Well, I went thorough and gave my assigned no. 4 on the unscriptural nature of confession.
This is the talk I gave, if anyone is interested...
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to err is human.
Humans have been making mistakes for many thousands of years, and
it dosnt seem to be showing any signs of losing popularity.
wether of not we face up to our mistakes says alot about who we are, and if you were raised
catholic, this facing of our mistakes has a very specific format:
as Andrew Santella discribes in his article "The Sin Box"
"a lot of us lined up inside Catholic churches on Saturday afternoons, waiting to take our turn
in one of the confessionals. We'd recite the familiar phrases ("Bless me Father, for I have
sinned"), list our transgressions and the number of times we'd committed them, maybe endure
a priestly lecture, and emerge to recite a few Hail Marys as an act of penance. In some parishes,
the machinery of forgiveness was so well-oiled you could see the line move."
--
I could quibble about the specifics of the ritual, of calling the priest father,
or the idea of praying to mary, or I could take a cheepshot at examples of moral hypocrisy
found in some members of the priesthood, but i'm not going to, because the motivation
BEHIND catholic confession is understandable, even admirable:
says one priest:
"Sin is a fracture. It's a fracture in the relationship that we have with ourself, the
relationship we have with others and in the relationship we have with God."
So we can agree with that, and we agree that sin is something we must DO something about.
we cant simply ignore our faults, and hope they go away.
That question is WHAT do we do about them, and here is where the catholic tradition diverges
from the biblical tradition. The most relevant passage in regard to confession of sin is
found in James 5:16, and in my research i found this book: "Commentary on the Letter of James"
Remember this book? It dosnt get much air time anymore, but I cant improve on it's wording,
so let me quote it directly:
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James states: "The tense of the Greek verbs used here has a continuative sense, as saying...
“You should get into the habit of admitting your sins to each other.”
James has previously dealt with matters that exemplify the family-like interest and warm
concern that should exist within the Christian congregation as a brotherhood. With such a
spiritual atmosphere, there should indeed be a confidence among its members that contributes
to freeness of expression, and that confidence could be especially notable when it came to
acknowledging one’s faults and wrong acts. "
...
"This confessing is not like a “confessional” arrangement where one is viewed as obligated
to appear and confess all sins in order to obtain absolution from guilt in the eyes of God.
Although James had previously made specific mention of the congregation elders with regard
to sick ones needing aid, he here says to “confess your sins to one another,” not limiting
the matter to certain ones within the congregation. While this is so, it is reasonable that
the one confessing his sins would seek a person who could be of real help to him in a
spiritual way. Along with the desire to unburden himself, he doubtless desires the counsel
and prayer of another. Galatians ... speaks of the readjusting of one who takes a false step
and shows that it is those “who have spiritual qualifications” who are in a position to do
this. Elders should have such qualifications, and others in the congregation may also have
these .... Thus the source of the help is not limited to a certain few.
---
Our sins are not bags of garbage waiting by the curb to be hauled away, making room for new
ones tomorrow.
The circular pattern of sin-confession- re-sin may make the confessor FEEL better, but it
dosnt provide much motivation to encourage them to ACT better. It's like sin is simply another bill
that must be paid.
But trying to PAY OFF our mistakes will get us nowhere:
Rom. 12:9, JB: “Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil.”
Our goal is not to be perfect, and no matter how disturbing, the sin is, in itself, not
failure. the Failure is to stop trying. Every day we make a million small decisions that
defineour true character, and all that God asks of us is that tomorrow we try to be a
better person that we were yesterday. To aim ourselves in the direction of a version of
ourselves that is more enlightened, more loving, more tolerant of quirks and barbs of our
fellowman, more just, more kind, in short, most Christlike. To that end, we need good
shepherds.Someone on that fine line of being open minded enough to not overreact, but
with enough moral fiber to guide us to the right path.
There is strength and healing in honesty.
but remember that the goal is NOT to appeal to someone sitting in as a judge for god,
but confide in someone who can truly offer spiritual help. We also must remember that
no human on earth, not matter how qualified, has the right or ability to forgive or
withhold forgiveness for a mistake we made against god or our fellow man.
Surrounding ourselves with, and openly admitting our shortcomings to the right kind of
friends surely helps, but in the end we all stand alone before our maker, and what we
did or did not say out loud in a little room in the back of the congregation will not
be the basis of our worth as a human soul.
[ink]