Posted by Doug Showalter on March 12, 1998 at 10:07:25:
In Reply to: protestant theology of forgiveness posted by jenny on March 07, 1998 at 20:17:02:
Dear Jenny,
As I understand it, Roman Catholicism has a sacrament of Reconciliation which involves a person's sincere confession of sin which is responded to by a priest's conveyance of God's forgiveness directly to that person. The priest serves as an intermediary or channel between God and that person.
In contrast, Protestantism does not view its clergy as such intermediaries. As a minister, I am basically "cut out of the same spiritual cloth" as my lay people. I am not considered to be on a higher plane of spiritual being. My ordination reflects the church's perception that I have a special calling and personal gifts from God to serve as a minister, and that I have received the education necessary to serve in that capacity effectively. My ordination is not forever, but only for as long as I am serving in a ministerial position--as contrasted to the dictum "once a priest, always a priest." The exception to this is that our retired clergy maintain their ordained status.
Strictly speaking, I am not a spiritual intermediary. My basic role is to help people with their own spiritual lives and relationships with God. Each lay person is considered to have a direct connection to God. They don't have to go through me. And, for that reason, they can [and need to] receive God's forgiveness directly for themselves.
On occasion, people come to me in my church office to confess some sin in their lives which they are not feeling good about. When this happens, it is on a very informal basis. There is no ritual or structure to it. I consider this part of my pastoral counseling work. In response to a person's confession, I seek--by witnessing to my own faith and life experience--to help them appreciate God's goodness and love, and God's unfailing forgiveness for those who sincerely repent. As biblical examples, I often tell them the story of John 21, in which the risen Christ forgives Peter for denying and abandoning him at the time of his arrest and crucifixion and/or Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son. In short, I don't convey God's grace directly, but I try to help people seek and perceive that grace in their own personal relationships with God.
Where else do Protestants get a strong sense of being forgiven by God? I think this is sensed through their participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Before receiving that sacrament, it is traditional for the whole congregation to join together in a "Prayer of Confession." Also, some of the traditional words for this sacrament are these: "This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
My particular Protestant tradition (Congregational/United Church of Christ) does not believe that the risen Christ is in the elements of communion in any sense--Protestants can differ on this. Rather, it is believed that the spirit of Christ is active in the hearts of those who participate in this sacrament. And part of that activity is Christ's bestowal of divine forgiveness upon those who come to this special sacrament with sincerely penitent hearts. I assume that the bestowal of God's forgiveness upon the penitent is also a very important part of the Roman Catholic understanding of the sacrament of Holy Communion.
I hope this is helpful.
Doug Showalter