My mind is perplexed again at the notion of the Sacraments and the fact they forgive sins. I wish to understand this, but right now I only have questions and speculation floating in my brain.
The understanding I have is that at baptism, our sins are forgiven. Whether or not that is called baptismal regeneration, I do not know. I would assume that baptism removes our sins past, present, and future. Yet Communion is also said to forgive our sins.
When I asked about this, I was told that even though our sins are forgiven at baptism, we still continue to sin - it's in our nature. Therefore we need to be continually forgiven of these additional sins we commit, and that's what Communion does.
I find that to be kind of redundant. So if before my baptism I committed a sin, then I got baptized, and I've had Communion 50 times, does that mean that sin has been forgiven 51 times? At first glance, that kind of doctrine seems like something Luther might have made in order to try and put some logic into the theology he was forming - remember, Luther was trying to implement sola fide. I wonder if this "re-forgiving" is also part of Catholic theology?
On the other hand, God is well known for doing stuff that doesn't make sense to us finite humans. And I suppose that if God wants to re-forgive a sin hundreds of times over the course of a lifetime, that is his prerogative. God can - and indeed will - do whatever he darn well pleases. Even if it strikes me as a bit... redundant.
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