Reference · Teaching 9
Confession & Reconciliation — Cheat Sheet
Positions at a glance
| Position | Claim |
|---|---|
| Reformed / Bible-church | Confess directly to God alone (1 John 1:9); only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7). |
| Catholic | Christ delegated real authority to forgive/retain sins to the apostles (John 20:23); a priest acts in that delegated authority. |
Key verses
| Verse | Used for |
|---|---|
| Mark 2:7, 2:10-11 | Only God forgives sins — and Jesus demonstrates that divine authority, then heals to prove it. |
| John 20:21-23 | Catholic: Christ explicitly delegates authority to forgive/retain sins to the apostles. |
| James 5:16 | Catholic: "confess your sins to one another" — a communal, spoken practice in the earliest Church. |
| 1 John 1:9 | Reformed: confession directly to God, no intermediary named. |
The one-line argument to remember
"Retain" implies real authority. John 20:23 says the apostles can "retain" sins as well as forgive them — a meaningless power to grant if it weren't a real, delegated judicial authority.
Nuance to hold onto
- Catholics affirm private prayer for forgiveness too — sacramental confession adds assurance and accountability, it doesn't replace direct access to God.
- The priest doesn't forgive by independent power; forgiveness still originates entirely in God, delegated through the sacrament.
- Confession is attested very early (Tertullian, c. 203 AD) — not a medieval invention.