XPost: alt.bible, alt.religion, alt.religion.christian.biblestudy   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic   
      
   Easy,   
      
   In the New Testament, Christians are admonished to "confess your sins to   
   one another and pray for one another" at their gatherings,^[5] and to be   
   forgiving people.^[6]^[7]   
      
   In the Gospel of John, Jesus says to the Apostles, after being raised from   
   the dead, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are   
   forgiven; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained".^[8] The   
   early Church Fathers understood that the power of forgiving and retaining   
   sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, the   
   bishops and priests, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen   
   after baptism.^[9]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)