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Many have condemned the sale of indulgences over the centuries, but the most famous of these is Martin Luther.

Martin Luther (10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) initiated the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

Martin Luther taught that salvation is not from good works, but a free gift of God, received only by grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that The Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptised Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with Luther's teachings are called Lutherans.

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Catholic AnswerThis is another, "when did you stop beating your wife?" question. You can't answer it, because the premise is a lie. The Catholic Church never sold indulgences, ever. Nor, for that matter do indulgences have anything to do with forgiving sin. You need to understand the Christian concept of the Body of Christ: we are all members of the Body of Christ by our baptism. When one of us sins, we hurt the entire Body. Our Blessed Lord died on the cross to forgive our sins. We apply that forgiveness to ourselves in various ways, the first of which is baptism which wipes out everything up to that point in our lives. After baptism, Our Blessed Lord provided another Sacrament to remove serious sin (and venial {less serious}), that is confession. When you go to confession you must have contrition for your sins, confess all of them, and resolve to never to them again. Let me see if I can explain this another way:

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To understand indulgences you must first understand sin and its consequences:

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When one sins, one damages the Body of Christ, as, by our Baptism, we are all members of the Body of Christ, and everything we do, for good or ill, affects everyone.

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Say you are in the street in your neighborhood playing softball. You hit one and it goes flying across the street and through Mrs. Neighbor's front window. You put the bat down, walk across the street, knock on the door, and apologize to Mrs. Neighbor. She forgives you, since you were nice, and owned up to your fault. Up until now we have the basic scenario of someone going into confession and confessing their sins.

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But wait, notice that in my example, the window is still broken. You have to go home and confess to your father and mother that you broke the window, they, in turn, take your allowance for the next several years and pay to have the window fixed. The broken window is the example of how we damage the Body of Christ. The allowance that you have to fork over for the next several years is your penance.

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Now, an indulgence is based on the fact that when Jesus was a man living on the earth, his mother, and the other saints down through the centuries, have done more good works than they need to do their penances (in the case of Our Blessed Lord, and His mother, they had no need of penances, so all their good works are surplus), so, the Church, through Her power of the keys, can apply the merits of those good works to your penance. So in the example above, the indulgence is your parents fixing the window for you, and you are still going to get your allowance. You might have to fork over some of it to help, but they are not going to impoverish you for the next several years.

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That is what an indulgence is: it is the application of the good works of the saints to make up for your penances. Please note that they are only applicable to someone in a state of grace who has already been forgiven. They have NOTHING to do with the remission of sin. Without prior remission of sin, there can be no indulgence.

. Now, any good work can be used to obtain an indulgence in the Church, the classic works of penance are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The one that causes so much trouble back during the protestant revolt was an indulgence attached to almsgiving. For instance, you can earn a plenary indulgence now if you go to confession, go to Mass, receive Holy Communion, pray for the Holy Father, and do a good work, say a Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or in a family group. You used to be able to earn a Plenary Indulgence for all the same conditions, but instead of saying the Rosary, you could donate ANY sum of money for some good work the Church was involved with. In this particular case, it was rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica. Because of all the hysterics and false rumors, that is no longer possible. Bottom line? The Church has never sold indulgences, ever.

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Continue Learning about General History

How did the church reform the papacy after the Protestant Reformation?

They stopped selling indulgences.


How long did the selling of indulgences last?

The selling of indulgences, a practice primarily associated with the Catholic Church, gained significant prominence in the late Middle Ages, particularly from the 11th to the 16th centuries. It peaked during the early 16th century, leading to Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517, which criticized the practice and contributed to the Protestant Reformation. While the church officially curtailed the sale of indulgences in the wake of the Reformation, variations of the practice persisted in some forms until the Council of Trent (1545–1563) formally ended it.


A Christian who protested against the Catholic Church?

Martin Luther was the one who protested against the catholic church (pope) for selling indulgences.


What were the key ideas of Martin Luther's 95 theses and how did they challenge the practices of the Catholic Church?

Martin Luther's 95 theses challenged the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences and emphasized the importance of faith and scripture over the authority of the Pope. He also criticized the wealth and corruption of the Church, calling for reform and a return to the teachings of the Bible.


Was the selling of indulgences a way for the pope to raise money?

Selling indulgences raised money for the church and the pope. They managed to convince the people to buy indulgences even though common sense would tell people that buying a piece of paper does not rid all of a person's sins.

Related Questions

How did the church reform the papacy after the Protestant Reformation?

They stopped selling indulgences.


Who was the humanist priest who criticized corrupt popes and monks?

One humanist priest who criticized corrupt popes and monks was Martin Luther. He was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation and spoke out against practices such as the selling of indulgences by the Catholic Church.


Who was criticized for selling indulgences in order to raise money to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome?

pope leo x


What did reformers criticize about the church?

They criticized the Church because of them giving out indulgences and the people whom received them were not undoing their sins through good deeds.


What were the problems with the church in the middle ages?

Corruption, the selling of indulgences, etc. etc.


The selling of indulgences by the Catholic church was a major contributing factor to the?

Protestant Reformation


What did martin Luther when he didn't like the church selling indulgences?

He posted the 95 thesis on the Church doors


Why does the Catholic Church sell indulgences and then say they are the work of individuals when the money goes to the Church as a whole?

The selling of Indulgences was stopped after the Reformation, was practiced only by certain unscrupulous individuals .


Which monk raised money for the Church by selling indulgences?

A monk that raised money for the church by selling indulgences is John Tetzel. It is believed that his action inspired Martin Luther to write the Ninety-Five Theses.


Which of these people was criticized for selling indulgences in order to raise money to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome?

Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was criticized for selling indulgences in the early 16th century. He was known for his aggressive tactics and claims that purchasing indulgences would guarantee forgiveness of sins and entrance to heaven. This practice led to public outcry and was a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther.


What were problems with the church in the middle ages?

Corruption, the selling of indulgences, and need more righteousness in the members.


When did the Catholic Church get rid of indulgences?

The practice of granting an indulgence, which is the remission of temporal punishment due to sin (i.e., remission of restitution) have not ended. In fact, the Catholic Church has an official book of indulgences that is still in use today. What has ended was the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. The practice of selling indulgences was a problem that existed at least from the late 1300s till the early to mid 1500s. In fact, it was one of the "theses" that was pointed out by Martin Luther on his 95 Theses in 1517. By the mid-late 1500s, however, the practice of selling indulgences had largely died out.