Debate Review - Catholic Vs. Orthodox Vs. Protestant: Full Panel (Trent Horn, Josh Nadeau, Gavin Ortlund)

This article will review many of the statements that were made in Catholic vs Orthodox Vs protestant panel. In an attempt to defend the Sacrament of Penance, Trent Horn made following claim:

"That is interesting for because the bible says to 'confess your sins to one another' but the New Testament does not to say to confess your sins to Christ." [1]

To which Russlan responded:

"Well, that's an argument from silence, isn't it, Trent?"

[1]

However, this is not even an argument from silence, as there is most certainly evidence for confession of sins to Christ in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus reveals that he expects his followers to recognise their sins, and respond to his call to repentance:

^'30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” ' Luke 5:30-32

Jesus makes a link between health and righteousness: the healthy are considered righteous and the unwell are named sinners. Yet, Christ is not implying that they are healthy; in fact, the Pharisees are sick and they proceeded to conspire against Him (Luke 6:11). The Lord Jesus is exposing their self-righteousness and highlighting their need for repentance. However, Jesus chose Simon Peter to be his disciple, who readily confessed his sins:

'8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8

Likewise, believers in the divine Son of God should confess their sins to him prayer.

Even Catholic apologists would concede that the Lord Jesus is still alive, enthroned in heaven, and it is wholesome and godly to address him in prayer. Catholic Cathecism 2665 states:

'The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all the liturgical traditions forms of prayer addressed to Christ. Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Savior, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind....'[2]

Trent Horn also misrepresented another passage:

"I am not arguing that as a proof text for the sacrament of confession. I'm just saying that it's illuminating, and it makes a lot of sense of the role that the elders are placed in there. I find, actually, just the role the elders have in administrating the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and the forgiveness of sins associated with that...interesting, especially if you don't consider the anointing of the sick to be a sacrament."

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:14-16

Trent Horn is correct, insofar as: this is specifically referring to healing of sins for the sick and the unhealthy (which Gavin Ortlund and Russlan did not seem to notice). However, this is not neccisarily referring to the sacrament of the anointing the sick. According to Pope Paul VI:

'The sacrament of the anointing of the sick is administered to those who are dangerously ill, by anointing them on the forehead and hands with olive oil, or, if opportune, with another vegetable oil properly blessed, and saying once only the following words: “per istam sanctam unctionem et suam piissimam misericordiam adiuvet te dominus gratia spiritus sancti, ut a peccatis liberatum te salvet atque propitius alleviet..”'[3]

Throughout the New Testament, anointing with oil often represents the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, this passage is demonsrating that it is by the Spirit of God they are 'raised up':

²¹ However, it is God who enables both us and you to stand firm in Christ. He has anointed us ²² and marked us with his seal and given us the Spirit in our hearts, as a down payment of what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:38

Furthermore, there is plenty more evidence to support confession to God in silent prayer:

^"6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...“9This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

¹⁰ your kingdom come,your will be done,    

on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, 

but deliver us from the evil one." Matthew 6,9-13

After warning the crowd to be be careful not to practise their acts of righteousness in front others', the Lord Jesus guides his followers in a prayer, instructing them to regularly ask God the Father to forgive their sins. Granted, this prayer is not addressed directly to Christ; a consistent prayer formula in scripture, however, is to pray to the Father and ask in Jesus Name:

"13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:13-14

²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them... ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:24, 30

Trent Horn has since released a video, in an attempt to defend his position that 1 John 1 teaches confession to a priest:

'So John is referring to the confession we make to other people. 1 John 1:9 is also bracketed by verses that refer to what we say to other people.' [4]

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10

However, there are a lot of assumptions that are being made here. Firstly confession does not have to be made aloud or be audible. There are several instances where individual in scripture have been rebuked for the desires of their hearts:

²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Luke 5:22 ESV

It certainly possible to practise in blasphemous prayers. Therefore, why would we assume that men are incapable of denying their sins prayer? The very same holy book of James reveals that men were praying with selfish ambition and sinful desires:

'You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.' James 4:3

His last argument was simply misleading. Trent Horn argued in his rebuttal video:

"The greek word homologeō which is translated confess in this verse means: I confess, profess, acknowledge or praise. It is used 26 times in the New Testament and, each time it is used, with only one exception, it refers to a person publicly declaring something to another human being." [4]

These are all based on his assumptions that 1 John 1:9 and 1 John 2:23 are referring to confession made to another human being. Even if this were true, this does not mean that the same word (Grk. homologeō ) cannot be used in this instance for confession to God prayer. As he stated, the word simply means: to confess, acknowledge, agree, admit, declare [5] (does not have to be used in a publicly declarative context).

Sources

[1] Ruslan KD (2026). Catholic Vs. Orthodox Vs. Protestant: Full Panel. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nD3Cy4HZiA [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].

‌[2] Catholicculture.org. (2026). Catechism of the Catholic Church. [online] Available at: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/index.cfm?recnum=6892 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].

‌[3] Papal Encyclicals. (1972). The Sacrament Of Anointing Of The Sick. [online] Available at: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/paul06/p6anoin.htm.

‌[4] The Counsel of Trent (2026). Debating Confession with Gavin Ortlund and Ruslan. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UG90KTs-U [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].

‌[5] Stepbible.org. (2026). homologeō in STEP Bible with Greek and Hebrew helps | ESV. [online] Available at: https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=ESV@strong=G3670&options=NVHUG&qFilter=G3670&sort=false [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].

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