Please Read Before October 20th

This week we will be looking at the period known as the High Middle Ages. In particularly, we will be focusing on the Crusades, the Magna Carta, and Corruption in the Church.

Time: 1000 to 1300 AD in Europe

In preparation for this class it would be helpful if you could come to a preliminary understanding of what an Indulgence is in Roman Catholic Theology. Controversies around the granting (also the buying and selling) of indulgences profoundly colors European history from 1000 AD right through the Reformation era. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic doctrine of Indulgences is largely the same today as it was in the Middle Ages.

The fundamental question is this: What are Christians supposed to do to recover a right relationship with God after they have sinned against Him?

According to the Medieval Church (and modern Roman Catholicism), the Sacrament of Penance (often called the Sacrament of Reconciliation today) was a necessary bridge to recovering a right relationship with God. It consists of three parts:

1. Contrition. According to the Council of Trent, Contrition is “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again (Roman Catechism II, V, 21).”
   
2. Confession. “Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1456).
   
3. Satisfaction. “Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more t make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1473).

What is an indulgence?

“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church, which as the minister of the redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”

Questions:

1. What impact would this teaching have on the authority of the Church?
2. What impact does this teaching have on how people perceive God?
3. How did the Medieval Church use this teaching to raise vast sums of money?