In honor of what happened 488 years ago today, I thought the following information was rather pertinent:
For his visit to Cologne Ratzinger revived a practice that led to the Reformation indulgence. He granted “complete indulgence” to all pilgrims at the World Youth Day on the condition of confession of their sin, renunciation of all sins, the reception of the Eucharist and prayer. (source)
(second, third source; related story, second related)
Despite Ratzinger’s (ecumenically-motivated) claims to appreciate the ideas of Luther and Calvin, he has consistently upheld the very statements that anathematize them both–and all evangelical Protestants who agree with them. I have to admit I was shocked to discover that the granting of (plenary or partial) indulgences still goes on. (I didn’t go searching for this, by the way, I just came across it while looking for conference information at banneroftruth.org.) But apparently I’m out of the loop: PJPII not only did the same, but published an entire Manual of Indulgences (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum) on September 17, 1999. This is borderline unbelievable to me. The Vatican’s statement on the Roman catholic doctrine of Indulgence is available here (second source).
Last night I threw a little shin-dig in celebration of Reformation Sunday. We watched a great movie, then talked about the Five Solas of the Reformation (more). Then we played a 1988 edition of Outburst, which was extremely humbling. (And no, despite our momentary hesitation, we decided against nailing a copy of the 95 theses on the door of the local Roman catholic church. That was a joke.) One of the questions we asked, and answered was, “Is the Reformation Over?
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14 [show] [14]For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (ESV)
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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 [show] [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)
Love and respect, of course, to all my Roman catholic friends–it’s the ideas, remember, not necessarily the people…
…all this to say, Happy Reformation Day!
gmail.com
“The doctrine of indulgences impugns not only the full atonement and sole mediation (i.e., the full redemption) of Christ, but also the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.”
Indugences have everything to do with pennance, not being forgiven or justified. Not sure if that point gets across in this post by stating the docrine impugns full atonement and sole mediation. If rob a bank, you can certainly express remorse and be forgiven, but you still have to give the money back. Many who commit murder, are forgiven. But they still need to go to jail and face justice in whatever form is determined. Indulgences (plenary or temporal) lift the burden of pennance for sins you have already been forgiven for. Those who have been saved and reflect the radiance of Christ in their everyday lives are sanctifying the church with the presence of the Holy Spririt. Each one of those will tell you they fear God’s judgement, but trust in his salvation.
I used to think that indulgences were simply fundraisers for the Catholic Church, and that ‘puchasing’ one would ‘get you into heaven’. That clearly is not the case. A lot of this would thus boil down to an authority question within the realms of apostolic succession and what is ‘the Church’. Which is what I think is at the heart of our fractured church.
I’m kind of new to this discussion, but, in the examples you gave FFM, didn’t you just prove the point of the original point? Isn’t our jail sentence, as you mentioned, death and hell? And isn’t that what Christ took care of? And I’m wondering where the Scriptures tell us the need for additional pennance for sins?
Man, I’m sorry bro, but…no. “Forgiven” means just that: forgiven. There is no civil/criminal distinction in this court. All the ‘justice’ owed to me was poured out upon Christ (Isa. 53 [show]
)–once for all time. And all the justice owed to Christ is being poured out upon me–and shall be for all time. That’s what it means to be forgiven, justified, saved, delivered…cleansed. Christ absorbed all of the Father’s wrath towards me on the cross. Which means the Father simply has no wrath left for me: Christ bore it all, once for all time. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…”–God, who is “just, and the justifier of the ungodly.” This is the effect of God’s having made “him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us–that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
[2]For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
[3]He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[4]Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
[5]But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
[6]All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned--every one--to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
[7]He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
[8]By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
[9]And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
[10]Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
[11]Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
[12]Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
As a favorite song of mine puts it:
“Your blood has washed away my sins, Jesus thank you!
The wrath of God completely satisfied, Jesus thank you!
Once your enemy, now seated at your table, Jesus thank you!”
Long story short, Christ has already purchased for us in the Cross everything we could possibly hope to purchase for ourselves in an indulgence.
Grace & peace – AG
Luke – absolutely. I think, during judgement any claim other than that of true acknowledgement and faith that the precious blood of Jesus crucified saved man from death, would spell doom for heaven seeking souls. You can not get there any other way. In order to fulfill his word, God became man and redeemed our fallen nature in the only way possible. However, a shepard doesn’t leave his flock. Reason would compel the fact that our marriage to Christ means he is with us when we sin, and needs to be apologized to when we spit in his face with our sin. This is where the pennance I mentioned might be required to free our conscience, apologizing to Jesus through the authority he gave his apostles to absolve sins.
Not sure if that helps in explaining the thinking on indugences, as they were a construct resulting from studies on the Catholic sacrament of confession – which would need to be discussed as well to possibly explain the questions that come up when we shake our collective heads at certain Catholic Church theology.
Aron – great summation of reformed theology on our saving grace.
FFM, in response to “pennance … might be required to free our conscience”, I’m going to have to respond with the historical beginning of the rift: “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils … my conscience is captive to the Word of God.”
At its core: Is James 5 [show] Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. [2]Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. [3]Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. [4]Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. [5]You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. [6]You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
giving priests (let alone anyone) the power to absolve sins? And is the leadership of the church the continuation of Peter and the Apostles?
[7]Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. [8]You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. [9]Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. [10]As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. [11]Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
[12]But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
[13]Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. [14]Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15]And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16]Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [17]Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18]Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
[19]My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, [20]let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (ESV)
So, if priests (or, again, anyone for that matter) have the power to absolve (are you sure you want to commit to that word?) sins, then … what about Jesus?
Jesus does not leave His flock, His bride — you are right. But, more importantly to this conversation, neither does His atonement. Is it not done? Is it retro-active from what happens here today or tomorrow? Are my sins not ALL paid for before I was even conceived? Aren’t they ALL absolutely absolved already? All of them?
I’m having trouble not finding the need for any further sins to be absolved (absolved?) to be curious. Either Jesus covered them all once, or we are left to believe that Jesus covered them to a certain point (conversion?) and then passed the baton to priests.
You said that “any claim other than that of true acknowledgement and faith that the precious blood of Jesus crucified saved man from death, would spell doom for heaven seeking souls” is right-on.
So, I still have trouble seeing in Scripture where I should see my continued need to apologize to God for sins. Is this on top of salvation — a bonus? Or is it complementary to salvation — a necessary part of the equation?
Does God already have all the “apology” He needs from me or am I currently incomplete in regards to reconciliation?
LM –
Great quote! And words to live by. An eternal hope of mine is that more and more Christians use both scripture and plain reason in their adventure to discovery, avoiding the emotionalism (Mt 6) and anti-intellectualism we see divide the Church everyday. I freely admit I could certainly use more education in both scripture and plain reason.
To address some of your points, I’m not sure if ‘at its core’ James 5 [show] Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. [2]Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. [3]Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. [4]Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. [5]You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. [6]You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
does give the authority. However, parts of James, and perhaps more importantly parts of Matthew, Mark and John do.
[7]Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. [8]You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. [9]Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. [10]As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. [11]Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
[12]But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
[13]Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. [14]Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15]And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16]Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [17]Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18]Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
[19]My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, [20]let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (ESV)
To summarize: Jesus has the power to forgive sin. Mk 2:5 [show] [5]And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (ESV)
, Lk 7:47 [show] [47]Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." (ESV)
, Mk 2:7 [show] [7]"Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (ESV)
– with the authority to forgive sin – Mk 2:10-12 [show] [10]But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the paralytic-- [11]"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." [12]And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!" (ESV)
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Jesus gave that same power/authority to Peter – Mt 16:19. Then, to all of the Apostles in Mt 18.
John, being an eyewitness was able to more directly record the passing of this authority in Jn 20:23 [show] [23]If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." (ESV)
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Now, if we are to read those scriptures and ask why are things like indulgences and confession are required to receive absolution, let me ask this question. How can a confessor, appointed by our Lord (Apostle, Priest, Pastor) judge to forgive or retain sins unless the sin in question is known? (Ja 5:16, 1 Jn 1:9 [show] [9]If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV)
) This question presupposes that a person believes in the apostolic succession from Jesus to Peter, then throughout the ages. That authority, those keys to the kingdom, forgiving and retaining, binding and loosing – are instructions from our savior, not some flippant idea of power hungry popes, pastors or priests.
In regards to your last few questions, I’ll wrap up by simply stating that I would hope we all repent and ask forgiveness everyday. I think the scriptures are pretty clear that true repentance is ‘a necessary part of the equation’, in the effective justification by faith sense. And not to make light of it, but doing otherwise could anger our jealous God and add to the tragic result of antinomianism seen and felt in many denominations.