declare that the Roman Catholic Church’s process of confession was “always understood” in a certain way neglects the evolution and flexibility present in the early Christian community. For example, St. Augustine’s confessions were personal reflections more than a template for communal practice, and his interpretations cannot be straightforwardly equated with modern sacramental confession.

          -The early Christians viewed confession as a public matter. It was specifically pertinent to grave sins against other people. Confession of sin could only be done once to an offended party. The early church did not see sins forgiven through a priest through judicial absolution when confessed. It was not until the end of the second to early third centuries that we begin to see penances being introduced into the Christian church as a means of obtaining forgiveness of sins from God. 

          -The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the concept of confessing sins privately to a priest did not begin in the Western church until the seventh or eight centuries: "…During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the “private” practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on [i.e., from the seventh century], the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament… " (CCC # 1447)

• The Words Of Church Historian J.N.D Kelly:

          -“With the dawn of the third century the rough outlines of a recognized penitential system were beginning to take shape. In spite of the ingenious arguments of certain scholars, there are still no signs of a sacrament of private penance (i.e. confession to a priest, followed by absolution and the imposition of a penance) such as Catholic Christendom knows to-day. The system which seems to have existed in the church at this time, and for centuries afterwards, was wholly public, involving confession, a period of penance and exclusion from communion, and formal absolution and restoration—the whole process being called exomologesis.” (“Early Christian Doctrines,” p. 216)

• Information From The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Online:

          -“Great difficulty is caused by varying terminology and practice during the lengthy time expanse under consideration. The word “penance” was used to designate both the entire sacramental procedure and the satisfaction performed by the penitent… Though confession was a necessary presupposition to reception of the Church’s sacramental Penance, it is not always certain what sort of confession was required… But to repeat, documents of the patristic period are difficult to interpret on this score, and unanimous agreement has not been reached among scholars."

• The Words Of Roman Catholic Priest S. B. Smith, D.D., In His “Notes on the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore” (October 7-21, 1866):

          -"Public confession was practiced during the first ages of the Church. Yet it was restricted generally to sins that were public, or at least publicly committed. Not infrequently, however, secret crimes and sins were openly avowed. This was a voluntary confession on the part of the penitent. However, public confession soon gave rise to various abuses, and was consequently abolished under Leo I., in 459.” (Chapter XVII, paragraph 52, #237, page 208)