Catholic
Roman Catholic
Penance is a sacrament in which the priest, as judge, absolves the penitent of sins committed after Baptism.
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Sacramental Confession
Must sins be confessed to a priest? How six traditions hear Christ’s words: "If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them."
Key versesJohn 20:21-23Matthew 16:19Matthew 18:18James 5:161 John 1:9Psalm 32:52 Corinthians 5:18-19
Review status: initial-release
Catholics and Orthodox confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution as a sacrament; most Protestants confess directly to God. The divide turns on John 20:23 — did Christ give the apostles, and their successors, a real power to forgive or retain sins? The Council of Trent (Session XIV, 1551) defined penance as a sacrament in which the priest, as judge, absolves the penitent; the Lutherans retained private confession and absolution but rejected it as a sacrament necessary to salvation. The positions below summarize each tradition’s official teaching — stated factually, without judgment of any conscience.
Content review notice: Initial release — under theological review. Positions summarize official denominational sources; named reviewers from each tradition are being onboarded.
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In 30 seconds
Catholics and Orthodox Christians confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution as a sacrament: Christ gave His apostles the power to forgive or retain sins (John 20:23), and their successors continue it. Lutherans also keep private confession to a pastor - the absolution is God’s own word of forgiveness to the troubled conscience - but they do not count penance as a sacrament or require it for salvation. Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist churches teach that believers confess directly to God, who promises forgiveness to all who confess (1 John 1:9); pastors counsel and proclaim forgiveness, but no priest stands between the sinner and God. All six traditions agree that forgiveness itself is God’s gift through Christ - the question is how He delivers it. This page presents each church’s teaching in its own words.
At a glance
Six traditions, one line each
Tap a tradition to jump to its full column below. Traditions aren't ranked — shown in historical order, with your tradition first if you've picked one.
| Tradition | In one line |
|---|---|
| Catholic | Penance is a sacrament in which the priest, as judge, absolves the penitent of sins committed after Baptism. |
| Orthodox | Confession is a sacrament of repentance: sins are confessed before a priest as witness, and absolution restores the penitent. |
| Lutheran | Private confession and absolution are retained and treasured — but absolution is God’s word of forgiveness, not a sacrament necessary to salvation. |
| Reformed | Repentance and confession are made to God directly; no priestly absolution stands between the sinner and God. |
| Baptist | Confession is made directly to God, who promises forgiveness to all who confess — no priestly mediation required. |
| Methodist | Confession is made to God — corporately in worship and privately in prayer; penance is not counted among the sacraments. |
Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox
Confession is a sacrament of repentance: sins are confessed before a priest as witness, and absolution restores the penitent.
Lutheran
Lutheran
Private confession and absolution are retained and treasured — but absolution is God’s word of forgiveness, not a sacrament necessary to salvation.
Reformed
Reformed
Repentance and confession are made to God directly; no priestly absolution stands between the sinner and God.
Baptist
Baptist
Confession is made directly to God, who promises forgiveness to all who confess — no priestly mediation required.
Methodist
United Methodist
Confession is made to God — corporately in worship and privately in prayer; penance is not counted among the sacraments.
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How we got here
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What the early church said
Quotes from the early church on this topic — its writers, councils, and creeds: what Christians believed before the traditions split, with full source citations.
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Common objections, answered
The pushback each view tends to hear — and how that tradition answers it, steelmanned fairly with sources.
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Verse breakdowns
The key passages behind this topic, verse by verse — tap any verse to see how each of the six traditions reads it.
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Word studies
The Greek and Hebrew terms where the meaning shapes the debate — what each word actually says, and why traditions read it differently.
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Go deeper
Keep exploring
Related topics where this conversation continues.
Purgatory and the Afterlife →
Catholic teaching links penance and purgatory through temporal punishment: satisfaction imposed in confession that remains incomplete at death is completed in purgatory’s final purification.
Baptism →
Baptism forgives all prior sin, but Trent teaches penance is the remedy for sins committed after Baptism — the two sacraments divide forgiveness into before and after the font.
Salvation →
The confession debate is about how forgiveness is received — through sacramental absolution or directly by faith in Christ — so each tradition ties its practice of penance closely to its doctrine of salvation and repentance.
Intercession of the Saints →
Absolution pronounced by a priest raises the same underlying question as the intercession of saints: how human mediation relates to Christ’s unique mediation between God and humanity.
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