Wayne Jackson wrote this article which appeared in the May 1989 edition of the Christian Courier. He was also the editor of the paper. It was published by the Church of Christ in Stockton, California.
Shortly before His ascension, Jesus said to His apostles, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christ was actually granting to the apostles the authority to forgive sins and that the apostles passed on to their successors (the Roman priesthood) the same license to pardon sin. For a defense of the Catholic position on this point see B.L. Conway, The Question Box, p. 287 and James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, pp. 343ff. The Roman assertion is utterly false. Consider the following facts.
1. No interpretation is to be placed upon a difficult and obscure passage, e.g., John 20:23, which would place it in direct conflict with numerous other clear texts. Now the fact of the matter is, though all Christians are to forgive one another, to have a forgiving disposition (Ephesians 4:32), ultimately only God can bestow absolute pardon (cf. Psalm 130:4; Isaiah 43:25; Daniel 9:9; Micah 7:18; Acts 8:22; etc.). He did not grant that right to the apostles nor anyone else.
2. There is a Biblical idiom whereby one is sometimes said to actually do what he is merely authorized to declare. Note: (a) Pharaoh's butler said regarding Joseph, "...me he (Joseph) restored unto my office, and him (the baker) he hanged" (Genesis 41:13). Joseph did not actually restore the butler to his office, nor did he personally hang the baker. Here merely announced by prophetic insight, what the fate of these men would be. (b) Did God appoint Jeremiah to literally destroy and overthrow kingdoms (Jeremiah 1:10) or merely to declare their destiny? The answer should be obvious. See also Ezekiel 43:3.
3. The Greek tenses of John 20:23 make it clear that the apostles could only announce terms of forgiveness upon the basis of God's previous appointment. Literally, it is: "Those whose sins you forgive have already been forgiven; those whose sins you do not forgive have not already been forgiven." The first verbs in the two clauses are in the aorist tense, while the second verbs are in the perfect tense. The perfect tense verbs imply an abiding state which started before the action of the aorist. In other words, the apostles (and others since that time) were only authorized to declare forgiveness consistent with what the Lord had already determined. In an exhaustive treatment of this passage, J.R. Mantley noted that the Greek fathers never quoted this passage in support of the concept of absolution (see J.R. Mantley, Journal of Biblical Literature, 58 (1939), pp. 243-249).
4. Finally, this conclusion is confirmed by the fact that the apostles, on the day of Pentecost, in harmony with the Spirit's guidance, did not personally forgive the sins of anyone. Rather, they merely announced the conditions of pardon to which men were amenable. To believers who sincerely inquired, "...what shall we do," Peter responded, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." (Acts 2:37-38). Subsequently we are told that, "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized..." (v. 41). Hence, we conclude upon the basis of this testimony, that by means of that word, they received the forgiveness of their sins.
The New Testament does not support the Roman Catholic view of priestly absolution of sins.
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