On loopholes in doctrine

[Jen7]

But if she deliberately killed the child so she could repent… when she “repents” is she truly sorry she killed the child? I mean… does she actually REGRET doing it?? Seems unlikely. She’d have to wish herself back at square one after all - suicidal and afraid of hell. Methinks maybe she did not exactly repent.

 

[PetraG]

She will still need to satisfy the temporal consequences of her terrible action, which having reached a state of perfect contrition she would not dream of avoiding.
There is no way into Heaven except to be made a saint. There is no loophole for that. Who, knowing Who God is and also knowing what sanctity is, could even desire for reality to be otherwise?

 

[Zaccheus]

Zaccheus:

That does not mean an automatic ticket straight to Heaven.

What is a plenary indulgence?

You can’t game the system where God is concerned.

 

[vz71]

Obviously this is a hypothetical scenario, but perhaps the lady was trying to make a similar point.

The point being the least virtuous can be granted salvation and the most virtuous can lose it.

 

[dochawk]

We know a wee bit more today about mental illness than back then.

And it unusual, at best, that someone who is suicidal to not be mentally ill . . . and thus the difference in how the church handles suicide today.

Second, sin is not a fun treat we should earn by “good deeds”.

Sin is poison.

Careful, there. You’re dangerously close to Eastern thinking! :crazy_face:
(quiet seriously, actually: we have a more medical approach to sin, while the west is more judicial)

 

[AlNg]

You can’t game the system where God is concerned.

Many Protestants believe that indulgences are an attempt to “game the system”. Didn’t Martin Luther have a problem with indulgences? Do you think that the Catholic Church is “gaming the system” when it grants a plenary indulgence? Catholics believe that the Church has the authority to grant indulgences because of the power to loose and to bind.

 

[Zaccheus]

My answers in bold

Many Protestants believe that indulgences are an attempt to “game the system”.

Many Protestants believe the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon. But we are not in fact, the Whore of Babylon.

Didn’t Martin Luther have a problem with indulgences?

Yes he did. There actually was abuse going on at the time. What’s your point?

Do you think that the Catholic Church is “gaming the system” when it grants a plenary indulgence?

No, I do not.

Catholics believe that the Church has the authority to grant indulgences because of the power to loose and to bind.

And I believe the Church has the power to grant indulgences. That does not make them automatic “get out of Purgatory free” tickets. God grants forgiveness on God’s own terms.
Note that if you check the rules for granting indulgences, the penitent’s sincerity is a necessary condition. You need to have the correct intention. We do not know the state of somebody else’s mind or soul: God does.
A plenary indulgence is a wonderful gift from God. But you have to actually accept a gift, not just pretend to accept it.