| Dear Rev. Know-It-All,
I was watching television last week and
learned that Martin Luther left the Catholic Church because they were selling
free passes to heaven and you could buy forgiveness for sins even before
you committed the sins.
Is this true?
Wanda Foldem
Dear Wanda,
No, it’s not true.
You are talking about indulgences.
Read the Catechism
of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1471-1479.
Indulgences don’t forgive sin.
An indulgence is the remission of temporal
punishment due to sin.
To put it simply an indulgence can be compared
to medicine. Once you have repented from sin and stopped sinning,
a penance helps to undo the damage in your life and the lives of those
around you caused by your sin.
In the old days lengthy public penances
were prescribed. The Church can be indulgent, however, and by uniting
our penances to the whole body of Christ, the communion of saints, we are
brought back into right relationship with Christ and with the Church.
Remember, your sin doesn't only hurt you
and offend God, it hurts the whole Church. That is what all that
business about the merits of the saints means. It isn't voodoo or
legalism. It's about coming back into right relationship with the
whole family of God.
Though clever charlatans have always found
a way to make money off religion, the Catholic church has never sold pardon
for sins. True, charitable contributions can be a form of penance,
but you have to stop sinning and go to confession.
I think it’s very interesting that the
new ecological religion and the US government have stolen a bad idea from
medieval charlatans.
Apparently, if you give a contribution
to the Forestry Service, they will give you a certificate that allows you
to keep polluting. They put it all in terms of reducing your carbon
footprint. The money you send will not go into the pockets of bureaucrats
but will go to planting trees, thus reducing the overall carbon in the
atmosphere. You can go on driving your SUV and flying your private
jet.
At least in the Catholic Church you have
to repent and stop sinning before you get the indulgence.
Where's Martin Luther when you really need
him?
Sincerely,
Rev. Know-It-All
The
Question Was
-
- -
Do you sell indulgences
- those 'free passes' to Heaven? |
|
