By Rev. Dennis Caldwell
http://www.not1lost.blogspot.com/
High Noon, October 31, In 1517 - Pope Leo X, empty-pocketed and needing funds to rebuild St. Peter’s basilica, issued a special “sale” of indulgences. The very word “indulgence” tends to convey dubious moral connotations, but these indulgences were particularly questionable. What was an “indulgence”? It was a special sort of forgiveness for sins issued by the pope in consideration of various acts of merit, in this case donations to Leo’s treasury. Indulgences could even be “purchased” on behalf of loved ones in purgatory.Dominican friar Johann Tetzel became the pontiff’s peddler, a P. T. Barnum traveling around with a brass-bound chest, a bag of printed receipts, and an enormous cross draped with a papal banner. Whenever Tetzel came to a town, church bells peeled, crowds gathered, and street performers kicked up their heels. Tetzel would set up shop in the nave of the local church, open his bags, and shout, “I have here the passports to lead the human soul to the celestial joys of Paradise. As soon as the coin rings in the bowl, the soul for whom it is paid will fly from purgatory and straight to heaven.”He usually exceeded his quota.
Morgan, R. J. (2000). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
By Rev. Dennis Caldwell
http://www.not1lost.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Not1Lost
2 comments:
What people need to realize is this is the very institution that incorporated from pagan theology, and propagated with all it's so called authority the doctrine of eternal torment - that all its daughter institutions from the reformation produced in the protestant movement which most are associated with. And so this bizarre, insane idea of a loving God and His work through these institutions continues..... The truth must come out!
It sounds so like the Jewish temple system, whereby only the wealthy could afford to bring a sacrifice and thereby receive forgiveness. I'm told this was the context of Jesus overturning the money tables.
the poor were shut out, simply because they were poor.
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