WTS says no confession to men necessary

by TheListener 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  dozy

  The WTS acknowledges that confession to men isn't essential but is strongly advisable. They are generally careful not to state this explicity in the publications , presumably as it would undermine discipline in the congregations. Generally they use expressions like "If you are committing a sin , why not seek the help of spiritual shepherds."

  This understanding is also implicit in the agreement that if an elder committed a serious sin several years ago , didn't admit it , but shows evidence of Jehovah's blessing , then there is no need to delete him or for him to resign.

  To illustrate- my body of elders dealt with a matter a few years ago when a married sister confessed to immoral conduct several years previously while she was courting because she wanted to get it off her chest (hmmm - perhaps an unfortunate choice of words ). The sister had subsequently pioneered & her husband was in good standing. No action was taken & the PO admitted that she would have been best not to have mentioned it at all , as Jehovah had already forgiven her.
• 

  A Paduan

  Would this mean that Child Molesters that are Catholics are not reported to the police when this sin is confessed to a priest? If true, it sounds to me that the Catholic Church is worse than the WTS.

  A priest cannot divulge any confession to anyone, under pain of death - not allowed. It can be a difficult thing to understand - that is, of a formal confession for forgiveness (as sacrament) - consider those most removed from God, it is as far out as someone can reach.

  But if a priest comes to know it, outside that circumstance then yeah - report it / stop it. I believe that without revealing the confession, they may carefully use the information to protect people, but not at the disclosure of the confessor and their sin. There is however a grey area - one certainly doesn't have absolution from an intention of future sin.
• 

  luna2

  That's very interesting, dozy. I think a good rule for when you do something naughty would be to wait and see how things go for a few years before confessing anything to the elders. If Jah seems to bless you...cool, you're obviously okay with The Big Guy and no confessions action is necessary. Lots of heartache could be avoided that way, I'm sure.
• 

  itsallgoodnow

  as someone already said, it's just yet another instance where they are talking out of 2 sides of their mouth. that information is meant for a catholic person, not for a JW. once that catholic person becomes a JW, that information no longer applies to him or her.
• 

  Narkissos

  Compare

  Watchtower 2/15, 1988:

  If any do become guilty of gross wrongdoing but cover it up, they will clearly lose Jehovah’s approval and "the peace of God" that they had. They will also lose their own peace of mind. (Compare 2 Samuel 24:10; Matthew 6:22, 23.) You can see, then, why it is imperative that any Christian who has fallen into serious sin confess that to Jehovah and to loving elders, who can promote spiritual healing. (Isaiah 1:18, 19; 32:1, 2; James 5:14, 15) When a person who has lost spiritual balance on the slippery path of sin seeks help from mature brothers, he will not continue to have a troubled conscience or be without godly peace.

  11/15, 1985:

  Yet, suppose we have encouraged a wrongdoer to seek God’s forgiveness and confess to the elders, but he keeps putting this off or sees no need to take these steps. Can we just drop the matter? Some might reason that they do not want to become involved. They may not want to risk losing the friendship of the erring one. And they may not want to be thought of as persons who betray a confidence by telling the elders. But this is faulty reasoning. The psalmist David said: "I have not sat with men of untruth; and with those who hide what they are I do not come in." (Psalm 26:4) Surely, then, we would not want to become accomplices of "those who hide what they are."

  15

  Therefore, after we have given the erring individual a reasonable amount of time to approach the elders about his wrongdoing, it is our responsibility before Jehovah not to be a sharer in his sin. We need to inform the responsible overseers that the person has revealed serious wrongdoing that merits their investigation. This would be in harmony with Leviticus 5:1, which says: "Now in case a soul sins in that he has heard public cursing and he is a witness or he has seen it or has come to know of it, if he does not report it, then he must answer for his error." Of course, we must avoid acting hastily on mere supposition of wrongdoing.

  16

  In today’s world, covering over the wrongdoing of others is a general practice. Many are as mute as a stone wall when it comes to revealing the wrongdoing of others to those who should know about such actions. It requires strength of Christian personality to inform appointed elders of the serious sin of a fellow believer. But if we are to have Jehovah’s favor, we must not let personal friendship blind us to the wrongdoing of another individual. Our relationship with God is of far greater importance than loyalty to a friend who is guilty of serious wrongdoing and refuses to reveal the matter to the appointed elders.
• 

  A Paduan

  Re: priests - Additionally, if a matter is serious, and/or in the best interest of the community, it is likely a priest will advise the confessor themself to go to the authorities. Making restitution where able and appropriate is also part of the concept.
• 

  drew sagan

  JWs will openly reject things that they actually practice. It's all about degree. Did you commit a 'little' sin? Then you can go straight to God. Did you commit a 'Big' sin? You have to come to us with that one! They actually practice something worse, saying that we don't need men when they force people to confess to them. Pure hypocrisy.
• 

  Narkissos

  drew,

  Plus, they also theoretically deny the Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sin, while reintroducing something very similar with the notion of "serious sin".
• 

  M.J.

  Just how scriptural is it for elders to be involved in determining your level of "repentance" and disciplining you for your sins in the first place?

  Isn't the whole disfellowshipping thing all about removing certain TYPES of people from the congregation? (cleaning house, so to speak, not a policing authority?)

  Isn't the act of discipline left to God himself (as in Hebrews 12)?
• 

  LyinEyes

  I had a talk , #4, to do on this very subject. I was on my way out and learning more and more of the hypocrisay of JW. This sealed the deal for me,,,,,,I could not give that talk. I tried to stay in JW, it was everything to me and I wanted to defend it anyway I could. I just could not give this talk in good conscience.