Did the Catholic Church ever teach that you can buy your way to Heaven?

Question

I have heard this idiocy from many protestants all my life. They even teach it in school. But the truth of the matter is that the Roman Catholic Church never taught in any official universal Church capacity that you can buy your way to heaven. There have been abuses but it was never, ever the official teachings. Show me an official document, place, name, pope, etc, who ever said that you can buy your way to heaven?

Canon on Justification of the Council of Trent. "If anyone shall say that man can be justified before God by his own works which are done either by his own natural powers, or through the teaching of the law, and without divine grace through Christ Jesus: let him be anathema.

The Catholic Church has never officially taught that you can buy your way to heaven. Some individuals pushed the idea, but it was condemned by the Church. Protestants, get over it. Your accusing the Church of doing something that was never world wide and never offical teaching.

Johann Tetzel: preacher of indulgences at the time of Luther; born: Pirma near Meissen, 1465; died: Leipzig August 11, 1519. He studied at Leipzig and entered the Dominican Order there. Tetzel preached indulgences in 10 different cities from 1503 to 1510. In 1516 he was appointed subcommissioner in Meissen for the indulgence granted to those who contributed to the rebuilding of St. Peter's in Rome.
In accordance with the polemical techniques of the period, Tetzel was grossly calumniated; ACCUSATIONS included charges of adultery, falsifying bulls, and the granting of absolution without contrition and for future sins- all at a monetary price. Tetzel was orthodox in regard to indulgences for the living. In regard to those for the dead, however, he followed the teaching contained in the Mainz Instruction issued to preachers of indulgences. This instruction which was never official for the univeral church, as the name implies "Mainz".

Protestants, please stop kidding yourselves. Their were protestnat inquisitions too. Many of the reformers including Calvin and Luther gloated in the death of their "enemies." Calvin ran Geneva like a Nazi state.

"Preachers act in the name of the Church", writes Cardinal Cajetan, "so long as they teach the doctrines of Christ and the Church; but if they teach, guided by their own minds and arbitrariness of will, things of which they are ignorant, they cannot pass as representatives of the Church; it need not be wondered at that they go astray" (Paulus, "Johann Tetzel", 165). It was this deviation from the correct teaching of the Church and the obtrusive and disgraceful injection of the treasury chest, that led to abuses and scandals reprobated by such contemporaries as Cochlaeus, Emser, and Duke George (Paulus, op. cit., 117-18). "Grave abuses arose; the attitude of the preachers, the manner of offering and publishing the indulgences aroused many scandals; above all, Tetzel is in no way to be exonerated" (Janssen-Pastor, "Geschichte des deutsch. Volkes", 18th ed., Freiburg, II, 84).

Answer 1

Kait, you and this McCarthy fellow completely misquote and misrepresent the theology upon which the "Treasury of Spiritual Goods" is based.

It is closely linked to the Communion of Saints and the Mystical Body of Christ. Praying for sinners, both for their conversion and for God's Mercy upon them, is an ancient practice that dates back to the Apostles. Doing acts of mercy and sacrifice, and offering these acts up to God as a sign of repentance, likewise is an ancient practice dating back to the Apostles. In history, we know there were saints who offered these acts not only for themselves but for others, in a way similar to Abraham who pleaded for God's mercy. These saints, as well, followed in the footsteps of Christ, and based upon the merits of Christ's redemptive act, obtained mercy for themselves and the Christain community that make up the Mystical Body of Christ. Thus, upon their death, these saints remain united with Christ, and with His Mystical Body the Church, and continue to plead for mercy on behalf of the members of the Body on Earth.

Answer 2

No.

+ Purgatory +

To discuss indulgences, first we have to talk about Purgation (or Purgatory).

Are you perfect now? Most people would say no.

Will you be perfect in heaven? Most people believe yes.

Purgatory (or purgation) is the process of God's love changing our imperfect selves into perfect beings. Depending on the amount of change needed by different people this can be an easy or slightly harder process.

Everyone in purgatory is on their way to heaven. I don't think Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a very hard time of it.

+ Indulgences +

The concept is that a person can do acts of penance now on earth to make purgation easier.

Penance is internally turning one's heart toward God and away from sin in hope in divine mercy and externally by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

A corruption grew in the Church many years ago where rich people would give enough alms (money to the Church) to essentially buy an easy way to heaven. This was one of Martin Luther's protests (hence Protestants) and shortly thereafter the Catholic Church cleaned up this practice.

In 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions.

But remember because everyone in purgatory is already on their way to heaven, indulgences do not get you into heaven. They just make purgation easier.

I guess if you did not believe in purgatory then there would be no reason to worry about indulgences.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

In the 15th century, Tetzel, was commissioned by the pope to sell indulgences. This was the major cause of Martin Luther leaving the Catholic Church.
Life and Times of Martin Luther ...That the free gift of God should be bought and sold like a commodity in the marketplace aroused the ire of Martin Luther. Indulgence seller Tetzel

Answer 4

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is “The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven. A properly disposed member of the Christian faithful can obtain an indulgence under prescribed conditions through the help of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial if it removes part of the temporal punishment due to sin, or plenary if it removes all punishment.”

Indulgences and the Treasury of Merit

The doctrine of the ‘Treasury of the Church’ was first officially expressed in 1343 by Pope Clement VI. He describes this treasury as not only consisting of the merits of Christ’s atonement but also “the merits (=atonements) of Mary, the Mother of God, and of all the chosen, from the greatest to the least of the just, contribute to the increase of the treasure from which the Church draws in order to secure remission of temporal punishment.”

Answer 5

No, it never did. I have noticed that all those who have said “yes”, have failed to provide references.

By the way the “Protestant Reformation” as such never happened. Martin Luther set out to reform the Church, but instead broke away and started a man made one. Reforming of these break-away churches you could call protestant reformations. But the so called “Protestant Reformation” is actually a rebellion – and rebelling against lawful authority is hardly a Christian thing to do.

Answer 6

It never taught it nor did it as a Church sell indulgences. That was individual priests (particularly in England)that sold indulgences, even Luther admits this. The money never went to the Rome or even the local Church but instead the priests pockets. Rome in most cases was unaware it was going on until pointed out then they stopped it. However it gets twisted around and changed and worked in with the Corporal Works of Mercy theology what they term "earning your way to heaven". Catholics have always believed and always taught salvation is a free girft from God, but it is ours to lose if we do not live the Christian lives of service and sacrifice that are required of our devotion.

EDIT: to the person who brings up Tetzel they fail to mention he was charged with fraud by the papal nuncio and condemned for immorality and shunned. In fact the only person to contact him was Luther.

Answer 7

As a former catholic now atheist i have to say that it is completely true, in the middle ages you could buy a special pardon which according to the pope would get you straight to heaven. Needless to say the catholic church were reformed after the great schism in the council of Trent.

Answer 8

Sampson Sievers like Tetzel also obtained indulgences from people in Switzerland.

This question reminds me of someone asking if the holocaust was a hoax. No, it really happened. History is full of people’s accounts of having experienced the holocaust. Like wise, history is full of very sincere people’s accounts of obtaining indulgences (in its many forms) for both themselves and dead loved ones. Please note there are very many sincere Christians (I believe both priests and members) within the Catholic church.

A brief history: The protestant reformation began because men (such as Luther, Calvin, and Tausen) chose to firmly follow the Word of God, and not man. Hence the name Protestant, protesting Romes unbiblical practices. “. . . the great Protestant principle [was] that the Bible and the Bible only is the rule of faith and practice.”

An example of indulgences would be confession. I give/confess to a man (a priest) my sins and in return I receive forgiveness of my sins (or salvation/heaven). “. . . He who kneels before fallen man, and opens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations of his heart, is debasing his manhood and degrading every noble instinct of his soul. In unfolding the sins of his life to a priest, - an erring, sinful mortal, and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,- his standard of character is lowered and he is defiled in consequence. His thought of God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity; for the priest stands as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man to man is the secret spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is defiling the world and fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him who loves self-indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to a fellow mortal than to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to human nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mortify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.”

***UPDATE***

My friend, God tells us that salvation is a free gift. It can not be earned or bought for if it could be Jesus would not have needed to die for us. He could of showed us how to buy (by money, good works, etc.) this gift. But instead He gave His life because that is the only way He could save you and me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7131088.stm

Answer 9

The practice was common in the Middle Ages; it was called selling indulgences. It was one of the Church's practices which Martin Luther decried in his 95 theses.

Answer 10

No, Pardon Peddling was always officially condemned as simony and sacrilege,even by the hierarchs who practiced simony and shady financial deals.

Salvation by works without Faith, joined to Hope and Love, by one's own efforts and not by grace was condemned repeatedly as the heresy of Pelagianism