Indulgences and their Role in the Reformation

The buying and selling of indulgences was a very controversial practice during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th-century. Indulgences were a payment to the Catholic church or the Pope in either partial or full forgiveness for one's sins. Indulgences were said to reduce a soul’s time in the Catholic purgatory. Many agreed with the idea of indulgences, while others hated it. The buying and selling of indulgences should’ve been condemned because it was not a way of salvation, the peoples’ ignorance of indulgences, and caused copious amounts of corruption within the Catholic church.

A reason why the buying and selling of indulgences should’ve been condemned is salvation. Many believed that when they bought these indulgences, they would be forgiven for all of their present sins, and sometimes, even their future sins. This led to little remorse. People started to commit crimes in the belief that they were already forgiven. Few opposed this ideology, including Martin Luther. Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” (1luther.de/en/).  Luther wanted to support the church, but he wanted to get rid of the practices that went against the Catholic faith. Luther believes, “Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters' ' (36, luther.de/en/). Any Christian has a right to salvation without the buying and selling of indulgences. Luther believed that if a Christian repented to the Christian God, then they would be forgiven. They didn’t need a pope or high priest to tell them that they needed to buy indulgences to be forgiven. Indulgences should’ve been condemned because of the confusion about one’s salvation.

Ignorance is one of the main reasons why indulgences should be abolished. Many people in the middle ages couldn’t read or write. They went to church to hear what the high priests and the Pope said about the Catholic God. The people in the middle ages couldn’t think for themselves in terms of religion because they couldn’t read the bible. The Pope could make the Bible say anything that he wanted it to. Luther wrote in his 95 theses, “Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers” (32, luther.de/en/). Since the people couldn’t read or write, the Pope could sell indulgences and tell the people that it would get them into heaven, and the people would buy them. This ignorance spreads like wildfire. In his 95 theses, Luther wrote, “Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him” (33, luther.de/en/). The Pope’s pardons aren’t the gift of God. People would buy indulgences because they thought that the Pope’s word was true. In reality, the people were ignorant of the church’s corruption. Indulgences should be condemned because of the ignorance of the people to the corruption of the church.

However, there are some useful qualities of indulgences, such as the money earned. Someone would buy an indulgence and feel forgiven. The Pope or priest selling the indulgence would encourage the person to buy another indulgence either for more time outside of purgatory or for a family member. Some indulgences would be offered to those whose family members have passed away. These indulgences made so much money. This money was put to use by maintaining the church. The spending of the money from the selling of indulgences was significant for the huge cathedrals. This money made the cathedrals feel heavenly. Money was a useful quality of the selling of indulgences during the middle ages.

Even though indulgences could be useful, indulgences are wicked and should be condemned because of the corruption within the Catholic church.  Luther wrote in his 95 theses, “Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory...It is certainly possible that when the money clinks in the bottom of the chest avarice and greed increase; but when the church offers intercession, all depends on the will of God” (Luther, statement 10-28, luther.de/en/). When someone pays an indulgence to the church, the priest or pope is so gleeful and will give the person who bought the indulgence a pardon. When someone is dying but hasn’t paid an indulgence, the priest says it’s all on the will of God. The priest doesn’t want to help the sinner because they haven’t been paid. When indulgences are paid, the priests’ greed is fed, and it grows rapidly. If the repenting person has nothing to give, the priest doesn’t want to associate with them. All the priests cared about was living the life of luxury, and if the person repenting couldn’t give them money, they didn’t care. The money from the people was how the Catholic priests and the Pope made their living. Corruption was one of the core reasons why indulgences should be condemned.

In conclusion, indulgences are wicked and vile because they defied the given right of salvation, fed the people into ignorance, and instilled corruption within the Catholic church. Salvation was attained through repenting directly to the Christian God, not through indulgences sold by the Pope. The Pope took advantage of the peoples’ ignorance because the people thought that they were forgiven because they bought an indulgence that was sold by the Pope. The money earned from these indulgences caused corruption within the Catholic church. Indulgences are still a very controversial topic, even if they aren’t talked much about anymore. Indulgences impacted the Middle Ages, and it is still impacting some people today.