Calvin Synod Herald, 2000 (101. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-09-01 / 9-10. szám
4 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD mission of both penalty and guilt due to him, even without letters of pardon. 37. Any and every true Christian, living or dead, has a share in all the benefits of Christ and the Church, granted to him by God, even without letters of pardon. 38. However, remission granted by the Pope and fellowship with him is by no means to be despised, because, as I have said, it is a declaration of the remission granted by God. 39. It is extremely difficult, even for the most learned theologians, to balance the respective appreciation due both to the generosity of pardons and the reality of contrition. 40. True contrition seeks penalties and loves them, while the generosity of pardons relaxes <penalties >, and makes them to be hated, at least in some circumstances. 41. Only warily ought apostolic pardons to be preached, lest the people get the false impression that they are to be prized more than the other good works of charity. 42. Christians must be taught that the Pope has no notion that the purchasing of pardons is comparable in the slightest degree with works of mercy. 43. Christians must be taught that anyone who gives to the poor or shares with the needy is doing better than if they were purchasing pardons. 44. <This is> because charity grows through a work of charity and a person is made better, but through pardons a person is not made better, merely more free from penalty. 45. Christians must be taught that anyone who sees a needy person, and yet gives < money > for pardons at the cost of neglecting that person, is purchasing for himself, not the indulgences of the Pope, but the indignation of God. 46. Christians must be taught that, unless they have much more than they need, they are bound to keep what is necessary for their household, and on no account to squander money on pardons. 47. Christians must be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free choice, not an obligation. 48. Christians must be taught that the Pope, great as his need is, hopes more, in granting pardons, for devout prayer for himself than for cash in hand. 49. Christians must be taught that the Pope’s pardons are useful - if they put no trust in them - but harmful in the extreme, if on account of < pardons > they lose their fear of God. 50. Christians must be taught that if the Pope knew what demands these money-grabbing preachers were making, he would rather that St. Peter’s basilica be reduced to ashes than that it be built by the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep. 51. Christians must be taught that the Pope, as is his duty, should wish that, if need arose, St. Peter’s basilica be sold and that from his money gifts be given to those people, from many of whom the preachers of indulgences are extracting money. 52. Trusting for salvation through letters of pardon is vain, even if the Commissary of the Pope himself should pledge his soul for them. 53. Those who, for the sake of preaching pardons <in some churches >, command that the word of God be kept silent in other churches altogether, are enemies of Christ and of the Pope. 54. Harm is done to the word of God when in the same sermon equal or even longer time is devoted to pardons than to it. 55. The Pope’s mind must necessarily be that, if pardons (which are of small account) are signalized with one bell, one set of processions or ceremonies, then the Gospel (which is of the greatest account) should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. 56. The treasures of the Church, out of which the Pope grants indulgences, are neither sufficiently mentioned nor sufficiently understood, among Christ’s people. 57. That cthese treasures> are not temporal ones, is obvious, because many of the preachers do not pour them forth freely, but merely gather them. 58. Nor are <these treasures> the merits of Christ and of the saints, for these, without the Pope, always effect grace in the inward man, and cross, death and hell is the outward man. 59. Saint Laurence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church’s poor; but he said this according to the linguistic usage of his time. 60. Without being overbold, we say that the keys of the Church (granted through Christ’s merit) are that treasure. 61. For it is clear that the Pope’s power alone is sufficient for the remission of penalties and of < reserved > cases. 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. 63. This < treasure > is deservedly most hated, for it makes the first to be last. 64. However, the treasury of indulgences is deservedly the most popular, because it makes the last to be first. 65. The Gospel treasures are therefore nets with which once they fished for men of wealth. 66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which now they fish for the wealth of men. 67. Indulgences, which <their> preachers loudly proclaim as the greatest graces, are rightly understood as “greatest” as methods of serving greed. 68. But they <indulgences> are, in sober reality, of the very least value, when compared with the grace of God and devotion to the cross. 69. Bishops and parish priests are obliged to receive the Commissaries of apostolic pardons with the utmost reverence. 70. But they are obliged more truly to see to it with all their eyes, and to attend with all their ears, that these people should not preach their own dreams as by the authority of the Pope. 71. Anyone who speaks against the truth of the apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed. 72. Yet anyone who indeed takes care to act against the selfish desire and irresponsible language of the preacher of pardons, let that man be blessed. 73. Just as the Pope rightly utters threats against those who plot by any and every device to commit fraudulent trade in pardons, 74. much more he means to threaten those who plot under the cover of pardons to commit deceit against holy charity and truth. 75. To maintain the notion that papal pardons are so effective that they could set free a man even if (what is impossible) he had raped the Mother of God - that is insanity. 76. We say, on the contrary, that papal pardons could not remove the least of all venial sins, as far as guilt is concerned. 77. The saying that is current, that, even is St. Peter were still Pope, he could not grant greater graces cthan these pardons >, is a blasphemy against both St. Peter and the Pope. 78. We say, to the contrary, that even he <St. Peter > and any Pope you can think of have graces greater still, namely the Gospel, the virtues, graces of healing, etc. according to 1 Corinthians 12. 79. To say that the cross erected with the papal coat of arms is equal to Christ’s cross, is a blasphemy. 80. Bishops, parish priests and theologians who give permission for such sermons to be addressed to the people, ought to be called to account. 81. The irresponsible preaching of pardons has this effect - that is not easy to free the respect due to the Pope, even among learned
