I read this yesterday and was surprised that no one had posted it yet… As a Lutheran, I’m obviously not a fan of indulgences; I don’t know of any biblical evidence to support this practice. Some excerpts from the NY Times article are below.
According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory, before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.
There are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it, until another sin is committed. You can get one for yourself, or for someone who is dead. You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day.
Dioceses in the United States have responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. This year’s offer has been energetically promoted in places like Washington, Pittsburgh, Portland, Ore., and Tulsa, Okla. It appeared prominently on the Web site of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which announced that any Catholic could receive an indulgence at any of six churches on any day, or at dozens more on specific days, by fulfilling the basic requirements: going to confession, receiving holy communion, saying a prayer for the pope and achieving “complete detachment from any inclination to sin.”
Good luck with that one. If the gospel is by definition GOOD NEWS – then the complete detachment from any inclination is some seriously bad news.
After Catholics, the people most expert on the topic are probably Lutherans, whose church was born from the schism over indulgences and whose leaders have met regularly with Vatican officials since the 1960s in an effort to mend their differences.
“It has been something of a mystery to us as to why now,” said the Rev. Dr. Michael Root, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C., who has participated in those meetings. The renewal of indulgences, he said, has “not advanced” the dialogue.
“Our main problem has always been the question of quantifying God’s blessing,” Dr. Root said. Lutherans believe that divine forgiveness is a given, but not something people can influence.
But for Catholic leaders, most prominently the pope, the focus in recent years has been less on what Catholics have in common with other religious groups than on what sets them apart — including the half-forgotten mystery of the indulgence.
It is too bad that the Gospel – the unmerited grace bestowed on lowly, underserving and continually rebellious sinners given freely on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice for us all (despite our active rejection) – is not enough to set apart from other religions.
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19 responses to “Indulgences Return – From the NY Times”
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As JDK once said, “this is reason 497 of why I am not a Catholic.” This is just awful and further evidence that indeed Rome preaches another Gospel.
It is interesting to see how desperate people are for forgiveness, for something they can hold on to that says “God loves me”
Jacob is right. The chasm that separates us from Rome is as wide as the Gospel itself. All other differences (transubstantiation, praying to saints, dogmas about Mary, papal infallibility) are straw by comparison.
Jacob & John –
I totally understand where you're coming from and I agree that there are substantive theological issues that separate Catholics and Protestants. Even so, I know many gracious, Jesus-loving Catholics and I'm a bit wary of being too critical, on pastoral grounds.
Is that fair?
For sure, R-J.
That’s why I used the word “Rome” — an abstract word signifiying for me the Magesterium, Rome as an abstract body of theological teaching.
Absolutely I don’t mean to say anything about any RCs in particular — any one of whom is likely to be far closer to Christ than myself, an admittedly very bad man.
But I just think its important too to be able to talk frankly about theological differences — and to be able to say frankly that certain ones are not just “different” not cataclysmically wickedly harmful, if that’s what we believe.
Obviously you exercise pastoral judgment in doing so — you don’t front such an opinion in a cruel way to just anyone, especially RCs — you are careful about not hurting people as well.
Your thoughts?
It seems to me that indulgencies are just another method that an insecure church or clergy can assert control over the faithful. I am sure if we look deeply into other Christian denominations, including our own, that we would find other methods of control. Just another reason why we all need the Grace of unwarranted forgiveness.
Fred –
great comment. In Evangelical circles, taking classes on Evangelism or reading certain books almost qualify as kinds of “indulgences”
John –
I would just say that I have found it to be more productive to talk about what we do believe rather than what we don’t, especially with people who may not be very conversant in the issues. Not to be “preachy”, but as example, Jesus spent a lot of timing talking about “the kingdom of heaven is like…” rather than saying what it wasn’t like. We may still illicit strong reactions, as He did, but we don’t want to pick any fights.
Thank you RJ. Incidentally, my good friend introduced me to this blog. Thank you John.
Yes,I agree with you RJ….what we believe, at least what I believe, is unwarranted forgiveness…. “I will remember their sins nor more”….writes the prophet. Rather than arguing with the Romans on their theology, we just state our own belief. The Kingdom is a state of being where forgiveness abounds!! How beautiful!
Well, I’ll think about that. Truly.
At the moment, though, I am skeptical that what you describe is actually possible. If I say that NYC is to the north of Atlanta, then I am also saying that it is not to the South.
Much of the rhetoric of the Bible, especially the New Testament, and certainly the Reformation, is a rhetoric of contrasts, of thesis and antithesis. Romans and Galatians are good examples, yes?
And if there is a certain idea that you think is false and very dangerous, then there’s a lot to be said for describing it openly. (E.g. two books by Fitz: “The Cruelty of Heresy” and “The Rise of Moralism.”)
But certainly you have to COMBINE such an approach (as Paul and Luther and our Lord and many others did) with making sure you describe the constrasting GOOD thing, the wonderful alternative to the bad thing you are criticizing.
Maybe you and I could meet by saying that it is a good thing to criticize semi-Pelagianism and theologies of merit and glory — but also be extra careful not to sound like they are the exclusive property of Rome? That lots of Protestant communions have these doctrinal problems as well?
Certainly that is true, and I’d agree 100% that it’s not helpful and indeed alienating to bash Rome herself.
RJ,
Two things: The first is I think your giving these people to much credit. I actually think that the church has so fed the “old Adam” that they are actually saying “God, look what I have Done.”
Second, like Stamper,I believe that there are genuine and gracious Christians in the R.C., my grandmother being one. However, as a church, their doctrine is in deep error. I actually believe that as a Protestant we are more Catholic than the church in Roman.
Great post! I read it the other day and I thought it was going to pop up somewhere on Mbird. To me, it is just surprising that the vocabulary of “indulgences” is still used. As the Lutheran guy said in the article – it doesn’t really help the interfaith dialogue between Catholics and Protestants because of how loaded the word “indulgences” is, given its history.
It also surprised me how indulgences are even still around! Even growing up Catholic, (but then straying from it on some theological differences), I had not heard about ‘modern’ indulgences in the Catholic Church until NY times told me!
mbirds…methinks it is not about “biblical evidence.” it is that being a Christian is hella expensive. unfortunate for the developing world…
cjdm
cjdm–I hear you.
“When a coin in the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory springs”. .
Johanne Tetzel
circa 1518
It’s simply amazing that one of the main abuses of the Church in the 16th century, that helped start the Reformation itself, is back.
It makes no sense to me. It offers no comfort because on top of the existing admission that one has a problem with sin (otherwise they would not need to seek an indulgence) the Roman Catholic Church is telling them that there is more to be done. They have to do more work to fix the existing failure. The irony is that the work to be done is not to actually keep the Law of God, it is to perform tasks made up by humans.
It reveals the wrong-headed thinking that in order to make up for breaking the Law we should do perform some lesser task, which will somehow make up for the larger offense. I’m not much of a mathematician, but it never ads up.
sean, you’re like “Good Will Hunting” and “Stephen Hawkings” rolled into a big ball of fun. . .
Stamper-
I love your conclusion, namely that it is false ideas that we attack, rather than people or organizations. Then, when we’ve explained what pelagianism is (for example) and why it’s wrong, people can draw their own conclusions.
Are you coming to the conference? I hope so!
Thanks R-J. That just made me feel great. Glad you are lookin forward to me coming to the conf.
Yup, I bought my plane ticket yesterday! Look forward to meeting you too, bud.
My buddy Jeff Hual (from way back in the day when I was at the Advent in Birmingham) is coming as well. It’s gonna be great.
“It’s just like…a mini-mall!”