The Confessional

A recent post (February 13, 2026) attempted to justify the Catholic use of the Confessional. It begins by asking the question, "Why confess to a Priest? Why Not Just Tell God Directly?" He admits at the beginning that a person can talk to God directly and that no one is stopping a person from doing so. His argument is that it is advantageous to use the Catholic Confessional.

But hold on. Can we confess our sins directly to God? We can because Jesus makes it possible; He is our high priest. Hebrews 3:1 says: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus." Notice that the Scriptures do not say that the pope is the high priest; Jesus is. In fact, the Bible never uses the word pope.

Furthermore, Peter (who is regarded as the first pope by Catholics) taught that all Christians are priests. He wrote that Christians are "living stones," part of "a spiritual house" (as opposed to the literal temple in the Old Testament), "a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices" (as opposed to animal sacrifices) "acceptable to God through Christ Jesus" (1 Peter 2:5). He calls Christians "a royal priesthood" later in 1 Peter 2:9.

Notice that Peter did not refer to himself as a high priest or a pope. In fact, he describes himself as "an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1) and "bondservant" in 2 Peter 1:1, and "a fellow elder" (1 Peter 5:1). Never does he exalt himself over others.

The New Testament does not describe a priesthood similar to that which existed under the Law of Moses. The Old Testament book of Leviticus describes the duties of those men. One tribe (Levi) was appointed by God to serve as priests to the other tribes of Israel, and they were supported by those tribes. Nothing parallels such a system in the New Testament. As already shown, all Christians are priests, and Jesus is the high priest—which is the reason we can pray to the Father without going through men as mediators.

Jesus is the one Mediator between God and men, as 1 Timothy 2:5 states: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." In His last conversation with His apostles before the crucifixion, Jesus said: "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you" (John 16:23). We pray to the Father though our Mediator, Jesus. God hears and answers our prayers; He forgives us our sins.

To restate the case: There is no Bible authority for the existence of a pope or a separate priesthood. All Christians are priests, and Jesus is our High Priest. We confess our sins and pray to the Father through Jesus. The Bible does not require any person on earth to hear our confessions of wrongdoing.

Confessing

The writer asserts: "Confession is not a human tradition." According to Google,

While the practice of private, auricular confession (ear confession) was introduced by Irish monks in the 6th century, the physical structure of the "confessional booth" became widely used following the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century.

We can safely go with Google on this one because there is no such practice in the New Testament. We know that the Jews went out to John and confessed their sins before they were baptized, but nothing in the text says that John forgave them. They were washed away by baptism. Mark 1:4-5 states:

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins (cf. Matthew 3:6).

Mark 1:5-6 and Matthew 3:6 are the only two times "confessing" appears in the New Testament of the King James Version. The only time "confessed" can be found with respect to sins (KJV) is in Acts 19:18, in which "many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds." Many of these had practiced magic (v. 19).

Many verses in the New Testament speak of confessing Jesus to be the Son of God, but only two use the present tense, "confess" with respect to sin. One is James 5:16, which says, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Notice that no special "clergy" is involved, and penance is not assigned. One's Christian brothers and sisters can be of help.

The other passage is in 1 John. Writing to Christians, John says: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1:9). Nothing indicates that these confessions should be heard by anyone but God.

So, that is the sum total of the times confession refers to sins. And the New Testament does not support Catholic tradition. People confessed their sins before being baptized by John (when they were about to be forgiven). Likewise, those in Ephesus confessed their sins as part of their repentance (Acts 19:17-18). Other than that, we can confess our trespasses to one another. We can also confess them to God. Nothing in any of these verses supports the Catholic doctrine of a Confessional.

Justification for the Confessional?

So, how does the writer of this post justify confessing to a priest like him? He bases his argument on one Scripture—John 20:22-23:

…He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

The writer provides no context for these verses; he also assumes that it refers to "confession" when that is the very thing he needs to prove—which he can't. Looking at the text from his Catholic perspective, he assumes that Jesus is speaking of the apostles taking confessions from people and either forgiving them or not forgiving them, but nothing so indicates.

These two verses follow Jesus's giving of the Great Commission. Jesus says, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). Shouldn't verses 22-23 have something to do with verse 21? As they traveled throughout the world, they would meet with opposition and possibly with some who joined their number to spy on them. The apostles would have the spiritual gift of discernment which could be used to determine who was a genuine follower and who was actually a foe. They could forgive the sins of the earnest but retain those of phonies.

But say that the above explanation is not accurate. It would not prove that the writer's argument is valid. Nothing is said in verses 22-23 that indicates the apostles have set up confessional booths and are listening to people's sins. No mention is made of the church having this practice anywhere in the book of Acts. Neither Paul nor Peter write to any of the churches about such a practice. Nor did Paul instruct Timothy or Titus to hear confessions themselves—or tell someone else how to do it accurately.

Does Only God Forgive Sins?

The author of the post says both yes and no, which may confuse his readers. He writes that the catechism of the Catholic Church is clear: "Only God forgives sins." Well, that certainly seems plain enough, but just a few lines later, he quotes from the catechism again: "Priests have received from God the power to forgive sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Don't these two sentences sound contradictory? And why, then, are not these priests God, since only He has that ability?

Presumably, they would say God is doing the forgiving through the priest, but this scenario does not work, either. The apostles were not priests—except in the sense all Christians are. Even if Jesus had given them the power the writer assumes, it would not justify their position (which no Bible verse supports). No mechanism to pass this ability on to anyone else exists—especially to a priesthood that did not exist then as it does today.

Sophistry

The writer thinks that private confessions lack the power of a confessional. When people pray on their own, he fears they neglect to do so. He also feels that their attitude may become, "God understands me; I'm fine." He is correct that many people feel that way, but those who use the confessional may especially feel that way because they have been told that other sins have been forgiven.

The author sees positive benefits from the confessions. He thinks people enjoy hearing the priest say, "I absolve you," and he's probably right. Those words would sound wonderful—if true. He goes on to say the confessional is a healing experience and promotes feelings of freedom—and forgiveness. He also thinks that pride prevents people from going to a priest.

Pride could be a factor, or it might just be that someone does not want to confess his sins to a stranger. Be that as it may, we do not doubt that it's a great feeling to think that your sins have all been forgiven. The question is, "Are these feelings based on truth or error?" The euphoria will be the same in either case.

For example, Jacob's sons took their brother Joseph's coat, covered it with blood, and showed it to their father. They let him draw the incorrect conclusion that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. It was not true, and they knew it was not true, but Jacob believed sincerely that his son was dead. He

tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him (Genesis 37:34-35).

If Joseph had actually been dead, Jacob could not have mourned any more severely. Our emotions respond to what we believe is true. If it is reported that a loved one is lost, we grieve. If the report proved to be false, we would rejoice later on. If someone tells us our sins are absolved, we rejoice—whether it's true or not. Why would we not feel as though a weight had been lifted? So, if one visits the confessional periodically, he will keep feeling good.

In fact, he will feel good most of the time because he knows that, even though he sins, it will be all right the next time he goes to confession and the priest absolves him again. It's not that difficult to say a few, "Hail Marys" and do a good deed or two. It's a small price to pay for salvation.

No magical formula can absolve man from his sins. Picture Saul of Tarsus repenting and praying for three days before Ananias came to him and asked, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord?" (Acts 22:16). After baptism, one must live a life of faithfulness.