forgiving sins verse in John more consistent with Catholic interpretation

I am playing Devil’s advocate as I am not a theist. Note that Pro has smuggled in assumptions that he has not established. There is no reason to suspect that the Catholic Priesthood is consistent with the bible. Pro has not established this and his resolution depends on it. The Evangelical position he put forward is not typical among Protestants and he has not established that it is. The interpretation is inconsistent with the rest of the bible. Even if Pro can establish that the scripture refers to priests (more than half of Christians do not agree with the Catholic Priesthood) he has not established that the scripture refers to priests and that apostles correspond to priests. The ‘Evangelical’ Position that Pro put forward is not typical I do not see that Pro has accurately represented the Protestant Evangelical perspective (there are as many as there are denominations) but I will put forward one explanation for the passage that is consistent with the bible and typical. The verse referenced by Pro is obscure and is not consistent with the rest of the bible when interpreted as Pro has. The verb tense in Greek imply that God still retains the authority to forgive sins and this is only confirmed by the apostles. The passage implies something along the lines of, “Those whose sins you forgive, have already been forgiven; those whose sins you do not forgive, have not already been forgiven[1].” The scripture is talking about the apostles being in line with God’s will and not determining it. In context Jesus is talking to his disciples and other followers of Jesus; there is no reason to suspect that this correlates to the Catholic Priesthood. From the protestant perspective the passage is only referring to a Christian’s ability to tap into God’s will or wishes. Men are Fallible Romans 3:22 “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Not only does this passage make it clear that everyone makes mistakes but it confirms that Christians are forgiven by faith in God and not by the authority of priesthood. The bible makes it very clear that all men make mistakes and would eventually forgive or retain the sin of the wrong person or make a mistake. It is not consistent with the bible to say that men would have the power to take infallible action to forgive/retain sin on God’s behalf so the forgiveness must be determined by God. The Bible Is Very Clear That All Sins Are Forgiven for those that confess them to God “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John 1:9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:28 The bible is clear that forgiveness is an expected virtue and a requirement for God to forgive you, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins,” Matthew 6:14-15. The scripture listed by Pro cannot be seen as an encouragement not to forgive others as forgiveness is expected. - Pro presents an ‘evangelical’ position that is not common and is inconsistent with the bible. He has not established that the Catholic Priesthood is biblical or that the passage he references is referring to the priesthood. [1] https://www.christiancourier.com...