Romish Dealing with Sins by John Norton Loughborough

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 30, 1874

Romish Dealing with Sins.

By John Norton Loughborough

(Concluded.)

CLOSELY connected with this confession is the absolution of the priest. Christ says, “Thus it is written, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Repentance and remission, therefore, are not administered but preached: there is no sacrament; there is only a preaching. To obtain remission of sins, it is only necessary to have faith in Christ, from whom comes remission, and to ask the forgiveness through Christ, not of a priest. But let us see what the church of Rome says on this point.

“Q. Now to whom has Christ given the power to forgive sins?

“A. Christ gave power to forgive sins to the apostles and to their successors, the bishops and priests of the church.

“Q. By what sacraments are sins forgiven?

“A. Sins are forgiven by baptism and penance.

“Q. What is the sacrament of penance?

“A. The sacrament of penance is a sacrament in which the sins we have committed after baptism are forgiven.

“Q. How are sins forgiven in the sacrament of penance?

“A. Sins are forgiven in the sacrament of penance by the priest’s absolution, joined with contrition, confession and satisfaction.”

In Weninger’s Catechism we read:—

“Q. When does the priest forgive sins?

“A. When he gives absolution to the sinner.

“Q. Can all sins be forgiven by the sacrament of penance?

“A. Yes; if the conditions required for a worthy reception of this sacrament be fulfilled.

“Q. Which are the required conditions?

“A. Contrition, confession, and satisfaction.

“Q. What is satisfaction?

“A. It is the humble performance of the penance imposed by the priest.”

The penance to be performed is fasting, with a certain round of prayers, &c. Of this system of penance and absolution, Kirwan says: “Penance is a sacrament by which the sins committed after baptism are forgiven. Your doctrine is, that original sin is washed away in baptism, and that penance secures the forgiveness of all sins committed after baptism! Where is this distinction taught in the Bible?

“On the part of the penitent, penance consists in contrition, confession, satisfaction. Contrition is a hearty sorrow for sin, with a resolution to sin no more; confession is a full and sincere declaration of all our sins to a priest; satisfaction is a faithful performance of the prayers and good works enjoined by the confessor. So far for the penitent.

“On the part of the priest, it consists in the absolution which he pronounces by the authority of Jesus Christ. The form of absolution is in these words: ‘I absolve thee from thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’

“The effects of the sacrament are thus stated in the ‘Poor Man’s Catechism:’ It remits all the sins of the penitent without exception—restores him to the grace he had forfeited—replenishes his soul with the greatest peace, tranquillity, and spiritual delights, and reinstates him again in the friendship of God, as the prodigal son after his return was restored to his former honors in the house of his father.’ Wonderful results from such causes! May I ask here, If the parable of the prodigal son is meant to represent the way of return of a sinner to God, where did he stop to make confession and receive absolution? “None but a priest can grant absolution; and the power of the priest to absolve, you draw from John 20:22, 23: ‘And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained,’ and from Matt. 16, 15–19.

“Such, sir, in brief, is your sacrament of penance. Let us now look at it in the light of Scripture and reason. . . . Addressing Peter, and through him the other disciples, he (Christ) says, ‘I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.’ Need I tell you, sir, that by ‘the kingdom of Heaven’ here is meant the church of Christ? Can such a master in Israel as you are be ignorant of this? This being so, ‘the keys of the kingdom’ simply mean the power of admitting proper persons to the church and excluding improper persons from it. Keys, you know, were the ancient emblem of authority. How simple and common sense is all this!

“Continuing to address Peter, and through him the other disciples, he says, ‘Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.’ To bind and to loose here are equivalent to bidding and forbidding, to granting and refusing, to declaring lawful or unlawful. The apostles were endued with the Holy Ghost that they might infallibly declare the will of God to mankind, and determine what was, or was not, binding on the conscience—to show what persons ought, or ought not, to be admitted to the church, and to decide on the character of those whose sins were or were not forgiven. And whatever in these, or similar things, they bound or loosed on earth, would be bound or loosed in Heaven. This is also the meaning of John 20:22, 23, already quoted.

“This, sir, I believe to be common sense, the fair and just interpretation of a passage on which your church has built up a priestly power that has overshadowed the earth, and enslaved nations. Where now, sir, is your supremacy of Peter—your power of the keys—your power of absolution? Gone, like the morning cloud before the sun. Blessed be God, you have not yet turned your keys upon the common sense of the world.”

Growing out of the doctrine of penance and absolution is the papal doctrine of indulgences. Of these, Butler says:—

“Q. Will the penance enjoined in confession always satisfy for our sins?”

“A. No; but whatever else is wanting may be supplied by indulgences and our own penitential endeavors.

“Q. What is the use of an indulgence?”

“A. It releases from canonical penances, enjoined by the church on penitents for certain sins.

“Q. Has an indulgence any other effect?”

“A. It also remits the temporary punishments, with which God often visits our sins, and which must be suffered in this life, or in the next; unless canceled by indulgences, by acts of penance, and other good works.

“Q. To whom does the church grant indulgences?”

“A. To such only as are in a state of grace; and are sincerely desirous to amend their lives; and to satisfy God’s justice by penitential works.

“Q. An indulgence is not then a pardon for sins to come, nor a license to commit sins?”

“A. No; nor can it remit past sin—for sin must be remitted by penance, as to the guilt of it, and the eternal punishment due to mortal sin, before an indulgence can be gained.”

We see, as carefully stated in their catechisms, they deny that an indulgence is a license to sin, but we will hear in conclusion the words of Kirwan on this subject:—

“Need I revert to the traffic in indulgences so zealously promoted by your foes in past days? Need I point you to their wholesale manufacture by your popes—to their selling them by wholesale to tribes of vagabond monks, who hawked them all over Europe at prices to suit purchasers? The pope drove as good a bargain as he could with the monks and the monks with the people. For the indulgence which a poor peasant could purchase for a few pennies, a prince must pay pounds. The common sense of the world was insulted; the yoke of Rome became too heavy for the nations longer to bear; a poor monk discovered a copy of the Bible, and its truths filled his mind and his soul; strong in the Lord he went out from his dark cell with the lamp of life in his hand; the Reformation follows.

“But, you will say, all this was abuse of the thing. My dear sir, your doctrine of relics and indulgences have no use—they are all abuse. Guard them as you may in your catechisms and books, practically they are all abuse. Millions have prayed at the tombs of your saints who never offered an intelligent prayer to God through his Son. Millions have worshiped your relics who never worshiped God in Spirit and in truth. And millions have sought deliverance from sin by your penance, and extreme unctions, and indulgences, who never sought it through the blood of Christ.

“The frauds which your church has practiced on the world by her relics and indulgences are enormous. If practiced by the merchants of New York in their commercial transactions, they would send every man of them to State prison.”

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.