catholic answers forum 4 dummies--How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins?

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#46     Today, 11:42 am

RaiseMeUp New Member   Join Date: June 29, 2013 Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 63 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Confession means admitting and declaring a certain matter. The Sacrament of Confession means verbal confession before the priest of sins and mistakes committed by a person, and confessing and humbly repenting, in order to be granted the absolution and forgiveness. Human beings by nature require comfort and counseling, and the need to speak to someone regarding problems or worries. We feel the need to have someone share our joys as well as our sorrows. There are things that we may confess to others, and there are things we will never confess to anyone. With a priest, our sins are confidential between us the priest, and God. I also feel its very humbling to admit our sins before a priest - its a way of taking accountability for our actions - receiving guidance and of course absolution.

#47     Today, 11:43 am

Rachel126 New Member   Join Date: May 29, 2013 Posts: 192 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete You say that judgment is God's alone, but then the Catechism teaches that we send ourselves to hell when we commit a mortal sin and fail to get it absolved. Are you saying God is responsible for sending someone to hell when you say that "Judgement is God's alone"? There is a big difference between judging *yourself* and judging others. You know what's in your heart, in your conscience, what knowledge you had. You simply cannot know this about another person. I think you might do well to talk to a priest about all of this.

#48     Today, 11:46 am

poustiniak New Member   Join Date: June 5, 2013 Location: manchester uk Posts: 47 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete All protestants have access to the Bible and most of them have read John 20:21-23 and 1 John 5:16-17. Based on this, how can protestants be ignorant of their need to have their mortal sins absolved by a Catholic priest? If Catholics who die in the state of death with no intention to receive absolution go to hell does that same principal apply to protestants who die in a state of death with no intention to receive absolution? How can Catholics per say accuse Protestants of sins when we as Catholics are not sinless. Namely take that plank out of your eye before you tell your brother that he has a splinter in his.

#49     Today, 12:02 pm

Paul Fekete Trial Membership   Join Date: July 30, 2013 Posts: 32

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Rachel126 There is a big difference between judging *yourself* and judging others. You know what's in your heart, in your conscience, what knowledge you had. You simply cannot know this about another person. I think you might do well to talk to a priest about all of this. It's not that hard to know if someone has outwardly broken a ten commandemt especially if they are family members. In fact, I do not know of one protestant that has not willfully broken a ten commandement with full knowledge and consent. All the protestants I know would openly tell me that they have broken a ten commandment willfully and with full knowledge and consent, but they have repented for their sin. I have tried talking to a priest and I did not get a clear answer from him either. It seems this question keeps coming up for a lot of people.

#50     Today, 12:04 pm

Paul Fekete Trial Membership   Join Date: July 30, 2013 Posts: 32

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by poustiniak How can Catholics per say accuse Protestants of sins when we as Catholics are not sinless. Namely take that plank out of your eye before you tell your brother that he has a splinter in his. What if a protestant openly tells you that they have broken ten commandments like coveting or idolatry? Is it that hard to know whether someone other than you has willfully broken ten commandment? We would have to live in a bubble to not notice others around us who are breaking ten commandments. Catholics have to make judgements about the sins of others otherwise they would never excommunicate anyone from the Church.

#51     Today, 12:08 pm

Rachel126 New Member   Join Date: May 29, 2013 Posts: 192 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete It's not that hard to know if someone has outwardly broken a ten commandemt especially if they are family members. In fact, I do not know of one protestant that has not willfully broken a ten commandement with full knowledge and consent. All the protestants I know would openly tell me that they have broken a ten commandment willfully and with full knowledge and consent, but they have repented for their sin. I have tried talking to a priest and I did not get a clear answer from him either. It seems this question keeps coming up for a lot of people. It seems likely that God will judge each of us according to the knowledge that we have at the time. Most cradle Protestants are raised from day one with the belief that telling God you are sorry in private prayer is sufficient. they sincerely believe this. God knows their hearts. We do not. You keep bringing up the 10 commandments but again, breaking one is not necessarily a mortal sin. Not for Catholics, and not for Protestants. If someone asks you if you like their new hairstyle, and you think it's ugly, you are probably not going to say so. You will tell a white lie to avoid hurting their feelings. The church does not teach that people go to hell for this. However they have technically broken a commandment.

#52     Today, 12:09 pm

KendraDZ1902 Regular Member   Join Date: October 19, 2012 Location: Home is where the Navy sends us. Posts: 908 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete It's not that hard to know if someone has outwardly broken a ten commandemt especially if they are family members. In fact, I do not know of one protestant that has not willfully broken a ten commandement with full knowledge and consent. All the protestants I know would openly tell me that they have broken a ten commandment willfully and with full knowledge and consent, but they have repented for their sin. I have tried talking to a priest and I did not get a clear answer from him either. It seems this question keeps coming up for a lot of people. Everyone you know has gravely sinned with full knowledge that what they did can send them to hell? I grew up protestant and while I knew that I did something wrong, I didn't realize that it could send me straight to hell. I had to be explained why certain things are a mortal sin. Maybe you are having a hard time understanding because you have already made up your mind about this and you don't like the answers you are getting.

#53     Today, 12:10 pm

Rachel126 New Member   Join Date: May 29, 2013 Posts: 192 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete What if a protestant openly tells you that they have broken ten commandments like coveting or idolatry? Is it that hard to know whether someone other than you has willfully broken ten commandment? We would have to live in a bubble to not notice others around us who are breaking ten commandments. Catholics have to make judgements about the sins of others otherwise they would never excommunicate anyone from the Church. Excommunication is not something that can be done by an ordinary Catholic. my goodness. That is left to Church leadership. Not the laity.

#54     Today, 12:15 pm

Semangelof New Member   Join Date: May 6, 2013 Posts: 130 Religion: Non Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Lochias As an aside, it's interesting to hear this in such a blunt way from a non-Catholic Christian. Does that lack of ultimate authoritative source ever bother you in situations like this? If not, why? How much do you trust your personal interpretation? It has it's good parts and bad. On the one hand it gives a check against a leading error, but it can also insert error where it otherwise wouldn't exist. In short though It bothers me on a daily basis. The true source of discomfort being that globally there are so few graceful strides to this race, rather it seems to be a lot of crawling, plodding, hopping, crying, rolling, getting lost, tripping, knee skinning, and full face sliding into the concrete. But on the other hand it's a testimony to the brightness of the truth resting across the finish line that we Christians go through such efforts to reach it. I have a distrust of myself that borderlines obsessive. So I try to hear both sides and do my best to see where the truth is, and set it aside if I can't come to a certain enough conclusion. I try to keep several tables of information in my heart. A certain table, a probably table, a likely table and a maybe table. Part of that endeavor is making sure the Pope has access to me as well. It's been a big help to have access to the Catholic resource and people.

#55     Today, 12:24 pm

poustiniak New Member   Join Date: June 5, 2013 Location: manchester uk Posts: 47 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by RaiseMeUp Confession means admitting and declaring a certain matter. The Sacrament of Confession means verbal confession before the priest of sins and mistakes committed by a person, and confessing and humbly repenting, in order to be granted the absolution and forgiveness. Human beings by nature require comfort and counseling, and the need to speak to someone regarding problems or worries. We feel the need to have someone share our joys as well as our sorrows. There are things that we may confess to others, and there are things we will never confess to anyone. With a priest, our sins are confidential between us the priest, and God. I also feel its very humbling to admit our sins before a priest - its a way of taking accountability for our actions - receiving guidance and of course absolution. The biggest problem about being a Catholic nowadays is that hypocrisy has become our best excuse for being a hypocrite. We totally misunderstand our accusers and say things like “I might be a hypocrite but at least I‘m honest!”, without realizing that we are admitting to the fact that we serve two masters. We try to serve God by sticking to the 10 commandments and at the same time we ascribe ourselves to the teachings of our Lord. So what are we doing but painting ourselves into a corner? My problem with your post is that you haven’t the faintest idea of what the sacrament of reconciliation is all about. Take this quote : The Sacrament of Confession means verbal confession before the priest of sins and mistakes committed by a person, and confessing and humbly repenting, in order to be granted the absolution and forgiveness. You have got it back to front. The priest is completely inconsequential. You are asking Jesus to come back into your life because you have offended Him. Jesus knows that you don’t know what you are doing. He simply wants you to realize that you know that you know that you don’t know what you are doing. To think that you just go to confession to get absolution is soooooooooo wrong. You have got it so wrong that I don’t think that you have any right to mention anything about protestants. Personally if I was your priest I would do my best to ignore you when ever I saw you outside of the confession booth. Because you are such a hypocrite. Forgive me for being so sharp with you but I just can’t stand people who talk about going to confession. It proves that they have not really gone.

#56     Today, 12:41 pm

Paul Fekete Trial Membership   Join Date: July 30, 2013 Posts: 32

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Rachel126 Where did you learn this? Breaking a commandment is *not necessarily* a mortal sin. It is all a question of degrees. Look at the commandment about not telling lies (or rather, bearing false witness). If every lie is a mortal sin, well, every parent who ever told their kid about Santa Claus is committing mortal sin. But that's not the case. You can do a search on the ask an apologist forums for good explanations of when a lie is a mortal sin, a venial sin, or not a sin at all. Ditto for stealing--that's breaking a commandment, but it is very common for priests to use an illustration about stealing to demonstrate the difference between mortal and venial sin. Stealing a dollar is venial. Stealing a large sum is mortal. The defintions of mortal sins I have found are somewhat vague. The only reference in the Catechism to define them is breaking the ten commandments willfully and with full knowledge and consent. However they are defined, I think that it is safe to say that 99.9% of protestants have committed a mortal sin over the course of their life whether they call them mortal sins or not. God holds all people responsible for their sins since they have all been born with the law on their hearts so why would God hold Catholics to a different standard than protestants?

#57     Today, 12:48 pm

Paul Fekete Trial Membership   Join Date: July 30, 2013 Posts: 32

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by poustiniak To think that you just go to confession to get absolution is soooooooooo wrong. So if part of your motivation to go to confession is to get absoultion then should you remain in the state of death until your motivations are 100% pure? Is there not some urgency here to receive absolution if you are in a state of death? It's not like you should just wait around for it for weeks on end. What if your motivations never become pure?

#58     Today, 12:50 pm

Paul Fekete Trial Membership   Join Date: July 30, 2013 Posts: 32

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Rachel126 Excommunication is not something that can be done by an ordinary Catholic. my goodness. That is left to Church leadership. Not the laity. So only the priest can hold people accountable for their mortal sins? Unless the priest is in 100 places at once I do not think there will be very much accountability in your church.

#59     Today, 12:51 pm

Rachel126 New Member   Join Date: May 29, 2013 Posts: 192 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete The defintions of mortal sins I have found are somewhat vague. The only reference in the Catechism to define them is breaking the ten commandments willfully and with full knowledge and consent. However they are defined, I think that it is safe to say that 99.9% of protestants have committed a mortal sin over the course of their life whether they call them mortal sins or not. God holds all people responsible for their sins since they have all been born with the law on their hearts so why would God hold Catholics to a different standard than protestants? Again, if you believe that people commit mortal sin by telling their child about Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, or assuring a friend their ugly haircut looks nice, I honestly don't know what to tell you. Perhaps a good book on Catholicism might help. You can also search the ask an apologist forum. And again, I urge a conversation with a priest. If the last one you talked to didn't help, find another. It must be difficult to try to go through life if you honestly believe that even the most innocent lie will send you to hell.

#60     Today, 12:52 pm

Rachel126 New Member   Join Date: May 29, 2013 Posts: 192 Religion: Catholic

Re: How can protestants be ignorant of the need for Absolution of their mortal sins? Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Fekete So only the priest can hold people accountable for their mortal sins? Unless the priest is in 100 places at once I do not think there will be very much accountability in your church. Committing a mortal sin does not equal excommunication. Where did you learn that it did? and I am confused by what you mean by "hold people accountable" for their mortal sins. What do you mean by this?