Coins, Coffers & Catholic Fiat
Last time we looked at the Reformation, Martin Luther had nailed his 95 thesis to a church door, and I’d told you that it changed the world.
Let’s have a brief look at what on earth all that was about:
A chap called Johann Tetzel had been charged by the Pope with the task of selling indulgences in the region of Wittenberg, where Luther was, for the purpose of raising money for the building works on St Peter’s in Rome.
Luther wasn’t happy about this. Which is an understatement. An indulgence is the spiritual equivalent of a ‘get out of jail free’ card in Monopoly - it grants a free passage out of purgatory for you or a family member.
Hopefully it isn’t too surprising that the gospel of grace and faith that Luther had just discovered flatly contradicted such actions. They outraged him. As I’ll go into more detail on another time, Luther did outraged well. Really well.
Tetzel not only peddled indulgences, which would be bad in and of itself, but he was mainly concerned with making money (or at least history records him as being). The famous phrase attributed to Tetzel is:
As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!
The written text from one of these indulgences reads:
By the authority of all the saints, and in mercy towards you, I absolve you from all sins and misdeeds and remit all punishments for ten days.
Luther’s objection to indulgences is obvious - as soon as you suggest that freedom from sin is temporary you have replaced the work of Christ with something inferior. As soon as you require an act, in this case a payment, for the remission of sins then you’re mired so deep in deadly legalism that you don’t know which way is up and the cloying Pelagianism you advocate is killing not only you but anyone you teach.
When the church teaches this, you’ve got a problem. You need a reformation.
His 95 theses were a set of objections to this practice of selling indulgences as well as other abuses of the medieval Catholic church. You can read them here if it takes your fancy.
What do Luther’s theses teach us? That we have to stand for doctrine. That we have to stand for doctrine even when people profess truth with their mouths but their actions speak of death instead of life. That salvation is freely attributed to us at great cost to Christ. That when we try to add anything beyond Christ’s work as a necessary precursor to salvation we denigrate Christ, rob him of glory and spit on his name.
These weren’t simply issues of abuses within the church and corrupt priests, although they were that - these were issues of the fame and glory of Jesus the resplendent son of the most high God.
Luther teaches us to let grace be grace. Luther teaches us to give Jesus what he’s due.
He’s due everything.
Explore posts in the same categories: Reformation, Church History