Indulgences:

The Catholic practice of Indulgences (from the Latin verb ‘indulgere‘, meaning “leniency”, “to be lenient toward”) is based on the belief that the merits of Christ and the saints can be applied to the faithful, reducing or removing the temporal punishment due to sin. While the Sacrament of Penance removes guilt and the eternal punishment due mortal sin, the temporal punishment of sin may still remain. This concept has logical applications such as a case where someone commits theft, for example, and later repents, but are still expected to return the item or pay it back in some way. Indulgences offer a way for the faithful to obtain the remission of these temporal consequences.

Contrary to common misconceptions, an indulgence is not the purchase of a pardon which secures the buyer’s salvation nor releases the soul from purgatory; An indulgence does not forgive the guilt of sin, nor is it a permit to commit sin, nor a guarantee of salvation. The Catholic Church teaches that indulgences relieve only the temporal punishment resulting from the effect of sin. An indulgence requires the recipient to be contrite of heart, make a sacramental Confession, be free from attachment to sin, and perform an action to receive it, most often prayer, a pilgrimage, or the performance of specific good works, such as volunteering or almsgiving.

Biblical Basis:

The Scriptural basis for indulgences ultimately relies on Christ’s atonement. Christ’s Atonement on the cross paid the price for our eternal punishment due to sin. However, Christ’s Atonement did not remove all temporal penalties resulting from sin as can be illustrated by the fact that we are still experiencing the effects of Adam and Eve’s original sin. Scripture indicates temporal penalties may still be present even following forgiveness, as in 2 Samuel 12:13-14, where God forgave David but David still had to suffer the loss of his son as well as other temporal punishments (2 Sam. 12:7-12).

The belief that God can lessen temporal punishments through acts of penance is central to the idea of indulgences. Scripture tells us God gave the authority to forgive sins “to men” (Matt. 9:8) and to Christ’s ministers (John 20:21-23). Christ also promised his Church the power to bind and loose on earth (Matt. 18:18). The power of binding and loosing extends to imposing discipline and administering and removing temporal penance (2 Corinthians 2:5-10).

Scripture also tells us that acts of charity can merit satisfaction for sin (1 Peter 4:8). Merit cannot be transferred to another person, but the satisfaction achieved by meritorious acts can be applied to others. This concept is central to Christ’s satisfaction as it is applied to our eternal punishment. This is true of personal merit as well, as St. Paul calls us “co-workers” with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9, 2 Corinthians 6:1) and demonstrates it in Colossians 1:24; “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”

Since the satisfaction of Christ is infinite, it constitutes an inexhaustible fund which is more than sufficient to cover the indebtedness contracted by sin. In addition to this the virtues, penances, and sufferings of the saints which were merited in and through Christ’s own merit, are added to this “treasury of merit”. An indulgence, therefore, is the merits of Christ and of the saints within the “Treasury” of the Church being applied to the penitent.

Early Church:

Early developments of indulgences can be seen in the early Church, with Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258 AD) mentioning the practice of penitential remissions. Following the Decian persecution, former apostates (known as lapsi) wished to once again be admitted to the Christian community, but faced lengthy penances. Penances imposed on the lapsi often lasted years, sometimes lifetimes only to be lifted in life-threatening illnesses. Some of the lapsi began presenting letters with the signature of some martyr or confessor who wished to reaffirm the individual. Indulgences were thus introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances on behalf of the merits and intercession of Christians awaiting martyrdom or imprisonment for the faith.

By the late Middle Ages, indulgences began to become associated not so much with canonical penance but with remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, including Purgatory. The penitential language of “days” and “years” remained, but were not understood to apply equally to Purgatory.

Because indulgences often involved an act of charity, recipients gave money to support the public good, including hospitals. However, because indulgences granted for almsgiving seemed to some like a simple monetary transaction, rather than seeing the indulgence as granted for the good deed itself (i.e. charity), many began to see indulgences for almsgiving as simply “buying” or “purchasing” indulgences. This misconception was reinforced by the abuse of indulgences by certain individuals. In response, the Council of Trent thus went about reforming it’s practice of indulgences and clarifying proper theological understanding.

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