Everyone who has attained the age of reason is bound to confess his sins at least once a year to his own parish pastor. [42]
The Council of Trent, in the 16th Century, made the "infallible declaration" that confession dates back to Christ and the apostles.
If anyone denies that sacramental confession was instituted by divine law or is necessary to salvation; or says that the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone, which the Catholic Church has always observed from the beginning and still observes, is at variance with the institution and command of Christ and is a human contrivance, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. [43]
In the 16th Century AD, the Roman Catholic Church infallibly decreed at Trent that auricular confession had been practiced "from the beginning" of the church. History, however, disagrees.
Confession was first introduced into the church on a voluntary basis in the fifth century by the authority of Leo the Great. But it was not until the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, under Pope Innocent III, that private auricular confession was made compulsory and all Roman Catholic people were required to confess and to seek absolution from a priest at least once a year. If they did not obey this command, they were pronounced guilty of mortal sin and damned for eternity to hell. [44]
Trent also said:
If anyone says that the confession of all sins as it is observed in the Church is impossible and is a human tradition to be abolished by pious people; or that each and all of the faithful of Christ or either sex are not bound thereto once a year in accordance with the constitution of the great Lateran Council, and that for this reason the faithful of Christ are to be persuaded not to confess during Lent, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. [45]
Not only is confession essential, but the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that only priests have the authority to facilitate confession!
Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ. [46]
Auricular Confession is a vital doctrine for the Roman Catholic priesthood. They teach the following:
therefore:
The priesthood generates great power via the doctrine of auricular confession.
Despite this, the concept is not a Biblical one.
We search in vain in the Bible for any word supporting the doctrine of "auricular confession" (the official title for confession to an authorized priest in a confession box. It is called "auricular" because it is spoken secretly, into the ear of the priest.) It is equally impossible to find any authorization or general practice of it during the first 1,000 years of the Christian era. Not a word is found in the writings of the early church fathers about confessing sins to a priest or to anyone except God alone. Auricular confession is not mentioned once in the writings of Augustine, Origen, Nestorius, Tertullian, Jerome, Chrysostem, or Athanasius; all of these and many others apparently lived and died without ever thinking of going to confession. No one other than God was thought to be worthy to hear confessions or to grant forgiveness. [47]
Roman Catholics often attempt to defend the doctrine of auricular confession with James 5:16. James 5:6 in the Roman Catholic New Jerusalem Bible is translated as follows:
So confess your sins to one another. [48]
Samuel Gipp, in his book, An Understandable History of the Bible, argues against this translation.
Confess your faults* one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)
"The Greek word for 'faults' (paraptomata) is found in MSS E, F, G, H, S, V, Y, and Omega, plus the rest of the Receptus family and the greater number of all remaining witnesses. Nestle's text inserts 'sins' (taxamartias) with NO manuscript authority." [49]
Here Gipp appeals to the original Greek text underlying the translation. Though a discussion of Textual Criticism is beyond the scope of this essay, a short introduction is appropriate.
There exists two distinct Greek manuscript families, from which the majority of our Bible translations come. Some Bible translations, like the King James Version and the New King James Version, come from the manuscripts known as the Textus Receptus, or "received text." It has this name because it is the text that was received by the church and has been used by Christians throughout church history.
The second manuscript family is commonly referred to as the Nestle-Aland text, and is the manuscript family from where many other Bible translations come. The Nestle-Aland text claims to choose its Greek words based on evidence from the available manuscripts. When Gipp references "E, F, G, H, S, V, Y, and Omega," he is referring to specific manuscripts from within the Nestle-Aland family. Gipp points out that in the case of James 5:16, the great majority of manuscripts from both families favor the Greek word paraptomata, which translates "faults" and not "sins." Despite this evidence, the Nestle-Aland text wrongfully included the word taxamartias (sin) despite not appearing in any Greek manuscripts.
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