Protestantism
has always accused the Church for implementing the Sacrament of Confession.
Apparently –according to their view-
confession is inappropriate, firstly because people do not
have the authority to forgive sins, and secondly, because the first Christian
Church –again according to their view- did not implement it. However, events
and proofs show us the exact opposite, as we shall see in this article.
It will be beneficial to all of us, to examine a small and concise overview of
this matter, as outlined by father Anthony Alevizopoulos.
Holy Confession was a rite
that was familiar, even during the times of the Old Testament :
Leviticus 5: 5-6
5 When anyone is
guilty in any of these ways,
he must confess in what
way he has sinned
6 and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the
LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the
priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
Numbers 5: 5-7
5 The
LORD said to Moses, 6 "Say to the Israelites: 'When a man or woman
wrongs another in any way [b]
and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty 7
and must
confess the sin he has committed.
He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and
give it all to the person he has wronged.
Proverbs 28:13
13 He
who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever
confesses and renounces them
finds mercy.
This was the reason that
the crowds swarmed to John the Baptist
and
confessed their sins, after
which, he would “certify” their repentance, through baptism :
Matthew 3: 5-6
5People
went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the
Jordan. 6
Confessing
their sins,
they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Mark 1: 4-5
4And so
John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside
and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.
Confessing
their sins,
they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
This rite was also
continued by the Christian Church :
Acts 19:18
18Many
of those who believed now came and
openly
confessed
their evil deeds.
This resulted in the
forgiveness of sins by the Apostles, in conformance with the promise of
the Lord that
He
would give the apostles this authority :
Matthew 16: 19
19”I
will give you
the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be
bound in heaven, and whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in
heaven."
Matthew 18:18
18"I
tell you
the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven.
This promise was fulfilled,
after Christ was resurrected. Naturally, this forgiveness of sins did
not lie in the apostles’ powers, but “in the blood” of the Lord :
John 20: 21-23
21Again
Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy
Spirit.
23 If you
forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven."
1
John 1:7
7But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another and
the blood of
Jesus,
his Son,
purifies us from all sin.
During the Sacrament of
Confession,
the priest intercedes as an
instrument, a servant of Christ, and the steward of God’s sacraments :
1 Corinthians 4:1
1So
then, men ought to regard us
as servants
of Christ
and as those
entrusted
with the sacraments of God.
Titus 1:7
7Since
an overseer (=bishop) is
entrusted
with God's work,
he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to
drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
1 John 1 1:9
9If we
confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive
us
our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:2
2He is
the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for
the sins of the whole world.
During
the time of the ancient
Church,
confession took place in public,
in the sacred congregations of the faithful, which were naturally
attended by the priesthood, but also by the bishop who was
the one empowered to give absolution.
“All
who repent are forgiven by the Lord, provided they repent in a unity of
God and in a convention of a bishop”,
as Saint
Ignatius
had characteristically specified. (Ignatius of Philadelphia 8,1), while
in his work “Teaching”, he urges : “Confess
your trespasses in the presence of the Church, and do not come to
prayers with a mischievous conscience: this is the path of life”
(Teaching
4,14).
Saint
Cyprianus
stresses that a
sinner is re-accepted
into the ecclesiastic community
– in other words,
in the Sacrament of
the Divine Eucharist - “by
the laying on of the hands of the bishop and the priesthood”,
after first having
confessed his sins (Cyprianus, epistle 16,2); furthermore, Holy
Communion is not administered to anyone, “unless
the bishop and the priesthood have previously placed their hands on that
person” (epistle
18,2),
as
“the absolution
that is given through a priest is pleasing to God”
(De lapsis 29).
Origen
looks upon
it as a natural follow-up;
i.e., that it is
“in accordance with
the
practice
of the One who
established the sacrament of priesthood
within
the Church, for the ministers and the priests of the Church to similarly
undertake the sins of the people and -in emulation of the Master- to
grant them the absolution of their sins” (Origen, On Leviticus, Homily
3)
Basil
the Great
refers to confession during
the Apostolic Church, (Acts
19:18 -
Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil
deeds)
and concludes that :
“it is necessary to confess our sins to those who have been entrusted
with the stewardship of God’s Sacraments” (1
Corinthians 4:1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ
and as those entrusted with the sacraments of God),
because the first
Christians used to confess to the Apostles, who also baptized everyone.
(Basil
the
Great,
Conditions,
288)
John the
Chrysostom
says of the priesthood: “Even
though they inhabit and still walk the earth, they have nevertheless
undertaken the supervision of celestial affairs, with an authority that
God did not give, either to the angels or to the archangels. He
indeed never said to the angels “whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in
heaven”; yet the binding of priests reaches the very soul, and it
traverses the heavens, and everything that the priests enact below, God
authorizes from above. The Master upholds the decision of the servants.
Did He not give them full celestial authority? He said to them:
Whosever’s sins you may withhold, they shall be withheld”
(Chrysostom, On Priesthood, Homily 3,5).
As we can see, the Orthodox Church continues -to this day- the
proto-Christian tradition of confession in the presence of a spiritual
father.Source: “Handbook on heresies and para-Christian groups”
