Indulgences In The Bible An Church Fathers

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Where in the Bible does it talk about indulgences? where in the writings or teachings of the Early Church Fathers do they talk about indulgences? Thank you for your answers. I am studying Catholicism for a few years now and this doctrine confuses me a lot? I am trying to understand it. Thank
 
Priscilla_Ann said:
It’s one of the many reasons why I am no longer Catholic…
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I was conflicted myself (on my simple understanding of what I heard it was) but stayed the course of Catholicism, because (just my view only) as many God fearing Catholics who are saints now, remained in the Church despite this contentious historical matter, I 've decided to stay. Furthermore I’m not even 1/100th as holy as they were so…

🙂
 
Indulgences still are the biggest sticking point I have with my Catholic faith. I truly struggle with this teaching and am not a big fan…
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Indulgences still are the biggest sticking point I have with my Catholic faith. I truly struggle with this teaching and am not a big fan…
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Greetings old friend 🙂

Glad you have a problem with them! The entire concept is foreign to Scripture, I am afraid (although one can easily see why such a teaching would have been introduced, given the overall viewpoint of the church on salvation).
 
If it were not for Indulgences, Martin Luther would not have posted his 95 questions for academic debate. As Roland Bainton, Luther historian writes, “Indulgences were the bingo of the 16th century”.
 
hopefully we will get some good discussion on this, but that would require one of our Catholic friends who first understands them and then is willing to defend them. I have read the article but it leaves me wondering how they would be applied in the real world. things I have heard in other threads are:1) they were abused by rogue priests without consent of the pope. 2) there use has been greatly exaggerated. When I think of indulgences, I think of Simon the sorcerer who wanted to buy the gifts of God. On most other topics joining this forum has drawn me closer(not planning to convert) to the RCC by giving me a better understanding of why Catholics believe and practice what they do. but I thought indulgences went away with the counter reformation until I joined this forum.
 
Two books:

The Handbook of Indulgences by Catholic Book Publishing Co (1992)

Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006)

I think these are different editions of the same book

Both available on amazon

On edit:

By the way, I forgot to mention this. The official name of Luthers 95 Theses was (and still is) **The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences **
 
Jon_Hus said:
Two books:

The Handbook of Indulgences by Catholic Book Publishing Co (1992)

Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006)

I think these are different editions of the same book

Both available on amazon

On edit:

By the way, I forgot to mention this. The official name of Luthers 95 Theses was (and still is) **The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences **
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The Handook of Indulgences is an excellent suggestion, and I did order it from Amazon.com.
 
Jon_Hus said:
Two books:

The Handbook of Indulgences by Catholic Book Publishing Co (1992)

Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006)

I think these are different editions of the same book

Both available on amazon

On edit:

By the way, I forgot to mention this. The official name of Luthers 95 Theses was (and still is) **The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences **
Click to expand...
I own the Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006). For what I could see is it is all stuff the protestants are told to do. We are always incouraged to read the Bible and pray everyday to keep sin away from us. I the more I study Catholicism the more I see protestantism as a shell of what the early church was. I was reading the Early Church Fathers yesterday and The definatly believed in penance for our personal sins but I didn’t see anything about doing penance for the dead and thoughs in purgatory. Did any of the Early Church Fathers do penance for thoughs in purgatory? Thank you for your answers to my questions.
 
RuthErickson said:
I own the Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006). For what I could see is it is all stuff the protestants are told to do. We are always incouraged to read the Bible and pray everyday to keep sin away from us. I the more I study Catholicism the more I see protestantism as a shell of what the early church was. I was reading the Early Church Fathers yesterday and The definatly believed in penance for our personal sins but I didn’t see anything about doing penance for the dead and thoughs in purgatory. Did any of the Early Church Fathers do penance for thoughs in purgatory? Thank you for your answers to my questions.
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I suppose one could do penace for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (I’m not sure). What I do - do is pray for the Holy souls. I would not say this is the same as penace however. There is definite evidence for praying for the souls, both in the bible and from our ECF’s

Peace!
 
RuthErickson said:
I own the Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006). For what I could see is it is all stuff the protestants are told to do. We are always incouraged to read the Bible and pray everyday to keep sin away from us. I the more I study Catholicism the more I see protestantism as a shell of what the early church was. I was reading the Early Church Fathers yesterday and The definatly believed in penance for our personal sins but I didn’t see anything about doing penance for the dead and thoughs in purgatory. Did any of the Early Church Fathers do penance for thoughs in purgatory? Thank you for your answers to my questions.
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here Church Fathers.
[/url

here for Penance.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9512frs.asp](http://scripturecatholic.com/purgatory.html#tradition-I)
 
RuthErickson said:
I own the Manual of Indulgences by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Apostolic Penitentiary of the Vatican (2006). For what I could see is it is all stuff the protestants are told to do. We are always incouraged to read the Bible and pray everyday to keep sin away from us. I the more I study Catholicism the more I see protestantism as a shell of what the early church was. I was reading the Early Church Fathers yesterday and The definatly believed in penance for our personal sins but I didn’t see anything about doing penance for the dead and thoughs in purgatory. Did any of the Early Church Fathers do penance for thoughs in purgatory? Thank you for your answers to my questions.
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here

catholic.com/library/Myths_About_Indulgences.asp
 
Priscilla_Ann said:
It’s one of the many reasons why I am no longer Catholic…
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The Church doesnt have to agree with me. I have to agree with the Church. the Church has authority over me and not the other way around.

** To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it St Ignatious fo Loyola. **
 
I may be a Catholic, but I have to say ole Bainton sure was a great writer. I have read “Here I Stand” by Bainton so many times I literally wore the cover apart. Great book. I think even if indulgences hadn’t been an issue Luther would’ve eventually gone down Protestant Lane anyway. He had a powerful reaction to Paul’s letter to the Romans. And the faith vs. works conundrum he felt would’ve entered the equation even if the “be penitent” vs. “do penance” quandry weren’t there. He seemed to have a reformed mind early on after reading Hus and Erasmus. He had an excessively guilty conscience not so much from indulgences but from the entire framework of Catholicism and the Medievel mindset of Christendom. Staupitz commented how Luther had an excessively introspective, overly-analytical mind so he stuck Luther in academe to keep him busy. I think so many people forget that men like Wycliffe were around before Luther teaching Justification through Faith alone and translating Scripture and preaching a different approach to Christianity. Luther didn’t invent the whole kit and kaboodle, he just had the guts to take it a step further and take on Rome. There would’ve been a Reformation sooner or later from someone if Luther hadn’t done it. The rise of nation-states, political independence, greed from nobility and monarchs, and the independent spirit of the age was rife with rebellion and the reformation was a given IMO.
Jon_Hus said:
If it were not for Indulgences, Martin Luther would not have posted his 95 questions for academic debate. As Roland Bainton, Luther historian writes, “Indulgences were the bingo of the 16th century”.
Click to expand...
 
Greetings to you, too, Matt. Missed ya, dude. One of the brightest, most thoughtful Lutherans I’ve ever met. you give Lutheranism a good name!
TriuneUnity said:
Greetings old friend 🙂

Glad you have a problem with them! The entire concept is foreign to Scripture, I am afraid (although one can easily see why such a teaching would have been introduced, given the overall viewpoint of the church on salvation).
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The idea of indulgences has always been something which baffled me. When I actually learned what they were (as opposed to what I had thought, as a protestant they were) they became less “bad” (If that’s the proper word), but they still troubled me. I remember walking into the Church of St. Paul in Antioch and seeing a big sign announcing that some Pope (I think one of the Paul’s) had declared an indulgence for anyone who visited the site. It actually cheapened it in my view.
 
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