Originally Posted by Robin
Originally Posted by Tom
I see no place in Scripture that gives a minister the authority to absolve sins and therefore he not only oversteps his authority, but gives false hope.
I believe these are very serious matters.

Try Matthew 16:19, 18:18, and John 20:23.

Robin

I just noticed your post.
Though I have looked at those Scripture verses, I don't think that is quite what they are saying. However, I have grown to respect you and I thought rather than being closed minded to this, I thought I would ask you to exegete these verses, just in case I am missing something.

Also, I have a question not just for you. If these verses do give a minister the authority to absolve sins, are there Reformed Churches that practice this?
Although my experience might be limited in scope, I have never heard this teaching from a Protestant before. It would seem to me that if this is a biblical teaching, then by extension much of Protestantism is missing out on a major truth of Scripture.

Tom