Bible Question:
reposted and clarified: Emmaus, but again, it seems from Teragram123's quotes (I refer to the definitions) that Catholicisms' ways of absolving sin can become quite arbitrary (in that the penance is up to the priest who may feel emotionally drained one day and assign a few rosaries whereas on another day he is refreshed and assigns 10 for the same sin). I would understand if the penance required would be to wash the walls of the church for those who graffiti'd, or buying and replanting the neighbor's flowers if they were ruined. But saying a rosary however many times? How does that help? If I as a Christian have sinned against my brother in Christ, then my brother is free to approach me directly about my sin. If I do not confess to God and am not willing to make restitution to my brother, then my brother must bring with him at least one more Christian to approach me again. If I still am not willing to confess to *God* and to my brother, then the church must get involved and make a decision to BIBLICALLY remove me from the church (Matt 18). No where that I see is anyone who is NOT God allowed to say ok, you've done the time for your crime, so even though you didn't confess to God and or to the person involved, you're free. In answer to your question about who is wrong, the teacher or the individual, it is the teacher, for teachers are held to a much stricter standard than pupils (James 3:1). If the teacher tells his students that they MUST go before a priest regardless of whether the sin has been made right with the involved parties, the teacher is forcing the student into a no-win situation. Why does Catholicism require its participants to go the extra mile when Jesus has already done so? Yet another question, where in the 66 books of the Bible is purgatory mentioned? In Christ, Estelle |
Bible Answer: dear Estelle, it, purgatory is not found in the old or new t.'s. it is derived from the "apocrypha". on confession, we are in James ch. five vs. six to confess our faults to one another and to pray for one another. i think this is the partly the intention of catholic confession. but there are so many other problems. absolution, praying to "saints", on and on. those who ascribe to roman catholic doctrine in its totality really are not intellectualy honest regarding history or the Word. dasev |