It is shocking, and many people cannot accept it, but it is clear in the sacred Scriptures that God gives his divine authority to mere men.
Jesus cleanses the leper
In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus scandalizes the scribes by saying to a paralyzed man: “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” They thought it blasphemy, and had it been anyone else at that time in salvation history, it would have been, but Jesus, truly God and also truly man, forgave the man his sins.
“That’s all well and good,” Protestantism says, “but God did not give that authority to man.”
Is that true? If we keep reading along in St. Matthew’s Gospel to chapter 10, we hear: “And he called to him his twelve apostles and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity….’Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.’”
Only God can heal diseases and raise the dead and cast out demons, yet it is crystal clear from Scripture that Jesus gave that authority to his apostles as well.
So the precedent for God giving divine authority to men is set. But is it ever given for the purpose of forgiving sins?
Yes, we know it is from St. John’s Gospel, 20:22,23: “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.’”
This verse is a tough nut to crack for Protestantism; I have read many different attempts to interpret it in a way that could be compatible with Protestants’ denial of this God-given authority–but even as a Protestant they struck me as weak and implausible.
We see also in the history of the Church the understanding of this authority. St. Ambrose of Milan, bishop and Doctor of the Church, born 340 AD:
When they forgive sins, men exercise the ministry to which they have been called, they do not exercise the power of forgiveness in their own right; they do not forgive in their own name, but in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They make the petition and God grants. Men are servants; the generosity of forgiveness is the power of God. — De Spiritu Sancto, 3, 18, 137.
So why do Protestants deny all of this? Because they have to due to their theology: The Protestant Reformers rejected the
Confession
Sacrament of Holy Orders, breaking the link between the authority Christ gave His Apostles and that they gave to their successors, the bishops, and replacing that direct line of authority (Apostolic succession) with a new concept of apostolicity, which meant that anyone could be a valid minister if they “taught what was true”. Without Orders, who knows who has the authority that Jesus gave His Apostles here? Can any Christian do it? Can someone who has been elected pastor by the local church? Easier just to declare that God did not give such authority to men and reject the Sacrament of Confession in addition to Holy Orders. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is quick to follow in dismissal for similar reasons (just who are the presbyters who have this authority? and doesn’t it mention the sick person’s sins being forgiven as well–eek!)
The alternative is to accept the Catholic Church’s teaching, held since the beginning, that–incredibly and amazingly–God really did give this authority to His Apostles and their successors. It seems scandalous to us, for how can a man say “your sins are forgiven”? And the answer is, as St. Ambrose says, he can only do so if God has called him and only do so in the name of the Trinity from whom all mercy flows.
Thank you so much for writing these articles. You have such a gentle and straight-forward way of defending the Catholic Faith. Many thanks. God bless you and your BEAUTIFUL family. –Chelsie
Thank you, Chelsie. I appreciate your encouragement–it means a lot!
I’ve just recently found this blog and I’m glad that I did. I’ve been learning a lot from your explainations and your sons are adorable!
I was wondering how you would respond to the opposite argument – that we all have the same ability to cast out demons and bless one another in Christ’s name. I was asked the other day to explain why a priest’s blessing is “worth more” than anyone else’s blessing and I had trouble coming up with Biblical arguments. I pointed out that Jesus was only addressing his apostles when he gives the commands, but I’m hoping that you have some other insights that I missed.
Hi Michelle,
Firstly, welcome to our blog and thank you!
As to your questions, they are good ones. Some Protestants take the stance that all such miracles ended after the Apostles died and no one can do miracles anymore (God essentially doesn’t give those gifts anymore).
We as Catholics do believe that God can still work miracles: of healing, of exorcism, as well as give blessings–even through other people by God’s grace.
However, there are “valid ministers” of these gifts, if you will, in God’s design. For example, I would not try to exorcise a demon from a person–that is something that should be left to a priest, and particularly a priest with that gift. Gifts of healing, however, are given to lay people as well as priests, but always check that the lay person has approval from their bishop or priest to do such things (a faithful Catholic to whom God would give these gifts will have the mark of authenticity that he obeys his superiors in the Church, as well as that he or she teaches in line with the faith.)
As far as blessings go, we all bless our food, and by doing so pray that God will bless it. The same is true in other blessings. The priest blesses us, and since in a special way he is configured to Christ in his ministerial priesthood, we believe that that has real power from God, perhaps “more” so than if I, a lay person, blessed you. However, lay people can bless each other as well; a great and beautiful example is a father or mother blessing their daughter before she goes out on a date, or before her wedding, or a coach’s blessing on his team.
I would shy away from trying to talk about “degrees” of blessing, e.g. the Pope’s blessing is the highest, then a cardinal, then a bishop, then a priest, then a regular Joe. God certainly works in a special way through his ministers, in particular those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders as all deacons, priests, and bishops have, but there is no strict quantification of “blessing strength” that we can look up in a table.
One way to respond would be to discuss the Sacrament of Holy Orders (and learn more about it in the process).
Another way would be to ask them something like, “If one of the Apostles were sent down from Heaven by God, would you go to see him and talk with him, even receive his blessing, or would you say, ‘That’s just another Christian like me–who cares?’” They might reply that they wouldn’t care just to be annoying, but it isn’t really true. We all travel long distances to see our sports heroes and bands we like; all the more so should we do so for spiritual heroes.
One of the big differences you are probably encountering here is that Catholics believe that there is a ministerial priesthood in addition to the priesthood of all believers, whereas most Protestants do not believe in a ministerial priesthood, which ends up leading them to skeptically view anyone being elevated above anyone else, or anyone being given special promises just because they were ordained, etc. However, there is strong Biblical support (and overwhelming historical support) for a ministerial priesthood–the laying on of hands from St. Paul to St. Timothy, etc.
Well, there are some ramblings! I hope they help.
Hi Devin, nice article.
A couple of questions I have:
How is asking a priest for forgiveness through confession to a priest different from asking God for forgiveness through the Lord’s Prayer or another prayer? Is God more likely to grant forgiveness one way as opposed to the other?
Rather than the qualification being “teach what is true”, would it be fairer to say that most Protestants formally have an ordination ceremony with some similarity to “Holy Orders”? For the churches that don’t, don’t they generally require ministers to “teach the Bible” (or the particular denomination’s interpretation of the Bible), rather than just “teach what is true”.
Hi Jonathan,
From the Called to Communion link (referencing an Orthodox Presbyterian Church site I think):
“Apostolicity may be defined as receiving and obeying apostolic doctrine as it is set forth in the New Testament.”
So you are certainly correct in saying that Protestant Communities require ministers to teach their particular denomination’s interpretation of the Bible, which I shortened by saying “teach what is true”, implying in that phrase “what they believe is true from their Biblical interpetation”.
Yes, many Protestant Communities have an ordination ceremony (though they may not call it that), but all Protestant Communities that I know of do not consider the ordination to have conferred a special grace upon the minister which conforms him to Christ in a way that laity do not share–in other words, they reject the Sacramental aspect of whatever ordination or investiture or calling they do.
And that gets to the key question: What is or is not a Sacrament? What happens when you baptize? confirm? confect the Eucharist or celebrate the Lord’s Supper? Ordain? Most Communities have sort sort of Lord’s Supper, too, but does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ? How do we know?
From Catholic teaching, Protestant Communities that baptize with water while saying the Trinitarian formula perform a valid baptism, which means–in spite of whatever errors in their teachings on baptism–that the baptized person is washed clean of sin, receives the Holy Spirit, and becomes a member of Christ’s Body, the Church.
However, a Protestant Community that has one of their existing ministers (himself never validly ordained through Holy Orders) “ordain” another minister does not meet the requirements for the Sacrament of Holy Orders, so from a Catholic perspective, that minister has not received the Sacrament.
And since only a priest who has received Holy Orders can confect the Eucharist in the Mass, when a minister from a Protestant Community celebrates the Lord’s Supper, even if he says the right words, it is not a valid Eucharist–the bread and wine are not transformed into Christ’s Body and Blood.
To your first questions: In both cases, you are asking God for forgiveness. In the case of priestly confession, you are going to Christ’s Church’s representative on Earth, the priest, and asking for forgiveness from God through the ministry of His Church.
I would say that God is not “more likely” to grant you forgiveness just because you did A or B–God certainly wants to forgive all repentant sinners and can do so as soon as they turn to him whether in Confession or outside of it.
That being said, the way to think about it is, “If God designed an ordinary way for me to receive grace from Him, I should avail myself of that way.”
For instance, all Christians say that you should be baptized. Why? Well, reasons vary, but all agree that “Jesus said so.” But, you might object, “The thief on the cross wasn’t baptized, and Jesus saved him, so clearly God does not require baptism for salvation, so why should I get baptized?”
And the reply would be, “True, God can work in extraordinary ways to save anyone, like He did with the thief next to him on the cross, but it is wrong and disobedient to presume upon God saving you in an extraordinary way because you reject the ordinary way he set out for you.” (There’s a joke that ends with God telling the person who died in a flood: “i sent two boats and a helicopter!”)
God wants us to know we are forgiven and reconciled to Him and His Church (for our sins hurt others as well as they hurt ourselves and God). So He created the Sacrament of Confession so that we could know with confidence that we are forgiven and not worry about whether we really did repent enough or were contrite enough. You confess, the priest speaks the words of absolution, and your are forgiven!
Hope that helps you understand it! Just so you know, when I become conscience of having committed a sin, I repent in my heart and immediately ask our Lord for forgiveness, for we can certainly speak directly to Him, but then I also, as soon as I am able, go to Confession to confess the sin. And God gives grace in a special way through Confession to help us overcome our sins and not commit them again.
Devin encouraged me to comment with additions to what he just wrote above, so, Jonathan, please allow me to share what for me are some of the most compelling reasons for the Sacrament of Penance.
1. When I sin, my sins not only hurt my relationship with God, they also hurt those around me. Directly, I might offend my husband and ask his forgiveness, but indirectly, my relationship with the entire Church is weakened by my sinfulness. So, when I confess my sins to a priest, he speaks the words of absolution in the name of the Trinity but, also, as a representative of the Church, drawing me back into full relationship with all my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.
In fact, as an historical aside, the Sacrament of Confession was formalized during the Roman persecution of Christians; some Christians feared death too much and submitted to the Roman religious mandate, while others died boldly for Christ. After the persecutions were over and it was again safe to be a Christian, those who had abdicated their Christianity wanted to return again to the Church but were met, unsurprisingly, by resentment from some Christians who had undergone torture at the hands of the Roman authorities or watched loved ones die in the Colosseum. So, to foster reconciliation within local churches, the presbyters (priests) organized public Confession, where the repentant Christian asked forgiveness before the entire community and performed public penance. Later, of course, the Confession became a bit more private but the penance is still some public act, whether certain prayers, works of mercy, etc.
2. The other reason that I love Confession is because it is so tangible. God made us and knows, therefore, that we are physical/spiritual beings. In fact, God became flesh so that we could touch Him and see Him and, ultimately, eat His very flesh. Confessing to God in the privacy of my heart and believing in faith that I am forgiven lacks the same effect, humanly speaking, that speaking my sins aloud to another person and hearing that person declare in the name of the Trinity and the Church that I am forgiven. I LOVE Confession! There is nothing so nerve-wracking nor so freeing; you walk in to the Confessional ashamed of your sins–they are foolish and embarrassing and shameful. You speak them aloud (which modern psychology has proven is beneficial for personal healing) and feel the amazing relief of knowing that, now, another person who stands in the place of Christ, knows and still loves you. In effect, you feel that Christ still loves you and forgives you and that the Church welcomes you back with joyfully open arms. There is nothing so freeing as hearing the words of absolution and knowing that your sins are washed away in the amazing sea that is the mercy of God, as well as that you have just received actual grace to “go and sin no more”. Just as, after you have exercised, you are reluctant to eat junk food, after Confession I find it easier to be especially loving for a day or two.
Confession and the Eucharist are my two most favorite Sacraments, if that is possible to say, and I wish that everyone could be Catholic so that they could experience through them the incredible love and mercy that pours forth from Christ’s wounded side.
Hi Devin and Katie,
Thanks for that explanation, both of you!
Devin,
I always find it interesting when someone \starts a church.\ By what authority did they start the church? If it is not by the authority of Christ, then it is not Christ’s church. And by what authority do they perform ordinances (or sacraments)? Hebrews 5:4 And no man taketh this honor unto himself except he be called of God as was Aaron. Not only does God give his authority and power to man, but it is required than men having the authority from God perform the ordinances (or sacraments) for the to be of any worth.
Thanks again for another great article.