Martin Luther

Indulgence Controversy

As a background it is instructive to see the origin of the particular indulgence which aroused such an uproar in Germany. The Roman Church had officially condemned the two practices of simony, the purchase of church offices, and usury, the lending of money for interest. However, usury had become a fashionable and profitable business. The Medici family in Italy and the Fugger family in Germany had amassed large fortunes through lending. Moreover, the wealth of these two families eventually supported the issuing of indulgences in the vicinity of Wittenberg, as shall be seen.

Albrecht of Hohenzollerm, a young man of age 23, held the title of archbishop in one territory and bishop in another and was seeking a third. Such a request required the pope to override several complications. Firstly, it was illegal for one man to hold more than one office at a time. Besides this, Albrecht was too young to hold any of these positions, and he had no theological training whatsoever. In exchange for his approval, Pope Leo X (a member of the Medici banking family) accepted a huge payment from the aspiring archbishop. Albrecht in turn borrowed the necessary funds from the Fuggers. To complete the transaction, the pope allowed Albrecht to repay his debt through the sale of indulgences in Germany.

Scare tactics were used to promote and distribute these fundraising tickets.

What is an indulgence? According to the archbishop it had great value, assuring the buyer of complete forgiveness of sins, participation in the grace of God, and freedom from purgatory. Furthermore the ticket holder would be absolved from all crimes and punishments and would be allowed to exchange any vows for other more agreeable good works. He became a sharer in all the good works performed by all the members of the whole church. The indulgence also provided full remission of sins to departed persons in purgatory. The salesman of these certificates, a Dominican monk named John Tetzel, went even further in claiming that the red cross of the indulgence was equal to the cross of Christ.

Scare tactics were used to promote and distribute these fundraising tickets. The following is an excerpt from one of Tetzel's high-pressure sales pitches:
Listen to the voices of your dear dead relatives and friends, beseeching you and saying, “Pity us, pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a pittance.” Do you not wish to? Open your ears. Hear the father saying to his son, the mother to her daughter, “We bore you, nourished you, brought you up, left you our fortunes, and you are so cruel and hard that now you are not willing for so little to set us free. Will you let us lie here in flames? Will you delay our promised glory?” Remember that you are able to release them, for as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs. Will you not for a quarter of a florin receive these letters of indulgence through which you are able to lead a divine and immortal soul into the fatherland of paradise? [15]

Luther refused. He was outraged. How could God's pardon be bought with money?

Tetzel was not allowed to market his wares in Wittenberg nor anywhere else in Saxony. Nevertheless, some of the people of Wittenberg obtained his indulgences by traveling a short distance to cross the border of Saxony. When they took the certificates to Luther, who as a Catholic priest regularly listened to their confessions, some of them demanded absolution with no sign of repentance or sorrow for their sins. Luther refused. He was outraged. How could God's pardon be bought with money?
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