Texts on the Sacrament of Penance:
The following was either composed or finished on May 30, 2018 for a Facebook discussion thread that got lost in the shuffle the way many of those things can. I decided since the material could be of some use to post it here in tract form sans the original names included in the text and the usual footnote format. Without further ado...
For all this talk about Scripture, as usual I see this passage is never brought up. I wonder why?
"On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'." [John 20:19–23]
Catholics along with all Apostolic Christians believe that the Apostles as the first bishops sent others as they were sent, etc down to the present day.
I noticed some were counting opinions on this thread as if this is a matter to be settled democratically. If [the author] does not mind, I would gladly submit opinions from ten early Christians which do not countenance the prevailing view on this thread.
"In church confess your sins, and do not come to your prayer with a guilt conscience. Such is the Way of Life...On the Lord's own day,assemble in common to break bread and offer thanks; but first confess your sins,so that your sacrifice may be pure.” [Didache, 4:14,14:1 (circa 70 AD),in ACW, 6:18,23]
The
Didache is quite possibly the oldest Christian non-New Testament writing and is even older than some of the books of the Bible. It was used as a catechesis text from very early on. It speaks of confessing one’s sins which implies they were confessed to someone.
"For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ." [St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Philadelphians 3 (circa 110)]
How were they to know what penance was assigned to them? Through confession to a bishop or priest of course. Ignatius of Antioch was the third Bishop of Antioch and a student of the Apostle John. Obviously, Ignatius took the Gospel of John at face value on this matter.
"O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who dwellest on high yet hast respect unto the lowly, who knowest all things before they come to pass; Who didst give ordinances unto Thy church by the Word of thy grace; Who didst foreordain from the beginning the race of the righteous from Abraham, instituting princes and priests and leaving not Thy sanctuary without ministers; Who from the foundation of the world hast been pleased to be glorified in them whom Thou hast chosen; And now pour forth that Power which is from Thee, of the princely Spirit which Thou didst deliver to Thy Beloved Child Jesus Christ, which He bestowed on Thy holy Apostles who established the Church which hallows Thee in every place to the endless glory and praise of Thy Name. Father who knowest the hearts of all grant upon this Thy servant whom Thou hast chosen for the episcopate to feed Thy holy flock and serve as Thine high priest,that he may minister blamelessly by night and day,that he may unceasingly behold and propriate Thy countenance and offer to Thee the gifts of Thy holy Church. And that by the high priestly Spirit he may have authority to forgive sins..." [Hippolytus of Rome: Apostolic Tradition,3 From Prayer for the Consecration of a Bishop (circa 215 AD), in AT, 4-5]
The prayer for the consecration of a bishop as recorded by Hippolytus of Rome specifically mentions the grant of authority by the Holy Spirit to the bishop being consecrated to forgive sins.
"The Pontifex Maximus--that is, the bishop of bishops--issues an edict: 'I remit, to such as have discharged (the requirements of) repentance, the sins both of adultery and of fornication.' " [Tertullian of Carthage: Modesty,1 (circa 220 AD), in ANF, IV:74]
The issue that Tertullian had was not the Pontifex Maximus (Pope Callistus I) forgiving sins but the specific sins involved. (A topic for another time perhaps.) Tertullian’s witness from Africa (specifically the region of Carthage) is more of a hostile one but it still shows how widespread the practice of confession to bishops and priests was back in the early third century.
"There is also yet a seventh, although hard and laborious, the remission of sins through penitence, when the sinner 'washeth his bed with tears, and his tears become his bread day and night', and when he is not ashamed to declare his sin to the priest of the Lord, and to seek a remedy; according to him who says: 'I said, I will confess against myself mine injustice to the Lord, and Thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my heart.' (Psalm 31:5) In which that also is fulfilled, which the Apostle James says: 'But if any one is sick amongst you, let him call the priests of the Church.' (St. James 5:14). [Origen of Alexandria: Homilies on Leviticus,2:4 (circa 248 AD), in JUR, I:207]
The above text is self explanatory and is a witness from the region of Alexandria in Egypt.
"God cannot be mocked, nor deceived, nor deluded by any deceptive cunning. Yea, he sins the more, who, thinking that God is like man, believes that he evades the penalty of his crime if he has not openly admitted his crime. Christ says in His precepts, 'Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed.' And does he think that he is a Christian, who is either ashamed or afraid to be a Christian? How can he be one with Christ, who either blushes or fears to belong to Christ? He will certainly have sinned less, by not seeing the idols, and not profaning the sanctity of the faith under the eyes of a people standing round and insulting, and not polluting his hands by the deadly sacrifices, nor defiling his lips with the wicked food. This is advantageous to this extent, that the fault is less, not that the conscience is guiltless. He can more easily attain to pardon of his crime, yet he is not free from crime; and let him not cease to carry out his repentance, and to entreat the Lord's mercy, lest what seems to be less in the quality of his fault, should be increased by his neglect of atonement. I entreat you, beloved brethren, that each one should confess his own sin, while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession may be received, while the satisfaction and remission made by the priests are pleasing to the Lord." [Cyprian of Carthage: To the Lapsed, 28-29 (circa 251 AD), in ANF, IV:445]
The above text is a second witness from the Carthage region in Africa of confession of one’s sins and remission of sins being made by a priest of the Lord.
"This (forgiving sins), you say, only God can do. Quite true: but what He does through His priests is the doing of His own power." [Pacian of Barcelona: Ep. I ad Sympron., 6 (approx 365 AD) in P.L., XIII, 1057.]
The witness above is from Barcelona in Spain and again speaks of the priest mediating forgiveness of sins through his priests.
“Just as a man is enlightened by the Holy Spirit when he is baptized by a priest, so he who confesses his sins with a repentant heart obtains their remission from the priest. [Athanasius of Alexandria: On the Gospel of Luke 19 (circa 373 AD)]
A second witness from Alexandria, this time Bishop Athanasius one of the champions of orthodoxy against the Arian heretics of the fourth century. He speaks of confession of sins to a priest and receiving remission of sins from a priest.
"It is necessary to confess our sins to those whom the dispensation of God's mysteries is entrusted." [Basil of Caesaria: Rule Briefly Treated, 288 (circa 374 AD), in JUR,II:26]
This witness comes from Bishop Basil of the region of Caesaria in modern day Turkey. He speaks of the necessity of confessing sins to those who God has entrusted to dispense forgiveness of sins. (In short, to a priest of the Lord.)
“Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven? ‘Whose sins you shall forgive,’ he says, ‘they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.’ What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men [Matt. 10:40; John 20:21–23]. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven” [John Chrysostrom of Constantinople: The Priesthood 3:5 (circa 387 AD)]
The above witness is from the region of Constantinople in modern day Turkey. Like all the prior examples,John Chrysostrom of Constantinople takes the Gospel of John and Jesus’ words on these matters literally.
"The Church holds fast its obedience on either side, by both retaining and remitting sin; heresy is on the one side cruel, and on the other disobedient; wishes to bind what it will not loosen, and will not loosen what it has bound, whereby it condemns itself by its. own sentence. For the Lord willed that the power of binding and of loosing should be alike, and sanctioned each by a similar condition. So he who has not the power to loose has not the power to bind. For as, according to the Lord's word, he who has the power to bind has also the power to loose, their teaching destroys itself, inasmuch as they who deny that they have the power of loosing ought also to deny that of binding. For how can the one be allowed and the other disallowed? It is plain and evident that either each is allowed or each is disallowed in the case of those to whom each has been given. Each is allowed to the Church, neither to heresy, for this power has been entrusted to priests alone. Rightly, therefore, does the Church claim it, which has true priests; heresy, which has not the priests of God, cannot claim it. And by not claiming this power heresy pronounces its own sentence, that not possessing priests it cannot claim priestly power. And so in their shameless obstinacy a shamefaced acknowledgment meets our view. Consider, too, the point that he who has received the Holy Ghost has also received the power of forgiving and of retaining sin. For thus it is written: 'Receive the Holy Spirit: whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.' So, then, he who has not received power to forgive sins has not received the Holy Spirit. The office of the priest is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and His right it is specially to forgive and to retain sins. How, then, can they claim His gift who distrust His power and His right?" [Ambrose of Milan: Concerning Repentance, I:7-8 (circa 388 AD), in NPNF2, X:330]
The above witness is from Bishop Ambrose of Milan in modern day Italy. He also speaks of the office of the priest being one gifted by the Holy Spirit with the right and power to forgive and retain sins.
"All mortal sins are to be submitted to the keys of the Church and all can be forgiven; but recourse to these keys is the only, the necessary, and the certain way to forgiveness. Unless those who are guilty of grevious sin have recourse to the power of the keys, they cannot hope for eternal salvation. Open your lips, them, and confess your sins to the priest. Confession alone is the true gate to Heaven." [Augustine of Hippo: Christian Combat (circa 397 AD)]
Bishop Augustine of the Hippo region of Africa continues with the early church witnesses of the importance of confession of sins to the bishops and priests who possess the keys of binding and loosing sins.
"Just as in the Old Testament the priest makes the leper clean or unclean, so in the New Testament the bishop and presbyter binds or looses not those who are innocent or guilty,but by reason of their office, when they have heard various kinds of sins, they know who is to be bound and who loosed." [Jerome of Dalmatia: Commentary on Matthew, 3:16,19 (circa 398), in JUR, II:202]
Jerome had spent time in Rome and also in Bethlehem but was from the region of Dalmatia in modern day Albania. He makes it eminently clear that the New Testament enjoins bishops and priests with the authority to forgive and regain sins.
In short, the early witness of the Church Fathers is universal on this matter and thus, it is those who would deny this truth who are the ones who are both unbiblical as well as inauthentically Christian.
