CONFESSION AND CONFUSION
THREE CRUISES PLUS A NEW EVENT
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
Many years ago I was at the cathedral in San Diego for confession. I told the unseen (and now long deceased) priest my sins and waited for his counsel. What I got was: "Why are you wasting my time?"
"Pardon me, Father?" I said, thinking I had misheard him.
"I asked why are you wasting my time? You had only venial sins to confess. You can have venial sins forgiven by saying an act of contrition or during the penitential rite at Mass. So why are you wasting my time?"
Uncharacteristically, I was momentarily speechless. Then I leaned close to the grill and said, "Father, I don't think you understand the theology of this sacrament. Let me explain it to you."
After I explained it, I left his confessional and went to the one on the other side of the cathedral, where I confessed my anger. It was only much later that I realized I needn't have done that because righteous anger is no sin.
BIBLICAL BASIS
If priests can be ignorant of the basics of sacramental theology, we shouldn't be surprised that many lay Catholics and nearly all non-Catholics are ignorant of such things too. How often are you asked the "where is that in the Bible?" question when it comes to confession, for example? No doubt you have the proper answer easily at hand, but for the two or three readers of this E-Letter who may not, here are some starter points:
Christ gave his own power to forgive sins to the apostles. See John 20:22-23: "Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain [not forgive] they are retained."
Just before this Christ breathed on the apostles--only the second time in Scripture that God breathed on anyone. The first: Genesis 2:7, where God breathed on man and made him a living soul. In Genesis God gave man the power to live. In John he gave some men the power to make souls re-live by bringing them back to the state of sanctifying grace.
The power to forgive sins was not something proper to the apostles. It was not something they had by nature or by right. No, it was a power granted to them freely by God, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:18: "This, as always, is God's doing; it is he who, through Christ, has reconciled us to himself and allowed us to minister his reconciliation to others."
Note the last part: "allowed us to minister his reconciliation to others." Just as our Lord forgave sins, so could the apostles--because they were given the power to do so by Christ. That means that when a priest forgives sins, it is Christ who is forgiving sins through him.
NOT AN INVENTION
Some non-Catholics--Fundamentalists and Evangelicals mainly--say that auricular confession (confession "to the ear" of a priest) was a late invention, something unknown to the Church of the early centuries. It was a way for an overweening clergy to keep lay folks in check by learning about their private lives and threatening them with eternal repercussions.
Nice little theory, but it fails the factuality test. If confession were an invention, we'd expect to see it objected to by people who, at the time of its invention, knew that it had no apostolic pedigree. Yet there is no record of protests in the early centuries.
The only protests come centuries later, at the Reformation, which is when opponents of the Catholic Church rewrote history to justify their theological novelties. Those Reformers who didn't like the idea of confession (or the idea of sacraments in general) gratuitously claimed that confession was something cobbled together in the Middle Ages or, at any rate, was not part of the original deposit of faith.
Strange, then, that Origen (writing in 241), Cyprian (251), and Aphraates (337) were among many of the ancients who said that confession had to be to a priest. Not only is there no evidence of anti-confession protests in their centuries, but all the writings about confession are in favor of it and explain how it is to be done.
Sure, the penitent was expected to think about his sins (performing an examination of conscience), to be sorry for them, and to ask God for forgiveness in private--but all that was preparatory to going to the priest, because only through his absolution could one be sure that one's sins were forgiven.
THE CONFESSION BOX IN SCRIPTURE
I like to say that John 20:22-23 not only establishes confession but even the confessional. Look at those verses again. If a priest has the power to forgive or not forgive a penitent's sins, this means he must learn what those sins are and must judge whether the penitent really is sorry for them.
If you go to confession and tell the priest that you committed murder but are not sorry for having done so, you won't be absolved. He will weigh what you did and will judge--using common sense--whether you are sorry for having done it, and then will decide whether for forgive or "retain" your sin.
The priest can't learn what your sins are and whether you are sorry for them unless you tell him your sins and tell him your sorrow. He can't guess at what you have done and whether you are sorry. You have to be present before him, either face-to-face or through-the-grill, for him to gain the knowledge and make the judgment. Therefore, the confessional is implied in John 20:22-23.
QED, as they say.
FOUR CATHOLIC ANSWERS EVENTS FOR 2008
We're still in the early planning stages, and much is subject to change, but it's not too early to let you know that in 2008 we plan to offer three cruises plus a new kind of get-together.
I'm bringing them to your attention now because many people plan their vacations far in advance, and I wouldn't want anyone to say, "Aw, shucks, if I had only known earlier ..." Just keep in mind that dates, itineraries, and topics are tentative:
1. Alaska cruise
Dates: May 31-June 7, 2008
Ports: Seattle, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, Seattle
Themes: Apologetics topics
Speakers: Tim Staples, Jim Blackburn, Jim Burnham, Mark Shea, maybe more.
2. Baltic cruise
Dates: August 21-September 2, 2008
Ports: London, Oslo, Arhus (Denmark), Warnemuende (Berlin), Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen
Themes: Church in Medieval England, Vikings, Reformation, East-West split, Eastern liturgy.
Speakers: Thomas Howard, Christopher Check, Karl Keating
Extra: Pre-cruise event in London with additional speakers
3. Mediterranean cruise
Dates: October 2-October 16, 2008
Ports: Athens, Alexandria (Cairo), Ashdod (Jerusalem), Haifa (Nazareth), Antalya (Turkey), Rhodes, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Santorini, Gabes (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Sicily), Rome
Themes: Holy Land, Mary's house, Paul's journeys, Christianity in North Africa
Speakers: Steve Ray, Jimmy Akin, Karl Keating
Extra: Pre-cruise event in Athens, post-cruise event in Rome
4. Catholic Answers Rendezvous
Dates: Late April 2008, 11 days
Location: Four-star hotel in Florence, Italy; group dinners at various restaurants
Themes: Renaissance history, culture, art
Visits: Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery (Michelangelo's David, etc.), other museums and churches
Speakers: Cherie Peacock, Karl Keating, two or three others
Extra: Side trips to towns such as Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca, Parma
You will note that each event has a different focus.
The Alaska cruise will be strictly apologetics.
The Baltic cruise will be mainly on Northern European Christian history and culture from the early Middle Ages to the Reformation.
The Mediterranean cruise will concern chiefly New Testament history.
The event in Florence will be more tightly focussed, both geographically and temporally, than the others. It also will be the only one with a low attendance cap: We expect to be able to accommodate about 35 participants and no more.
As I said, much is tentative. Dates may change, routes may change, and themes may change. The line-up of speakers will be expanded. But we expect to have things firmed up within the next two months, giving you enough information with which to make your (early) decision.
We will announce later such details as pricing, lodging options, and pre- and post-cruise events. Please be patient. As soon as these things are determined, we'll let you know.
p.s., If you have a comment about anything appearing in this E-Letter, please do not hit your Reply button. Instead, go to Catholic Answers' discussion forums at
http://forums.catholic.com
where you may post your comment in the forum dedicated to the E-Letter. You will find a thread devoted to this issue of the E-Letter. Feel free to add your comment in the form of a reply to that thread.
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