Purgatory During the Protestant Reformation

660 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of martin luther in the reformation movement in europe

Purgatory During the Protestant Reformation

All Souls Day, November 2nd, does anyone really understand why it is a holy day or is it just another meaningless holiday Catholics are asked to attend church? All Souls Day is a day that the Catholic Church has set aside to help pray for all the souls not yet joined with god. During this day, people are asked to pray for all of the departed who have passed on and are now in purgatory working very hard to have the privilege of joining to god.

Purgatory has been an important aspect of organized religion from the early days of the church until now, but never more controversial then during the time of the protestant reformation.

The following pages examine the belief of purgatory during the protestant reformation. First they will explain the history of catholic and protestant belief. Then they will present the actual doctrine itself, showing both catholic and protestant views. Finally, they will show how these beliefs have held up over the years, how they have changed and how they are still similar.

Before talking about purgatory, the subject of why there are two beliefs needs to be addressed. The Catholic and Protestant churches have two different views on purgatory. These views, actually, are one of the reasons the two churches split in the first. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk was not happy with the state of the catholic church at that time. So, in 1517, Pope Leo X, in order to raise money to build St. Peter's Basilica, offered indulgences for sale to the people. Indulgences offered partial remission of the penalty for sins to anyone who made donations of money. Luther believed that this should not happen. On Oct. 31, 1517, Luther nailed a list ...

... middle of paper ...

... is taken to mean that hell and purgatory have the same punishment but in hell a person is there for all of eternity and in purgatory that person is there only as long as it takes to have his soul cleansed. Indulgences are meant to shorten this time. They cannot be used for anything else. Someone cannot just buy their way into heaven; they have to go through the same cleansing process of purgatory.

There are two kinds of indulgences. There are partial indulgences and plenary indulgences. Mostly the difference is the amount of time that is decreased by the indulgence. A partial indulgence takes off the time for one minor sin. A plenary indulgence takes off more time. This indulgence takes off a more serious sin or a few minor ones. The difference in price however is immense. This was just another reason that Martin Luther was displeased with the church.

Show More
Related

  • A Common Struggle Depicted in Bread Givers and Of Plymouth Plantation 

    2152 Words  | 5 Pages

    In de-emphasizing the role of the Church, it’s rituals, and offices, and supplanting them with a more direct and personal approach to God and spirituality; the Protestant Reformation, through the works of Martin...

    Read More

  • Women And The Salem Witch Trials

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...

    Read More

  • Dante And Secondary Guides In Dante's Secondary Guides

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Purgatorio, Dante’s journey continues under Virgil’s guidance from preparing to ascend the mountain of Purgatory until reaching the garden of earthly paradise, at which point Beatrice arrives to take on the role of guide through the rest of purgatory. However, along the way, Dante interacts with several other secondary guides on brief portions of his journey. Individually, Cato, Sordello, Statius, and Matelda serve as corrected counterparts to other characters in the Divine Comedy, classical mythology, and the Bible. Collectively, Cato, Sordello, Statius, and Matelda serve to bridge classical and Christian teachings, both of which are critical in defining the values of Dante-author’s Purgatory, and in shaping Dante-character’s will as the purpose of the journey through purgatory.

    Read More

  • A Model of Christian Charity

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1534, King Henry VIII formally instigated the English Reformation. He therefore passed the Act of Supremacy, which outlawed the Catholic Church and made him “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England” (Roark, 68). Puritans were looking for a more Protestant church and received what they wanted. Along with it, came the King’s total control over the Church. This is what the Puritans didn’t want. Puritans believed that ordinary Christians, not a church hierarchy, should control religious life. They wanted a distinct line between government and the Church of England. Puritans also wanted to eliminate the customs of Catholic worship and instead focus on an individual’s relationship with God developed through Bible study, prayer, and introspection (Roark, 68).

    Read More

  • The Short-Term and Long-Term Causes of the Protestant Reformation

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Martin Luther's Letter To The Christian Nobility Of The German Government

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Luther uses harsh words to describe the popes and the bishops by calling them names such as “humbug”, “block head”, and “hypocrite”. According to Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, it states “He might well make a man into a hypocrite or a humbug, and block head, but never a Christian or spiritual man”. Martin Luther believes that the priests, bishops, and popes are not different from the Christian people. Martin Luther points out that Christians were baptized and read the Bible, so why do the popes receive so much authority and power than Christians. In the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther questions “Why are your life and limb, your property and honor, so cheap and mine not, inasmuch as we are all Christians and have the same baptism, the same faith, the same Spirit, and all the rest?”. Therefore, Martin Luther believes that the popes, bishops, and priests are given too much authority and power even though the popes, bishops, and priests do not possess that many special abilities. Martin Luther claims that everyone is a priest since the Christian people can interpret and read the Bible, carry the same faith and spirit, and were baptized just like the popes, priests, and bishops

    Read More

  • Martin Luther Thesis Statement

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis statement: Martin Luther was responsible for the break-up of the Catholic Church Martin Luther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search. From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices.

    Read More

  • The Life and Influence of Martin Luther

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Martin Luther’s witnessing of the sale of indulgences changed him. The idea that a piece of paper signed by the Pope could justify the sins of the living was enough to infuriate him. But the claim was that an indulgence could also free someone from purgatory. Martin Luther dug deeper than the original Augustinian view “impelled by the urgent problem of indulgences.” The Bib...

    Read More

  • What Is The Inferno Personality Quiz

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the Inferno personality Quiz, I got level 1, which is Purgatory. The quiz explains that I have “escaped damnation made it to Purgatory, a place where the dew of repentance washes off the stain of sin and girds the spirit with humility. Through contrition, confession, and satisfaction by works of righteousness, you must make your way up the mountain. As the sins are cleansed from your soul, you will be illuminated by the Sun of Divine Grace, and you will join other souls, smiling and happy, upon the summit of this mountain. Before long you will know the joys of Paradise as you ascend to the ethereal realm of Heaven.”

    Read More

  • The Existence of Abuses in the Roman Catholic Church

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1517, when reformist Martin Luther wrote an indictment of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church called the 95 Theses, he appealed to many people across Europe. In his indictment he greatly criticized and addressed the selling of indulgences above all. At first, a person would have to do “work of satisfaction” like fasting, prayer, almsgiving, retreats and pilgrimages in return for an indulgence. But when the empire was in need of money to fight off the Ottoman Empire and rebuild St. Peter’s in Rome, the pope allowed indulgences to be sold for money where he would receive half the proceeds and the other half would go to funding. This is when Luther was even more angered by the selling of indulgences since he already believed that salvation could not be obtained by man’s own effort, but more the fact that man would be saved only if God willed it. It was that event that prompted the German monk to post his ideas and beliefs as the 95 Theses and address the abuse of selling indulgences in it.

    Read More

  • Religious Toleration In The Colonies

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    This was a red flag towards England and its church. Puritans believed that God already had already planned if you were destined to go to heaven or hell by the time you were born. They thought that if they just lived a normal "moral life", that would be suitable and nothing one did would change Gods decision on where they were destine to go. They also challenged the that the England church would sell purgatory slips. With the purchase of these slips, or passes, one could buy their way into heaven and or clear themselves or another person of the sins they had committed during their lifetime. Puritans did not agree with the false se statement tat the church was making to the people about being able to clear their sins and get into heaven. They believed that if a person was chosen to go to heaven, then it would show in their character and in their way of

    Read More

  • Captivity Mary Rowlandson Analysis

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    As an impending threat, His hand lay on the floodgate as their guilt built until they got overwhelmed with feelings of remorse. With the Indians terrorizing the Puritans, the image of God standing in Heaven with His bow bent and “the arrow made ready on the string” waiting to deliver “justice … at [their hearts]” terrified them into repenting for the sins they have committed (41). The warning of a “great furnace of wrath”, “full of fire” and darkness scared the Puritans into confession, self-discipline, and compliance with God. Finally, Puritans believed is that mankind is innately bad and has the natural born tendency to sin. The intimidating thought that nothing lay between humans and hell “but the air” frightened the Puritans into believing in their wickedness as human beings (Edwards 41). The iniquity of human nature made them feel “heavy as lead” because their sins weighed them down and taxed their strength and faith (41). The wrath that rest before them petrified all Puritans into believing that if they ceased prayer they got tossed into a “bottomless pit” of darkness

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Essay - Opposition To the Death Penalty

    2434 Words  | 5 Pages

    What I detected, rightly or wrongly, was an animus against punishment as such. When I gingerly introduced the subject of Hell, those who had spontaneously rejected capital punishment and then had some second thoughts about life imprisonment when looked at in itself and not as an alternative to the death penalty seemed inclined toward a creative interpretation of eternal punishment. And of course there have been eminent theologians who have wondered aloud about the doctrine of Hell. Even Jacques Maritain, late in his life had written equivocally on the subject.

    Read More

  • Historical Misunderstandings between the Church and Protestants During the Reformation

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through the contrasting ideas of the Church and Protestants, a major conflict between the two emerged. The church minister had spoken the Bible in Latin, where the congregation could not understand what the priest was saying. Furthermore, the Catholic Church started to sell indulgences during the Middle Ages. When one bought an indulgence for a certain amount of money, it guaranteed that the individual would not have to go through purgatory for a long time to reach God in heaven. Many Protestants disagreed with this idea because they thought that the idea of indulgences were “a bribe” to get into heaven. Another teaching that the Protestants disagreed with the Church was the teaching of being saved by good deeds. The Protestants believed in that one is saved by God’s grace and not by works. Moreover, the Protestants first peacefully talked about the problems in the Church but the Church were ignorant and did not want to respond to the Protestants.

    Read More

  • Life After Death

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way in which death can be viewed comes across the Catholic religion. The Catholic believers look life after death in a prospective of three different worlds, such as Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise according to the deeds committed during life. If a person during his or her lifetime committed any sins, this person’s next world will be the Hell. The traditional view in which people refer to hell can be found in the book written by Dante Alighieri, “La Divina Commedia”. The book states that the formation of Hell was given by the crash of Lucifer (the angel that wanted to be better than God) from the sky onto the earth. Crashing on the Earth in Jerusalem, his head formed an upside down cone inside the Earth. This is where is located the Hell. In the Hell, people pay for their sins with different penitences (12-13). For instance, a person that committed homicide will freeze in a lake frozen by the breath of Satan (XXXIV canto). If a person during his or her life commits any sins but asks for forgiveness, then he or she will go to the Purgatory. The purgatory is represented by an island with a mountain (23). One source states that “Purgatory is very similar to Hell; the main difference is that one will eventually be released from torture. The souls that go in the Purgatory are tortured with fire. These souls remain in purgatory until they become sufficiently purified to enter heaven”(2). For example, if a soul in the purgatory asks for forgiveness and pays the punition with some tests, the soul will be released and moved immediately to Heaven (2).

    Read More

More about Purgatory During the Protestant Reformation

Open Document