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Submitted by Douglas Newsom on 19 April 2021

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Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Confession and Penance

But do Christians need to confess to a priest and perform penance, or does the Bible teach something very different?

Does the Bible say to confess sins or faults/offenses in James 5:16?

Do early church writings support secret auricular confession to priests?

When did private confession develop in the Roman Catholic Church?

What about the role of forgiveness, repentance, and confessing directly to God?

Dr. Thiel also reviews Roman Catholic and early Christian sources, including '1 Clement,' Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine, the Council of Trent, and the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' to show how practices changed over time.

According to the Bible, Christians are to confess their sins to God, not to clergy, and forgiveness is tied to repentance and forgiving others.

A written article of related interest is available titled "History of Auricular Confession and the 'Sacrament of Confession'" URL:

https://www.cogwriter.com/auricular-confession.htm