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by Revelator on April 20th, 2004

Revelator

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How can I approach God in my sinful condition? Wouldn't it be better for me to have a priest or minister pray for me?

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  • by James Beatty on April 20th, 2004

    James Beatty

    According to most Protestant Churches, especially evangelical ones, although ministers can help an individual acheive salvation, it is up to the individual him- or herself to accept Jesus Christ as one's personal savior. Furthermore, most of these religions hold that God is willing to forgive anyone of their sins as long as they sincerely repent.

    Other Christian churches, notably the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, hold that an individual must partake in certain sacraments, like baptism or the confession of sins, performed by priests with "apostolic succession" in order to be saved. These churches, although stressing the importance of a legitimate priest in the process of acheiving salvation, also hold that individual prayer is an equally important part of being saved.

    Off hand, I can't think of any religions that hold an individual can be saved by the prayers of another person -- even a priest or minister. Certainly most Christians do pray for the salvation of the "unrepentent", but that prayer is asking God to show people the way to salvation. It is still up to each individual to sincerely repent and ask God for salvation through Jesus Christ.

    Note: "Apostolic succession" to an Orthodox or Catholic means that a priest must have been ordained by a bishop who can trace his line of ordaination (the bishop who ordained him, and the bishop who ordained that bishop, and so on) back to one of the Twelve original apostoles. Judas, for obvious reasons, is not counted as a apostle in this sense. These religions hold that priest or ministers operating with this quality are illegitimate.

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