Abbey Blog: "Get Out of Purgatory for Free Card....?"

This week in our fabulous World Civ class, we all focused on the beginning stages of the Reformation. In a nutshell: the reformation is a time where people started to branch away from the Catholic Church in the 1500's. Led by Martin Luther, people felt that the Catholic Church held too much power, accumulated too much money and according to Luther, "the idea is wrong.. If God is in your heart, and you will be saved." Luther felt that the Catholic Church overly stressed the concepts on confessions, indulgences, fasting, prayer, repentance, and other things of that nature. He and his followers believed that there was a "direct light to god" and there was no need to habitually go to confession, and sure as HECK not pay for the indulgences... Which brings us to our main point.

Indulgences.

Again, in a nutshell: indulgences were pieces of paper that basically removed your sins from the Catholic Church. Okay, well that sounds like a good plan. How does one get them you ask?

Simple: You pay about a week's worth of work to get a teeny, tiny, EXPENSIVE "get out of purgatory card" that may or may not save you from the fiery pits of hell.

Catholics would stock up on these cards in hope that their souls would be going straight to heaven. People like Luther thought this was ludicrous and was yet another reason why he wrote his infamous "95 Theses".

These indulgences proved how much power the Catholic Church once had on their followers. Though it is just one of many reasons why Luther and his supporters broke apart, it was a "scheme" that gave the church more unnecessary power. This is the beginnings of the Reformation.