Indulgence Research Paper

The doctrine of indulgences rested on three principles. First, God is merciful and just. Second Christ and the Saints, through their infinite virtue established a “treasury of merits”, on which the church could draw, due to the special relationship with Christ and the Saints. Third, the church had the authority to grant sinners the spiritual benefits of those with merits.[1] An indulgence was a sheet of paper signed by the pope or another church official that substituted a virtuous act from treasury of merits for penance of time in purgatory which was an idea created 12th century by theologians, it was a place where souls on their way to heaven went to make further amends for their earthly sins. This was one of the ways for the Roman Catholic …show more content…
Johann Tetzel, an uproarious Dominican, similar to a modern con artists he changed the indulgences into a business and heavily advertised them in Germany with the slogan, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings the soul from purgatory springs.”[2] In Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther a German priest and professor of theology post ninety-five revolutionary and esoteric opinions that will begin the Protestant Reformation. That spark of the reformation began with The Ninety-five Theses, which condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther had three major reasons for objecting indulgence. First, was that they are that one indulgences undermined the seriousness of the sacrament of penance. Second, indulgences competed with the preaching of the Gospel. Third, indulgences downplayed the importance of charity and Christian life.[3] Luther felt like these church officials were teaching people they could literally buy God’s favor. To clarify, indulgences began to induce a false sense of assurance of peace and cause the recipients to neglect true repentance. Love covers a multitude of sins and is better than all the pardons of Jerusalem and