- 69 - 8. 17 Indulgence – Saints – Adoration of Saints In connection with the Catholic Church’s doctrine of penance and the remission of sins, I must mention one very strange doctrine held by that church, namely the doctrine of indulgences. This is an appendage of the doctrine of the remission of sins, for if a church can forgive sins, why should it not also have the power to remit the punishment for them? By virtue of this doctrine, the church lays claim to the right to grant pardon. But just as only God can forgive sins, so only God can remit the punishment of sin. Especially strange is the reason advanced by the Catholic Church in support of this right to grant pardon. It speaks of a ‘church treasure’, a fund of surplus merits earned by Christ and the holy spirits. It then draws on these merits in the form of indulgences to the extent necessary to compensate for contrite sinners’ lack of merits, so that the punishments for their sins may be remitted wholly or in part, according to whether the indulgence is complete or partial. “This doctrine of indulgence is absurd on various grounds. • In the first place, no creature of God’s, neither spirit nor mortal, can render God more than is due Him. In the eyes of God, of whom it has been said that not even the heavens are pure in his sight, even the most perfect spirit is but a servant who is doing no more than its duty, even when it does the best that it can. God recognizes no surplus of merit. Even Christ did not perform more than his duty in what he achieved, for had he done less than he did, he would not have accomplished his exalted mission. He would have succumbed to hell and fallen from God. No one can do more than fulfill the will of God, and when he does so, he is doing no more than his duty. He cannot give an iota to others who may fail to do their duty. • Everyone must work out their own Salvation. That is the second reason why the merits of one person may not be applied on behalf of another. What is inadmissible according to your human laws of justice is equally inadmissible in God’s justice. Just as your judges would never reduce the punishment of a lawbreaker because other citizens faithfully observe the law, so no remission of punishment is made to a sinner because others have obeyed God’s laws. Where would that leave God’s justice? Furthermore, just what do you imagine this church treasure of the surplus merits of others to be? Do you by chance think that spiritual life in God can be stored in a vault like the worldly treasures of your churches, to be drawn upon as needed for others? How irrational you mortals can often be! How utterly foolish is the procedure observed by the Catholic Church in the granting of indulgences! Can you, as reasoning beings, really believe that the remission of punishment for sins is contingent upon the observance of ridiculous outward behaviour? Do you think that your punishment will be remitted if you recite your prayers upon a blessed rosary, but not when you pray to God without the rosary in hand? Do you think that you will receive complete remission of all your sins by virtue of reciting a certain prayer upon a certain day in a certain church, but not if you recite the same or even a better prayer in the privacy of your own room? That all punishment for your sins will be remitted at the hour of your death, merely because you are holding a blessed crucifix in your hand or wearing a scapular1, associated by your church with so-
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