Happy Reformation Day (October 31)

[nl]

Happy Reformation Day (October 31)

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, posted his famous 95 theses on the door of the church building in Wittenberg, Germany and advanced a Church Reformation whose impacts have been far-reaching.

There were church reformers before Martin Luther. There have been church reformers since Martin Luther.

Among Roman Catholics, this is the eve (day before) All Saints Day. All Saints Day has been a day to remember the great Christians of history. More than a few Christians from church history have become martyrs from the first century to the present time. Some have lived holy and exemplary lives.

Jesus Christ broke bread with his apostles and shared a cup and a meal with them. Jesus asked his disciples to do likewise and share a similar meal in remembrance of Him. This we ought often to do.

Remembering saints is a human add-on whose priority is much less than remembering the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.

Some use this day as a celebration of death and demons and horrors of earth and hell. Some use it as a holiday for children and candy.

However you choose to observe it, you may do well to remember these words:

Jesus Christ: Do this in remembrance of Me. (Luke 22:19)

Apostle Paul: Overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21)

 

[crossnote]

Happy day indeed. Most those 95 Thesis Martin hammered to the door was an exposé of Rome's practice of selling indulgences...a payment scheme to buy time out of purgatory, preying on the illiterate. I'm sure today Rome will say ' indulgences' weren't Rome's official position.

 

[kepha]

Happy day indeed. Most those 95 Thesis Martin hammered to the door was an exposé of Rome's practice of selling indulgences...a payment scheme to buy time out of purgatory, preying on the illiterate. I'm sure today Rome will say ' indulgences' weren't Rome's official position.

You are way off.

"An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins." The Church does this not just to aid Christians, "but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity" (CCC 1478).

​

or more simply as, "An indulgence is what we receive when the Church lessens the temporal (lasting only for a short time) penalties to which we may be subject even though our sins have been forgiven." To understand this definition, we need to look at the biblical principles behind indulgences.

Six BIBLICAL principles here.

Myth 1: A person can buy his way out of hell with indulgences.

This charge is without foundation. Since indulgences remit only temporal penalties, they cannot remit the eternal penalty of hell. Once a person is in hell, no amount of indulgences will ever change that fact. The only way to avoid hell is by appealing to God’s eternal mercy while still alive. After death, one’s eternal fate is set (Heb. 9:27).
Myth 2: A person can buy indulgences for sins not yet committed.

The Church has always taught that indulgences do not apply to sins not yet committed. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "[An indulgence] is not a permission to commit sin, nor a pardon of future sin; neither could be granted by any power."
Myth 3: A person can "buy forgiveness" with indulgences.

The definition of indulgences presupposes that forgiveness has already taken place: "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven" (Indulgentarium Doctrina 1, emphasis added). Indulgences in no way forgive sins. They deal only with punishments left after sins have been forgiven.
Myth 4: Indulgences were invented as a means for the Church to raise money.
Indulgences developed from reflection on the sacrament of reconciliation. They are a way of shortening the penance of sacramental discipline and were in use centuries before money-related problems appeared.
Myth 5: An indulgence will shorten your time in purgatory by a fixed number of days.

The number of days which used to be attached to indulgences were references to the period of penance one might undergo during life on earth. The Catholic Church does not claim to know anything about how long or short purgatory is in general, much less in a specific person’s case.
Myth 6: A person can buy indulgences.

The Council of Trent instituted severe reforms in the practice of granting indulgences, and, because of prior abuses, "in 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions" (Catholic Encyclopedia). This act proved the Church’s seriousness about removing abuses from indulgences.
Myth 7: A person used to be able to buy indulgences.

One never could "buy" indulgences. The financial scandal surrounding indulgences, the scandal that gave Martin Luther an excuse for his heterodoxy, involved alms—indulgences in which the giving of alms to some charitable fund or foundation was used as the occasion to grant the indulgence. There was no outright selling of indulgences. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "t is easy to see how abuses crept in. Among the good works which might be encouraged by being made the condition of an indulgence, almsgiving would naturally hold a conspicuous place. . . . It is well to observe that in these purposes there is nothing essentially evil. To give money to God or to the poor is a praiseworthy act, and, when it is done from right motives, it will surely not go unrewarded."
...But, there are still questions to be asked:
Myths about Indulgences | Catholic Answers

 

[ThomistColin]

Also, the nailing of theses on the door of the Church was common practice among the clerical professors of Europe. It was a declaration calling for a debate. St. Albert the Great and his two students, St. Bonaventura and St. Thomas Aquinas, all nailed theses to the doors of a Parisian Church, calling for open debate on the theses. It was not until the Diet of Worms, when Luther was charged with heresy (his treatise on faith alone), sedition (proclaiming that EVERY pope was evil), and fornication (he had two children out of wedlock). Luther fought against only the first two charges. Cardinal Cajetan argued for Luther to simply denounce his books of sedition, and allow open debate be held on the first charge, and for him to leave the priesthood and take care of the two children. Luther gave his famous response, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Thus, without any defense against the crimes, he was found guilty and declared a heretic, a traitor to the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), and a fornicator. Luther fled Worms and ran to the protection of the Prince of Saxony.

Luther would in later life comment that he may well could have denounced his works of sedition, but felt that he was trapped by the Church, which proved that the current Pope was anti-Christ.

(Here's the funny thing: The Council of Trent agreed with every single one of the 95 theses.)

 

[crossnote]

"An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins." The Church does this not just to aid Christians, "but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity" (CCC 1478).

Typical priestcraft language...always setting an intermediary between God and man other than the God/man Jesus Christ; whether it be the Church, a Priest, Mary, the Saints, or the Pope, it all robs Christ of His work in opening up free access into the Holy of Holies and the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 2:17-18
17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,
18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Hebrews 10:19-22
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.