Considering Indulgences

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

Way back in 1517, Luther attacked the use of indulgences by the Church of Rome.  They were used to provide a false hope, and a steady flow of cash for Papal building projects.  The Reformation was born.

Many, Cavman included, think we need a new (or renewed) Reformation since the doctrine of justification by faith alone as fallen on hard times in evangelical circles.  People have once again put sanctification prior to justification, just in a different form than Rome did.

But the Church of Rome has made a change that was not expected by many people.  Indulgences are back.  Yes, like the Terminator they have returned, and that is not a good thing either.

“Why are we bringing it back?” asked Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, who has embraced the move. “Because there is sin in the world.”

Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions decoupled from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, the gathering of bishops that set a new tone of simplicity and informality for the church.

Yes, there is sin in the world.  Let us not think that this is a way to make money (like pornographers or those who build multi-million dollar homes).  The answer to sin is the same answer it has always been- Christ and him crucified.  If righteousness could be attained by the law (including rituals & sacraments) then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21).  Don’t think for a minute that the grace Jesus died to purchase is accessed by a financial transaction regardless of how much spiritual lingo and garb is placed on it.  Any and every form of Indulgence declares, erroneously, that the finished work of Christ is insufficient to save sinners from the wrath of God.  And that, my friends, is completely out of step with the Scriptures.

Why are indulgences needed?

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.

They say they want to keep this tradition.  I suppose on the surface there is some truth to that.  But there is something that is part of the tradition that the Church of Rome desperately needs- people & money.  The pews & coffers are looking empty, and this is a good way to fill them up again.

  How do Indulgences work these days?

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.”

They want people to return to confession.  The cynic in me thinks “yes, increase the power of the church over the soul.”  The Indulgence necessitates penance and communion- 2 of the sacraments necessary for the restoration and preservation of grace in the sacerdotal system (salvation thru the sacraments) of the Church of Rome.  Scripture repeatedly teaches that grace comes to us by faith in Christ, not ritual or sacrament.

Then there is the “complete detachment from any inclination to sin.”  Have they ever read the Scriptures?  Not possible this side of heaven- the flesh wars with the Spirit (Romans 7 & Galatians 5).  So, another aspect of false hope.  They point people to a method of salvation that is a perversion of the gospel- one that cannot really save because sanctification must precede justification instead of flowing out of justification, and the addition of works & ritual to the finished work of Christ which declare it to be insufficient, which it is not.

They are not officially charging people.  But if one of the requirements of penance is works of satisfaction (Christ’s work of satisfaction is the only one that really matters), then giving to charity is one way to satisfy that requirement.  And since you’re already at the church, it only makes sense. 

Some evangelicals thought they could have dialogue with Rome and perhaps heal the wounds and bridge the gaps between us.  No, we can’t.  And this restoration of Indulgences is just proof that we really have little common ground to talk about how people are saved from the wrath of God due to sin.