Confession to a priest shouldn’t be needed

[Didacus]

On 9/22/2025 at 4:27 AM, Anastasia13 said:

Confession to a priest is just a feel-better way of soothing fears about failure and doesn’t have a real biblical basis, and is just a way for the church to enforce power over people. Please prove me wrong.

One can affirm it is not strictly needed - but it is certainly useful.  And as for control.... that's just an old refrain... no one is forced into the sacrament but what I recall...

[dUSt]

On 9/22/2025 at 3:27 AM, Anastasia13 said:

Confession to a priest is just a feel-better way of soothing fears about failure and doesn’t have a real biblical basis, and is just a way for the church to enforce power over people. Please prove me wrong.

Sin doesn't exist in heaven, so there is no reason for forgiveness to exist in heaven. Those things are earthly and human. It is natural and logical that God desires that they are dealt with in an earthly human way.

James 5:16 
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

John 20:23
 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.

Matthew 18:18
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

[Luigi]

3 hours ago, dUSt said:

Sin doesn't exist in heaven, so there is no reason for forgiveness to exist in heaven. Those things are earthly and human. It is natural and logical that God desires that they are dealt with in an earthly human way.

James 5:16 
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

John 20:23
 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.

Matthew 18:18
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

TWO-THUMBS-UP