Nonconformist Chronicles:

The Catholic Church had long granted indulgences to remit temporal punishment (penance) for sins already forgiven. Indulgences weren't originally for sale, but by the time of Luther the selling of indulgences had been going on for centuries in support of papal projects including war. It was only a matter of time before indulgences were sold since select donations to the church had for some time been counted as penance. Indulgences were granted in exchange for contributions toward the renovation of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome under Pope Leo X.

The sale of indulgences did not immediately come to where Luther lived. Frederick III of Saxony, founder of Wittenberg University, would not allow the sale of indulgences in his realm. His extensive collection of relics at the Castle Church could be viewed for money, with the promise of years suspended from time in purgatory. Access to indulgences promising the same benefit might have competed with the veneration of these relics.

The sale of Indulgences did, however, make its way into the German lands. Albert, Archbishop of Mainz, allowed John Tetzel, a Dominican priest, to sell them in Albert’s territory for a cut of the proceeds. Albert needed the money, having gone into debt to purchase his high church rank.

While the sale of indulgences weren’t allowed in Wittenberg, some of Luther’s parishioners traveled to purchase them. Upon returning they rejected the need for repentance insisting that their sins had been forgiven because they purchased certificates of indulgence. Overzealous salesman had granted this new function to indulgences, whereas the original purpose was to suspend penance for sins already forgiven. Salesmen also claimed that one could spring a loved one from purgatory by purchasing an indulgence.

Luther was alarmed that people thought forgiveness of sins could be secured by a financial transaction. He argued that salvation was the free gift of God which would be a cornerstone of Luther’s teaching for the rest of his life.

Luther’s objections to the sale of indulgences were prompted by at least two recent experiences: (1) Luther’s trip to Rome on which he found himself appalled by the opulence of the clergy and (2) his study of the Book of Romans for teaching courses at the University of Wittenberg—the collected notes of which make up his famous Commentary on Romans.

Luther rightly saw indulgences as a big money grab by the church. The false security of indulgences conveyed the impression that repentance was unnecessary. Any charges that Luther was antinomian should be dropped in light of his 95 Theses where he argued that indulgences could too easily substitute for good works. He wrote that the buying of pardons is not preferable to “good works of love.” But if repentance and self-denial are no longer necessary, then why not pass by on the other side from a man in need since one is secure through the purchase of an indulgence?

Indulgences would lead to false discipleship. Contrition, benevolence, and care for one’s family could be replaced with the purchase of pardon from the pope.

It recently occurred to me that next year will be the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Next year, 2017, will mark 500 years since Martin Luther penned his 95 Theses and nailed it to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517.

This was not the act of one protesting all things Catholic by desecrating the door of a cathedral. Luther had no intention of leaving the Catholic Church. He was serving the congregation at Wittenberg while teaching at the university. It was apparently customary to post notices of church functions on the door which served as a type of bulletin board. The posting of Luther’s 95 Theses was an invitation for people to come and discuss the sale of indulgences which Luther considered an abuse of the church’s authority.

Indulgences were the means by which the Roman Catholic leaders were said to remit temporal punishments for sin. Catholic doctrine held that sin inflicted both eternal and temporal punishment. Eternal punishment could be remitted through absolution granted by a priest upon confession of one’s sins. But there remained temporal punishment which could be remitted through acts of penance imposed by the priest.

Penance is derived from the Latin word for penalty and is a disciplinary measure with the goal of helping the penitent to live a holier life. Acts of penance may include prayers, acts of mercy, or self-denial. Penance left undone was thought to lengthen one’s time in purgatory, an intermediate state after death in which those destined for heaven would suffer temporal punishment to purge their sins.

There eventually came the perceived necessity of reducing the severity of penance or purgatory. This was first necessitated by the long periods of penance assigned to those who had compromised their faith during the third century persecution under Decius. Their temporal punishment could be reduced if the merits of those who held to their confession or were martyred during persecution could be credited to those who had lapsed. This was said to take place upon approval of church authority.

The Council of Ancyra, in 314, allowed indulgences to generally credit the meritorious sufferings of departed saints to those seeking relief from penance. By the tenth century, some penances were reduced to charitable donations, pilgrimages, or other meritorious works. It was just a matter of time before penance was optional to those who could afford to make sizeable church donations in exchange for an indulgence. By the eleventh century, indulgences were offered to those willing to fight in the Crusades

The merits of both Christ and the saints were later said to be held in a Treasury of Merit stored up in heaven, proposed by Hugh of St-Cher in 1230. The merits of Christ and the saints were said to be at the church’s disposal and distributed according to church authority.

What was Luther’s problem with this system for dealing with sin and how did he respond? More later.