We do the works of God

Calvin:

Perhaps I’m attacking a straw man here but I can’t help but wonder how the Catholic Church ever thought that a priest could absolve a person of sin.

Jesus said:
John 20:23

King James Version (KJV)
²³ Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

The Jews told Jesus that only God could forgive sin because they thought that He was just another man when He forgave the paralytic for his sin.

Some of the Jews:
Luke 5

King James Version (KJV)
¹⁷ And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
¹⁸ And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
¹⁹ And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
²² But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
²³ Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
²⁴ But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

The Jews were quite upset with Jesus and they didn’t know that He was God incarnate. The point here is that truly, only God can forgive.

Only God can heal. Only God is wise. Only God is good. But we do the works of God:

Mark 16:17-19

King James Version (KJV)
¹⁷ And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
¹⁸ They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
¹⁹ So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Man heals other men by the grace of God. And by that grace, God has given Priests authority to forgive sins in His name as well.

Sure we can forgive someone for hurting us but we can’t remedy the cold heart that caused them to hurt us. Only God can do that.

 And He does that through the word of the Priest just as easily as He does it through the waters of Baptism:

Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

An indulgence is a pardon for sin and once again we must go through our only mediator (1Timothy2:5) to receive pardon for that sin.

 And our only mediator has said that we receive pardon for our sins when we give money to the Church or the poor.

Mark 12:42-44  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing  ⁴³ And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:⁴⁴ For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Matthew 19:21  King James Version (KJV)  ²¹ Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

As a Catholic I was taught that prayers could release the soul from purgatory but the Bible says nothing to support this notion and I agree with the posters here: the doctrine is false and contrived by mere men.

 The Bible says a great deal about it, but the natural man doesn't understand it. It is only understood by the grace of God:

1 Corinthians 2:14  King James Version (KJV  ¹⁴ But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 Sincerely,

De Maria