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Subject: The Pope brings back Indulgences
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 15:55:32 -0800
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From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: The Pope endorses indulgences
APOSTASY IN THE NEWS
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The Electronic Telegraph
Issue #1284 November 30, 1998
Catholics embarrassed by the revival of
indulgences
By Victoria Combe
THE Pope revived the once controversial
practice of earning indulgences yesterday,
a decision met with caution and a degree of
embarrassment among British Roman
Catholics.
A Papal Bull for the Millennium, issued on
the first Sunday of Advent, Incarnationis
Mysterium (the Mystery of the Incarnation),
describes in detail how Roman Catholics may
gain indulgences for themselves and souls
in purgatory.
Indulgences are associated by some with the
worst examples of corruption, exploitation
and hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic
Church's history. Chaucer mocked their sale
in The Canterbury Tales with the depiction
of The Pardoner.
A Roman Catholic Media Office spokesman
claimed that indulgences had always been a
part of the Church's teaching and occurred
in every Holy Year, but had lapsed into the
background.
An indulgence releases the sinner from time
they must spend in purgatory as punishment
for their sins. The Church teaches that the
living may earn indulgences on behalf of
the dead and help to speed their journey
from purgatory to heaven.
The Church's teaching is that all who die,
except saints who go straight to heaven, go
to purgatory, where they must serve time
for sins that they have committed and
confessed. Indulgences do not save
unrepentant souls from hell.
Before the Reformation, the Church sold
indulgences to pilgrims and used the money
to pay for some of its grandest buildings,
extravagant treasures and to fund the
opulent lifestyle of bishops. Pope Leo X,
who ruled at the height of the Renaissance
from 1513-21, was said to have used the
money from the sale of indulgences to
pilgrims to pay for the building of St
Peter's Basilica in Rome. Growing
discontent with the wealth and corruption
that surrounded the sale of indulgences
enraged Martin Luther and split the Church.
The Pope is not proposing a return to
trading indulgences and makes plain in an
appendix to the Bull that believers must
earn indulgences through good works,
pilgrimage, prayer, abstinence and giving
money to the poor. However, the unfortunate
historical association will make it
difficult for some to embrace the new
decree from Rome.
Nicholas Coote, the assistant general
secretary to the Roman Catholic Bishops'
Conference in England and Wales, said that
he and other Church members felt shame over
the past use of indulgences. He said: "My
initial reaction is one of embarrassment.
Indulgences are associated with childish
superstition."
Dr Coote said that priests in this country
would have to work hard to explain to
parishioners the true meaning of
indulgences and avoid reviving prejudices
against the Church. He said: "The doctrine
is perfectly sound, but indulgences are not
magic and people cannot rattle off 10 Hail
Marys and think they will go straight to
heaven."
The appendix on "Conditions for Gaining the
Jubilee Indulgence", which is signed by
Cardinal William Baum of the Apostolic
Penitentiary, said that Roman Catholics may
only receive one indulgence a day. It
stated that believers must go to
confession, pray for the Pope and receive
the Eucharist on the same day that they
perform the good works.
They may earn the "Jubilee indulgence" by
going on pilgrimage to Rome, or to the Holy
Land or by spending time with the sick,
handicapped, imprisoned, or elderly people
living alone. Indulgence may also be gained
by actions of "penitential spirit" such as
abstaining for at least one day from
smoking or alcohol, by giving money to the
poor, or by devoting personal free time to
"activities benefiting the community".
Fr Liam Kelly, of the Roman Catholic
Secretariat for England and Wales, said
that the "chequered history" of indulgences
made it difficult for people to understand
their value. He said: "The language is
archaic, but the concept is good."
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From the Book:
Understanding Roman Catholicism
by
Rick Jones
Website:
http://www.chick.com/reading/books/160/160_29.asp
INDULGENCES
Through indulgences, the sins of Roman Catholics,
both those who are alive and those in Purgatory,
can supposedly be forgiven:
"Through indulgences the faithful can obtain
the remission of temporal punishment
resulting from sin for themselves and also
for the souls in Purgatory." Pg. 374, #1498
Here is the Catechism's definition of an
indulgence:
"An indulgence is a remission before God of
the temporal punishment due to sins whose
guilt has already been forgiven, which the
faithful Christian who is duly disposed
gains under certain prescribed conditions
through the action of the Church which, as
the minister of redemption, dispenses and
applies with authority the treasury of the
satisfactions of Christ and the saints." Pg.
370, #1471
Here, the water gets deep. Space does not permit a
full explanation of indulgences. Suffice it to say
that they are a complicated system of good works.
It should also be mentioned that every rule
regarding indulgences is a tradition of men. Not
one can be found in God's Word.
Categories of sins?
"To understand this doctrine (Indulgences)
and practice of the Church, it is necessary
to understand that sin has a double
consequence." Pg. 370, #1472
But the Bible consistently reveals that all sin has
the same consequence:
"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans
6:23
"Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death." James 1:15
The final result of sin is always death, no matter
how minor we may think a particular sin is.
Catholics try to pay for sins through indulgences,
but Christ already paid for every sin:
"For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures;" 1
Corinthians 15:3
While it is true that God does want His children to
perform good works, those works are not a
requirement for salvation, they are a result of
salvation. Paul teaches:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in
them." Ephesians 2:8, 10
Once one is saved by grace, good works should
follow. But good works are never a requirement for
salvation. Neither are they a requirement for
forgiveness of sins after salvation.
The New Testament bulges with examples of Jesus
forgiving sins, but He never demanded good works as
a condition of forgiveness.
Can the living help the dead?
Catholicism also purports that indulgences help
those who have already died:
"Since the faithful departed now being
purified are also members of the same
communion of saints, one way we can help
them is to obtain indulgences for them, so
that the temporal punishments due for their
sins may be remitted." Pg. 371-372, #1479
Here is another load of man-made traditions. You
will never find any of this taught in the Word of
God. As we have mentioned previously, the time to
have your sins remitted is while you are still
alive.
Three themes
In this doctrine, three recurring themes come to
the surface again:
1. Another divine attribute of Jesus is minimized.
The Bible declares that only Christ's work can
bring about the forgiveness of sins. Catholicism,
though, claims that sins can be forgiven through
the good works of any ordinary Catholic.
2. Indulgences keep people in bondage to the
Catholic church. Rather than going to God for
forgiveness, Catholics must toil and strive,
performing good deeds through the Catholic church
for forgiveness of their sins.
It is noteworthy to ponder that the "good works" of
Catholicism differ from the good works of the
Bible. Biblical good works are deeds done for other
people, while Catholicism' s good works revolve
primarily around performing rituals of the church
(Masses, saying rosaries, Catholic prayers,
lighting candles, etc.). God intended good works to
benefit others, not to bring people into bondage to
a church.
3. Indulgences are a form of spiritual blackmail,
forcing members to remain faithful to the church,
so they can someday help their loved ones reach
heaven.
Conclusion
Is this system of good works from God? Read what
God records in His Holy Word on the subject, then
decide for yourself:
"Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved
us..." Titus 3:5
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