Dr. John Bergsma

And yet it's done in a way that is confidential and practical in a lived environment.

So anyway.

I have another objection.

Okay.

Yeah.

Well, I don't think in verse 16, he's necessarily saying that the priest is the only one that one can confess to.

So I don't see all the dimensions of the sacrament of reconciliation being taught here.

Okay.

But what I do see is the scriptures commanding us to confess our sins to other believers.

And if you're not gonna make regular use of the sacrament of reconciliation in order to carry that out, which is a safe, reliable, customary way that we have to do it within the Catholic church, what are you gonna substitute in its place?

I see.

And I think for most Christians who are outside the Catholic church, they do not have

relationships of a level of trust where they are comfortable going and burying their soul.

Maybe some very devout evangelicals do have like accountability partners, but that's unusual.

It takes a long time to develop those kinds of relationships.

And even there, there's sometimes hesitancy to be forthright.

Whereas I had the experience, very dramatic experience for me, at least, of, for example, going to Rome in 2007, after I had been a Catholic for only six years, and going to St.

Peter's Basilica, and they had all these priests available for confession.

And I was able to walk right up to a confessional that had the listing of the languages that the priest spoke.

and kneel down and begin talking to this priest who I did not know from Adam.