I have been reading some of Martin Luther. During his time, the question of where religious authority lay came up. The Catholic church of course, answered that religious authority lay with the Pope and all the church hierarchy. Martin Luther had a different answer: religious authority lay in the Word of God as found in the Bible. He figured that the church, with all its rituals was holding Christians captive...by not allowing them to approach God directly by faith, without the interference of priests. I wonder if this is something that we as Protestant Christians take for granted these days. I can't imagine having to go to a priest anytime I sinned. I don't think everybody needs to know how I've sinned.
Now it's great for Christians to hold each other accountable--in fact, the Bible commands it. But if one is truly repentant, is aware they've sinned, they don't need to tell a priest. The priest cannot offer forgiveness...only God can do that. So when Luther came up with this doctrine, this freed up many people from having to go confess to someone who really couldn't offer forgiveness.