I think confession to the one's who love you, gives the greatest feeling self worth to one's self. To just confess to a nobody, doesn't do anything for the soul.
Confession.
by Englishman 50 Replies latest jw friends
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teenyuck
Yeru, I still don't get the whole idea of God and confession. Why can't a person just pray for forgiveness and be over with it?
Why does confession to a priest have to occur?
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StinkyPantz
Teeny-
If your husband cheated on you, wouldn't you want him to confess? Or would it be okay if he just secretly resolved not to do it again?
These are things that I'm talking about.
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Yerusalyim
Teeny,
are you looking for the religious answer, the one I use to explain confession to my protestant friends, or the psychological one??
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Englishman
A bit more on this.
I was taught that sin could only be forgiven by confessing to the elders, and that if I had committed a DF'ing sin, I would die if armageddon came and I hadn't confessed.
So, as a naive 14 year olds, rumours abounded amongst the youngsters as to exactly what constituted a DF'ing offence, with the result that I found myself confessing to just about everything so as to make sure that there was nothing in my past that could get me killed at armageddon. This was not good for my self-esteem!
It was rumoured that DF'ing could take place for:
Masturbation. (Well, of course!)
Breaking a promise. (I promise never to masturbate again.)
Playing a pinball table.
Smoking.
Not telling the elders when someone else had committed a DF'ing offence.
And, appallingly, even considering committing suicide if things got too much for you.
Englishman.
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drwtsn32
I'm with Teeny on this one.... and her method works well for me.
I have never really felt the need to confess a mistake to someone, except perhaps to the person I hurt. I don't find comfort in telling another person about it. I just look at it objectively and try to figure out how to avoid making that mistake in the future.
But maybe I'm not a typical person.... I rarely talk to someone about what I'm feeling, either. Only when I'm extremely overwhelmed do I feel the need to talk to someone... and I have to admit, in those few cases I have done that it has been a tremendous relief. So maybe the same can be true of confessing... I dunno.
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teenyuck
If your husband cheated on you, wouldn't you want him to confess? Or would it be okay if he just secretly resolved not to do it again?
If I didn't know, I would be fine with it if he secretly resolved to not do it again. However, he is Catholic, so he might go to church on Sunday and confess. He goes every Sunday so I don't know that he already hasn't.
are you looking for the religious answer, the one I use to explain confession to my protestant friends, or the psychological one??
The religious one. The picture of priests is that they sit in a booth and people come in, semi-private and tell their secrets. The preist decides at that moment how bad the *sin* is and tells the person to rub their rosary X # of times to be absolved of sin in God's eyes.
That seems like the easiest way out of wrong doing. I almost want to become a Catholic just to have easy out cards like confession.
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teenyuck
I need to add:
I trust my husband. I have reason to think or believe he would or has cheated on me.
As for religious stuff, as E-man noted, I was taught the same thing about confession and armageddon. That is why my mother confessed to me and then to the elders. She said she would not make it to the new system unless she confessed. I told her she was repentant and Jehovah would understand and read her heart; she did not need to tell the elders. She insisted. She got DFd.
The confession system of the Catholics to me, seems similar. Just not as harsh. You confess to a priest, or God won't forgive you and you won't make it to heaven. Same story.
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StinkyPantz
Teeny-
If I didn't know, I would be fine with it if he secretly resolved to not do it again.
Wow. I am surprised. I would want to know. Disease is involved. . another girl's feelings. . .possible pregnancy. . .other's finding out. . humiliation.
But I guess I'm just weird.
I also think murderers should confess and child molesters; but I suppose if they resolve to never do it again, that's enough for you.
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I still luv ya btw.
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Oh and once again I must be misreading the question. Are we talking ONLY about religous confession?
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Yerusalyim
Teeny,
The confession system of the Catholics to me, seems similar. Just not as harsh. You confess to a priest, or God won't forgive you and you won't make it to heaven. Same story.
Ya got the wrong picture of Catholic Confession. First, confession is not NECESSARY to forgive sin, unless that sin is a "mortal" sin, such as murder, etc. However, confession is desirable.
The biblical foundation is at least three fold. In John 21 Jesus says to the apostles "If you forgive men's sins they are forgiven, if you hold them bound, they are held bound" thus giving the apostles the authority (though not the power) to forgive sin. Why would God have given this authority to human if not to use it. Later, Paul says that his ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Then the famous line CONFESS YOUR SINS ONE TO ANOTHER.
The "penance" given by the priest isn't punishment, nor a magical wand that expiates the offense by the deed. The penance is about changing our hearts. Good priests generally give challenging penance that affects our hearts.
As a child, I once stole something...I wasn't given the penance of "rubbing my rosary x number of times" rather, I had to PERSONALLY return the item and apologize
Finally, the Catholic Church has never said ANY individual (human) is in hell or going to hell. We reserve that judgement to God.