Response<\/h2>\n
Obviously, a question like this truly deserves thorough theological treatment. However, since these are\u00a0quick<\/span> apologies, these are the points I typically try to make:<\/p>\n 1. \u00a0Nowhere in the Bible is confession to God through a priest explicitly forbidden<\/span>. In fact,\u00a0Scripture explicitly encouraged<\/span>\u00a0to confess to other humans\u00a0(James 5:16<\/a>).<\/p>\n 2. In the Old<\/span> Covenant, God set up a priesthood for the forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 5<\/a>).<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0Following this pattern,\u00a0in the New<\/span> Covenant Jesus grants His apostles the particular grace and authority to forgive sin:<\/p>\n “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven<\/span>, whoever’s sins you retain, they \u00a0are retained'”<\/em> – John 20:20-23<\/span><\/p>\n Why grant this power unless it is to be used? Through exercising this gift, Church leaders are\u00a0entrusted with a “ministry of reconciliation”<\/em><\/span> (2 Corinthians 5:18<\/a>) and to act “in persona Christi”<\/em> (2 Corinthians 2:10<\/a>).<\/p>\n However, in addition to these points, when answering the above\u00a0objection, I try to include a little testimony about the healing I’ve received through\u00a0the Sacrament\u00a0Confession. I’ve often found this more effective and lead to more productive conversations\u00a0than simply giving above\u00a0the arguments.<\/p>\n
![\"confession\"](\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/confession.jpg\")
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