Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest and not directly to God asking for His forgiveness?
The Forgiveness of Sins All pardon for sins ultimately comes from Christs finished work on Calvary, but how is this pardon received by individuals? Did Christ leave us any means within the Church to take away sin? The Bible says he gave us two means. Baptism was given to take away the sin inherited from Adam (original sin) and any sins we personally committed before baptismsins we personally commit are called actual sins, because they come from our own acts. Thus on the day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowds, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38), and when Paul was baptized he was told, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). And so Peter later wrote, “Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection
You’ve set up a false dichotomy in your question. Catholics confess their sins to a priest because Christ set it up this way. Read Matt 9:1-8 (the last word is plural) and John 20 as support of Catholic teaching that is 2000 years old. Additionally, Catholics also confess their sins to God and ask forgiveness at every Mass when they call to mind their sins during the Penetitial Rite that starts “I confess to almighty God…” Go to a Mass and see for yourself. The Catholic Church proposes that we accept what Christ set up. Christ wants us to confess our sins through a priest. Even under the Old Covenant, Lev. 5:4-6; 19:21-22 – God used priests to forgive and atone for the sins of others. God does not change. There have been Catholic priests hearing confessions and granting absolution for 2000 years. There is no need to “second guess” God about why he does things a certain way — 2000 years of history shows that God does it this way, using imperfect Catholic priests to forgive sins. As a
