Dr Paul Allen

In Luther's day, it was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle who summed it up, and whose message was so widespread. Aristotle said, "We become righteous by doing righteous deeds." We become righteous by doing righteous deeds, or we become just by doing just acts. It was self-help "fake it till you make it" message. So, if you work at outward righteous acts and keep doing them, it claimed, you will actually become a righteous person. And for years Luther lived by the maxim "We become righteous by doing righteous deeds." As a monk, he desperately did all the righteous deeds he could imagine -- fasting, praying, pilgriming, monking, and what he slowly came to realize was the dream of becoming truly righteous by some simple change of behaviour was just that, an elusive dream holding its reward ever just out of reach. It consistently promised righteousness without delivering it, all the time exacting a heavier and heavier behavioural demand.

In a not so shocking admission Pope Francis announced to the world that Priests now hold the right to absolve women who have had abortion and to forgive them for their sin. As long as they are contrite. Get this, the Pope has the authority to tell priests that they now have the authority to forgive the sin of abortion. And they say this pope is humble! Ever been to Rome and watched people pray their way up the “holy” steps, watch them wait to confess their sins to men and many things like this: Has it caused you to grieve for people who are in the Roman Catholic Church? Any religion that is built on the backs of the poor and that propagates works based righteousness should bring tears and concern to those who have experienced true grace. It is important that we as believers understand the truth of why Catholic confession is not Biblical, not to win an argument but in order to rescue souls. So here’s five problems with Roman Catholic confession. 1- Priests can’t see the heart I