Today's Cincinnati Enquirer headlines the resurgence of indulgences in the Roman Catholic Church.
An indulgence, for the uninitiated, is release from "temporal punishment," i.e., time in purgatory. In traditional Roman Catholic theology, one is released from eternal punishment, i.e. hell, through confession. Temporal punishment, meaning punishment of a limited duration, is still meted out in purgatory, unless one receives indulgence.
We invite our Roman Catholic readers to correct our Protestant misunderstanding of their dogmas, but that's how we understand the issue at present. And we are not pleased.
Many readers will know that the sale of indulgences was what prompted Martin Luther's "95 Theses" and sparked the Protestant Reformation in Germany. But Luther objected not just to the sale of indulgences but to the very idea that forgiveness in any form is meted out on any terms other than faith in Christ.
Per the Enquirer, the revival of indulgences is part of a campaign by Pope Benedict XVI to invigorate some nearly forgotten traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. We had hoped that such practices were in the process of slow, unnoticed death.
This, to us, is about as disturbing a development in the Roman Catholic Church as we can imagine. How the notion of "temporal punishment" in purgatory can be squared with the gospel is beyond us, as is the notion that a prescribed program of post-conversion works are strictly necessary to secure forgiveness. Among the great insights of the Christian Bible is that humans need rescue from the outside, and that their transformation in character and behavior comes not to secure that rescue but in response to it. To see it otherwise is nothing less than to marginalize the cross.
We sincerely hope that Pope Benedict and his peeps will rethink this awful move, made more awful as it is part of the celebration of the Year of St. Paul, commemorating the 2000th anniversary of his birth as estimated by the Vatican. No occasion could be less fitting.
8 comments:
It's too bad the Catholic Church feels it has to resort to indulgences to get its members to pray, confess their sins, and do good works. I wonder what it would take for the Protestant churches to get their members to do these things.
Next thing you know, some college kids will want to post 95 feces on a door and a television news crew will want to record it.
These links may help clear up SWNID'S inaccurate views on indulgences.
http://www.catholic.com/library/myths_about_indulgences.asp
http://www.catholic.com/library/Primer_on_Indulgences.asp
I can't speak for SWNID***, Kevin, but I very strongly doubt that those links are going to make him view indulgences in a more kindly light. The second link, especially, was jaw-dropping.
Indulgences are part of the Church’s infallible teaching. This means that no Catholic is at liberty to disbelieve in them. The Council of Trent stated that it "condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not have the power to grant them"(Trent, session 25, Decree on Indulgences). Trent’s anathema places indulgences in the realm of infallibly defined teaching.
Wowza.
***In the interest of accuracy, it should be noted that I attempt this very frequently. It just doesn't usually work.
We don't see anything among the "myths" that changes our view that indulgences are a theologically charged, behaviorist program of offering extrinsic rewards, or more precisely removing extrinsic punishments, for acts of piety. The quotation of Paul's statement about filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ reflects the Roman Catholic Church's ongoing misunderstanding of the apostle's message and of grace itself.
The myth-cataloger is to be commended for stressing that indulgences are no longer for sale and the extent of forgiveness is known only to God and such. But that's not our objection, or Luther's, for that matter.
And if this is indeed part of the church's infallible teaching, we say it demonstrates the fallibility of its infallibility.
Thanks, SWNID, for setting us straight re: indulgences. Had I given the matter as much thought, I might not have made such an embarrassing mistake. I only hope it isn't to late to stop my check . . .
If they give up indulgences, Purgatory might be next. Can't have that.
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