Pope's new indulgence for the 21st century!
WITHOUT money and without price - now there's a statement that warms the ears in the midst of a recession!
However, it is not the statement made in recent days by the organisers of the Papal visit to the UK. Oh no, you need money to see the Pope! A new indulgence has been born and it will be put into practice in the land of the great Scottish Reformer, John Knox. That Scotland today is Protestant is a tribute to the life and work of this man, and make no mistake, that Scotland is chosen for another Papal visit is because that still rankles!
John Knox wrote, "My assurances are not the marvels of Merlin, nor yet the dark sentences of profane prophesies, but the plain truth of God's Word." Here is one of those plain truths from the Book of Isaiah: "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Not an indulgence in sight! No 25 fee to be dropped into the coffers to pay for the sins of the fathers. This is the freebie of all freebies! This is the sale of every century – already paid in full. But the history of indulgences is a long one.
The great indulgence seller was John Tetzel, a Dominican monk who was sent to Germany by Pope Leo X to collect money for the use of the church. The money was to be obtained by the selling of pieces of stamped paper or tickets, declaring the purchaser pardoned for the commission of sins which were named and valued. Travelling under the protection of the Archbishop of Mainz, the great church salesman was not very popular! The German princes disliked him because he was making the country poorer, and some refused him entry to their territory without the promise of a share! The better disposed among the people didn't like him, as their payments were significant and the earnest-minded of the parish clergy fast learned that wherever he went the people became more wicked! Sin, pay up and off you go. Sin some more, pay up and Tetzel's your uncle! TM Lindsay records in his book The Reformation that nine ducats cleared you of robbing the church; seven ducats cleared you of the murder of an enemy; while just four ducats pardoned the murder of father, mother, sister or brother! People liked value for money then as now, so sin abounded.
We may well smile to ourselves as we learn of this practice, and thank God for the 95 theses which the practice produced from the pen of the German Martin Luther, but in this 21st Century as the Pope prepares for a State visit to the United Kingdom, the price of 25 to see him is the echo of the same attitude towards the faithful that pervaded Europe in the 1500s. Can you imagine the head of any other State arriving in the UK demanding that the throngs hand over 25 per person to see them? And would we wear it? I for one hope the Scots live up to their reputation!
THINK ON THIS:
"O that kings and Princes would consider what account shall be craved of them, as well as of their ignorance and misknowledge of God's will, for neglecting their office!" John Knox.
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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