Indulgences

[goldenchild17]

What are they? Are they biblical? How best can one explain the abuses that involved indulgences at the time of Martin Luther.

[StColette]

Primer on Indulgences
[url="http://www.catholic.com/library/Primer_on_Indulgences.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/library/Primer_on_Indulgences.asp[/url]

Myths Abouth Indulgences
[url="http://www.catholic.com/library/Myths_About_Indulgences.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/library/Myths_About_Indulgences.asp[/url]

[goldenchild17]

Very cool. That's what I needed.

[StColette]

glad to be of service

[MorphRC]

I dont agree with them.

[StColette]

[quote name='MorphRC' date='Sep 23 2004, 10:17 AM'] I dont agree with them. [/quote]
? don't agree with who ? the person who wrote the articles I posted or the indulgences ?

[MorphRC]

Indulgences.

[StColette]

lol ty I wasn't sure what you were saying you didn't agree to

btw may I ask why you don't agree with them ?

Edited September 24, 2004 by StColette

[MorphRC]

becoz they arent biblical or apostolic, and theres no need for them.

[StColette]

Indulgences

By definition, an indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to personal sin, provided that the sin has already been forgiven. The power invested in the Church and her bishops and priests to grant indulgences is found in several scriptures.

To Peter alone Jesus granted the first power to bind and loose anything.

Mt 16:19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

To all the disciples Jesus later granted the same power to bind and loose.

Mt 18:18
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

To all the disciples Jesus gave the power to forgive sins.

Jn 20:21-23
(Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

As can be seen from the nature of personal sin, as man turns from God and towards created things, man incurs both guilt and punishment. Through the blood of Jesus, all guilt of sin-turning from God--is remitted through confession of sin. Punishment, limited temporal punishment due to sin-preferring created things to God--still remains.

Num 14:20-23
The Lord answered (Moses): "I pardon them as you have asked. Yet, by my life and the Lord's glory that fills the whole earth, of all the men who have seen my glory and the signs I worked in Egypt and in the desert, and who nevertheless have put me to the test ten times already and have failed to heed my voice, not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. None of these who have spurned me shall see it."

2 Sam 12:13-14
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan answered David: "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely die."

1 Cor 11:29-32
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but since we are judged by (the) Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

The three classic actions leading to indulgences are prayer, good deeds and almsgiving.

Prov 16:6
By kindness and piety guilt is expiated, and by the fear of the Lord man avoids evil.

Dan 4:24
Therefore, O king, take my advice; atone for your sins by good deeds, and for your misdeeds by kindness to the poor; then your prosperity will be long.

Luke 19:8-9
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham."

Act 10:4
Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

The teaching Magisterium of the church in ecumenical council also affirms indulgences.

Council of Trent (1545-1563), Decree on Indulgences, Sess. 25
Christ gave the power of granting indulgences to the Church, and since the Church has, even in ancient times, made use of this divinely given power (Mt. 16:19; 18:18), the holy council teaches and commands that the usage of indulgences--a usage most beneficial to Christians and approved by the authority of the holy councils--should be kept up in the Church; and it anathematizes those who say that indulgences are useless, or that the Church does not have the power of granting them.

Vatican Council II (1962-1965), Constitution of the Revision of Indulgences, No. 1
The doctrine of indulgences and their practice have been in force for many centuries in the Catholic Church. They would appear to be solidly founded on Divine Revelation, handed down "from the apostles."
From the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 1471
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.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 1473
The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sections 1478-1479
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 punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity. 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.

[url="http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap060300.htm#ap060303"]http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap060300.htm#ap060303[/url]

[MorphRC]

ty