The Buying and Selling of Indulgences
In the 16th century, Martin Luther had had it with the Catholic Church. The Church was selling indulgences, which in effect, was a way to buy oneself into heaven. Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg and Protestantism was born.
In his 95th thesis, he wrote:
“And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.”
Luther believed that being sinless and getting into heaven was hard work. There was not an easy way to achieve it and one certainly could not simply buy it. Now, I’m no Christian nor am I even a theist, but Luther’s point is a good one in that it can apply to a broader range of things in this world than just salvation. Almost all physical objects can be bought and sold, but abstract ideas and conditions are consistently not for sale.
In his 24th thesis, Luther wrote:
“The greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.”
People can desire a number of abstract things. Some want happiness, while others want love. Some desire maturity and others intellectualism. Some want to feel moral and others want to be good parents. Some want to be artistically gifted and others want to have “refined taste.” And, many of us want all of these things. The thing is, these are very difficult things to achieve that each take a lifetime of constant struggle. They are illusive journeys rather than defined destinations. Deep down, everyone knows it, too.
Nonetheless, people still try to buy them. I know materialists who think that the latest and greatest objects will bring them fulfillment. I know couples who purchase things for each other and with each other, but do not really know or like each other. I know people who donate money out of guilt and I know parents who try to buy their children things to makeup for the fact that they are never around. I know legions of the pretentious who try to surround themselves with art, literature and music, but have never spent the time or effort to observe it and understand it. And I know grown children who think that buying certain objects and living a certain lifestyle will make them into responsible adults.
Luther believed every truly repentant Christian had a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon from the pope (thesis 36).
Hard work leads to true achievement of anything incorporeal and nothing else.
In his 95th thesis, he wrote:
“And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.”
Luther believed that being sinless and getting into heaven was hard work. There was not an easy way to achieve it and one certainly could not simply buy it. Now, I’m no Christian nor am I even a theist, but Luther’s point is a good one in that it can apply to a broader range of things in this world than just salvation. Almost all physical objects can be bought and sold, but abstract ideas and conditions are consistently not for sale.
In his 24th thesis, Luther wrote:
“The greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.”
People can desire a number of abstract things. Some want happiness, while others want love. Some desire maturity and others intellectualism. Some want to feel moral and others want to be good parents. Some want to be artistically gifted and others want to have “refined taste.” And, many of us want all of these things. The thing is, these are very difficult things to achieve that each take a lifetime of constant struggle. They are illusive journeys rather than defined destinations. Deep down, everyone knows it, too.
Nonetheless, people still try to buy them. I know materialists who think that the latest and greatest objects will bring them fulfillment. I know couples who purchase things for each other and with each other, but do not really know or like each other. I know people who donate money out of guilt and I know parents who try to buy their children things to makeup for the fact that they are never around. I know legions of the pretentious who try to surround themselves with art, literature and music, but have never spent the time or effort to observe it and understand it. And I know grown children who think that buying certain objects and living a certain lifestyle will make them into responsible adults.
Luther believed every truly repentant Christian had a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon from the pope (thesis 36).
Hard work leads to true achievement of anything incorporeal and nothing else.
posted by American Dilettante at
1:33 PM
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