The rest of these are Excerpts, I've gone all the way to 1985. Let me know if you want the full article. I can burn you a copy of the CD and mail it to you if you would like. Let me know, my email is open.
*** w95 11/15 29 William Tyndale-A Man of Vision ***
Why were the clergy so bitterly opposed to Tyndale’s translation? Whereas the Latin Vulgate tended to veil the sacred text, Tyndale’s rendering from the original Greek for the first time conveyed the Bible’s message in clear language to the English people. For example, Tyndale chose to translate the Greek word a·ga'pe as “love” instead of “charity” in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. He insisted on “congregation” rather than “church” to emphasize worshipers, not church buildings. The last straw for the clergy, however, came when Tyndale replaced “priest” with “elder” and used “repent” rather than “do penance,” thereby stripping the clergy of their assumed priestly powers. David Daniell says in this regard: “Purgatory is not there; there is no aural confession and penance. Two supports of the Church’s wealth and power collapsed.” (William Tyndale—A Biography) That was the challenge Tyndale’s translation presented, and modern scholarship fully endorses the accuracy of his choice of words.
*** w93 3/15 9-10 Jehovah's Mercy Saves Us From Despair ***
Confession Brings Relief
7 If guilty of grave transgressions of God’s law, we may find it difficult to confess our sins, even to Jehovah. What can happen under those circumstances? In Psalm 32, David admitted: “When I kept silent [instead of confessing] my bones wore out through my groaning all day long. For day and night your [Jehovah’s] hand was heavy upon me. My life’s moisture has been changed as in the dry heat of summer.” (Verses 3, 4) Trying to conceal his sin and repress a guilty conscience wore out wayward David. Anguish reduced his vigor so much that he was like a drought-stricken tree without life-giving moisture. In fact, he may well have experienced ill effects mentally and physically. At any rate, he lost his joy. If any of us find ourselves in a similar state, what should we do?
8 Confession to God can bring forgiveness and relief. “My sin I finally confessed to you, and my error I did not cover,” sang David. “I said: ‘I shall make confession over my transgressions to Jehovah.’ And you yourself pardoned the error of my sins.” (Psalm 32:5) Are you distressed over some concealed sin? Would it not be best to confess and leave it so as to receive God’s mercy? Why not call the congregation elders and seek spiritual healing? (Proverbs 28:13; James 5:13-20) Your repentant spirit will be acknowledged, and in time your Christian joy can be restored. “Happy is the one whose revolt is pardoned, whose sin is covered,” said David. “Happy is the man to whose account Jehovah does not put error, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”—Psalm 32:1, 2.
*** w93 5/15 15 "Call the Older Men" ***
14 “Good spirits” are contrasted with “suffering evil.” This implies that James was discussing spiritual sickness. (James 5:13) “Older men [elders, King James Version] of the congregation,” not doctors or even those who had the miraculous gift of healing, were to be called. And what were they to do? Said James: “Let them pray over him. . . . And the prayer of faith will make the indisposed one well.” (James 5:14, 15; compare Psalm 119:9-16.) Proving conclusively that James is referring to spiritual illness is the fact that he encourages confession of sins in connection with the hoped-for healing. He writes: “Openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may get healed.” If grave sin is the cause of the spiritual illness, the sick person can be expected to recover only if he responds favorably to exhortation based on God’s Word, repents, and turns away from his sinful course.—James 5:16; Acts 3:19.
*** w92 6/1 3 Is Faith Healing Approved by God? ***
According to Matthew 8:16, 17, Jesus “cured all who were faring badly.” True, these people had a measure of belief in Jesus that caused them to approach him. (Matthew 8:13; 9:22, 29) In most cases they had to come and ask before he healed them. However, no confession of faith was required for the miracle to be performed. On one occasion Jesus healed a lame man who did not even know who Jesus was. (John 5:5-9, 13) On the night of his arrest, Jesus restored the severed ear of the high priest’s servant, although this man was one of the group of Jesus’ enemies who had come to arrest him. (Luke 22:50, 51) Indeed, on occasion, Jesus even raised the dead!—Luke 8:54, 55; John 11:43, 44.
*** w91 10/1 17-18 Make Jehovah's Everlasting Arms Your Support ***
17 Concealed sins may cause distress. According to Psalm 32:1-5, David tried to hide his sin, but he said: “When I kept silent my bones wore out through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My life’s moisture has been changed as in the dry heat of summer.” Trying to repress a guilty conscience wore David out, and anguish reduced his vigor as a tree loses life-giving moisture during a drought or in summer’s dry heat. He apparently suffered ill effects mentally and physically and lost joy because of failure to confess. Only confession to God could bring pardon and relief. Said David: “Happy is the one whose revolt is pardoned, whose sin is covered. . . . My sin I finally confessed to you, and my error I did not cover. I said: ‘I shall make confession over my transgressions to Jehovah.’ And you yourself pardoned the error of my sins.” Loving help from Christian elders can help to promote spiritual recovery.—Proverbs 28:13; James 5:13-20.
*** w89 5/1 5 Babylon the Great-Fallen and Judged ***
In the wake of the world wars, however, orthodox religion has lost its mass following in countries such as Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Britain. Even Catholic countries such as Italy, Spain, and France have noted a falling away from the traditional Catholic practices of confession and attendance at Mass. The numbers of those studying for the priesthood have plummeted. And the very fact that the present pope feels the need to travel the world more than any other pope in history is a symptom of a church in crisis.
*** w85 12/1 3-4 Are You Right With God? ***
The Churches and Sin
“The sin of this century is the loss of all sense of sin.” Pope Pius XII made that forceful statement as early as 1946. Obviously, the situation has worsened since then. In his recent document on sin and confession, called “Reconciliation and Penance,” Pope John Paul II quoted those words of his predecessor and deplored what he called the eclipse of the concept of sin in today’s secularized society.
The pope also reminded Catholic priests, and Catholics in general, that collective confession and absolution, as practiced in many Catholic churches today, is not good enough. He stated that individual confession is “the only ordinary and normal way” of observing the sacrament of penance. In Catholic dogma penance is associated with good works in reconciling the sinner with God.
Most Protestant churches deny the need for private confession to a priest. They hold that confession to God is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins, but some favor general confession and absolution at the “Communion service.” Many Protestants believe that faith alone is necessary to be justified before God.
Such conflicting doctrines within the so-called Christian churches on the subject of confession, penance, and justification, or how to find a right standing before God, leave many people perplexed. They have a vague feeling that they should be doing something to get right with God, but they do not know how to go about it.
The following article will explain why we need to be put right with God, and it will examine the Catholic and Protestant viewpoints on “justification.” Two other articles will explain what the Bible teaches on the subject of obtaining a righteous standing before God, and how this affects you.
*** w85 12/1 6 Righteousness Before God-How? ***
What, exactly, did Luther mean by ‘justification by faith alone’? As a Catholic, Luther had learned that man’s justification involves baptism, personal merit, and good works, as well as the sacrament of penance administered by a priest, who hears confession, grants absolution, and imposes compensatory works that can involve self-punishment.
In his efforts to find peace with God, Luther had expended all the resources of Roman dogma on justification, including fasting, prayers, and self-punishment, but to no avail. Unappeased, he read and reread the Psalms and Paul’s letters, finally finding peace of mind by concluding that God justifies men, not because of their merits, good works, or penance, but solely because of their faith. He became so enthused by this thought of “justification by faith alone” that he added the word “alone” after the word “faith” in his German translation of Romans 3:28!
