Protestants Say Catholics Buy Forgiveness With Indulgences — Priest Responds

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]is that the Catholic Church teaches that you can pay to get your sins forgiven, that you can pay for salvation, that you can pay your way to heaven. That's not true. The Catholic Church has never ever ever ever ever taught that, that you can pay your way to heaven. That's a huge myth. I know what you're referring to and it's not what you think. There was a big controversy that happened in the 16th century, which actually led to Martin Luther starting the Protestant Reformation. And there was something that was happening in Germany that scandalized Martin Luther, who by the way was a Catholic monk. Yes, the very first Protestant was not just a Catholic, he was a Catholic priest, he was a Catholic monk. And this Catholic monk, Martin Luther, he was scandalized by a an abuse that was happening in the church in Germany, that even the bishop himself was in on. What the priests in Germany were doing is that they were making payment to the church one of the requirements to receive an indulgence. A Protestant once said, "Catholics literally paid money to buy forgiveness."

[00:01:04]And honestly, if that were true, that would be a huge problem.

[00:01:07]Because forgiveness is not something anyone can buy.

[00:01:10]You cannot Venmo your way into heaven.

[00:01:13]You cannot hand a priest money and suddenly erase sin.

[00:01:16]Yet this accusation gets thrown at Catholics all the time.

[00:01:20]You Catholics paid for indulgences or the church sold salvation.

[00:01:25]And for many everyday Catholics, if we're being honest, we hear that claim and don't really know what to say.

[00:01:31]Because indulgences sound confusing. The word itself sounds old, complicated, and honestly a little suspicious.

[00:01:39]But here is the truth. What Protestants think indulgences are and what the Catholic Church actually teaches are two completely different things. The plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday wipes away every last bit of temporal punishment you still owe for sins you've already confessed. So people will take things like this and kind of are confused maybe at what a plenary indulgence is and at what effects it has on our souls. Very very very easy to misunderstand these things. When Martin Luther was like really vehemently objecting to this, at the time it was like, "Oh, you give a donation to the church and as that act of charity can help purify your soul or reunite you to God because it's an act of charity."

[00:02:21]But, people were really really genuinely treating it as, "I'm going to buy grace." And you kind of [clears throat] can't blame somebody like Luther when a lot of people were understanding it that way. So, here's the thing. There are many plenary indulgences. A lot of different devotions you can do. There's a If you visit a church on its feast day, certain basilicas or whatever, and you're supposed to pray for the intention of the Holy Father, you're supposed to have gone to confession sort of generally within that time. Awesome.

[00:02:42]However, for a indulgence to truly be plenary as in fully all of your sins and temporal punishment is remitted, all of your attachment to sin has to be gone.

[00:02:52]So, I have a kind of theological question. It's like, "Okay, if all your attachment to sin is gone, you don't need any temporal [laughter] punishment anymore."

[00:02:59]So, the the indulgence is kind of sealing a stamp of something which already affects. Here's what people don't understand. They have a legalistic view of salvation where I did this wrong, therefore I have to pay this fine. It's like a checklist.

[00:03:11]>> Yeah. And God is an accountant keeping track and I owe this It's like when you do your taxes and I have to pay these taxes. That's what punishment is. That's completely backwards and upside down. I need punishment because of my attachments. And because I'm attached, God sends me a little bit of pain so that I let go of the attachment so that I can embrace him. It's about love in the end. It's not about pain and because Christ paid the price for us.

[00:03:34]That's done. What's the punishment for?

[00:03:35]What's purgatory about? Purgatory is about whatever detachment you don't accomplish in this life by God's grace, you do in purgatory so that you are purified of all desire for sin. That's all punishment is for. Yeah, so the punishment is like purification for your soul so that you you become what you need to become.

[00:03:53]>> That's all of it.

[00:03:54]Now, to be fair, we need to start with history, honestly.

[00:03:57]Because yes, there were abuses in the 1500s. Catholics should not run from that fact. We should be honest about it.

[00:04:04]During the time leading up to the Protestant Reformation, some people inside the church spoke about indulgences in terrible ways. Some preachers made it sound like if people gave money, souls would instantly jump out of purgatory. One preacher even became famous for language that turned indulgences into what sounded more like a sales pitch than a spiritual practice.

[00:04:25]This became a major issue and one reason Martin Luther became so angry.

[00:04:29]He saw abuses happening and pushed back hard against them. Did the Catholic Church sell indulgences? Yes, that has happened before. Indulgences are a means by which the church removes the temporal punishments, not the eternal punishments, but the temporal punishments for sins, um the things kind of lasting effect um that sin can have in our lives. And yeah, unfortunately, there has been moments where the church um whether it for good intentions or bad intentions said, "Well, we can sell these indulgences or you give this much money and you'll get an indulgence."

[00:04:59]Which obviously is what an ancient sin that we call simony. Um this goes back to the Acts of the Apostles where Simon the Magus um asked to buy the the grace and power that Peter and the other apostles had and Peter, you know, condemned him for that. Um but it it it is something that that we when we talk about simony that it's it's a temptation in the church of I'm doing something holy and maybe I can get something in return. So, anytime that the church has encountered that and the church has spoken out very strongly against the selling of indulgences, not just Martin Luther, um but other great reformers in the Catholic Church, not just those who left the church, but including the Council of Trent, which would say that that the church cannot and should not be selling indulgences. It's still something we participate in, we experience those indulgences, that mercy of God, that healing and forgiving um and restoration of our temporal punishment of sin, um but it's not something that should ever be sold for money or bought as some as some sort of commodity.

[00:05:59]You're getting indulgences every day of the year by the big four.

[00:06:04]What are they?

[00:06:06]One, pray a rosary inside a church or chapel or with another person.

[00:06:14]And next is a half an hour of adoration.

[00:06:18]It doesn't matter if the Lord is physically exposed or still in the tabernacle.

[00:06:23]We contacted Rome about that. It's either, as long as you are in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament either in the tabernacle or in a monstrance exposed.

[00:06:34]Next is a half an hour of reading scripture.

[00:06:39]You could do that, as I always say, on your couch at half-time.

[00:06:43]And then lastly is walking the Stations of the Cross.

[00:06:47]But it has to be legally erected, blessed stations, like at a church.

[00:06:53]You do any one of these big four, rosary inside church or chapel with another person, half an hour of adoration, half an hour of scripture, or walking the Stations of the Cross, you can get a plenary indulgence. It's huge.

[00:07:08]But here's the part many people leave out. The Catholic Church itself later condemned these abuses.

[00:07:14]Why? Because the church has never officially taught that forgiveness can be purchased.

[00:07:18]Ever.

[00:07:20]That is not Catholic teaching.

[00:07:22]Catholics do not believe you can buy your salvation.

[00:07:25]Catholics do not believe money can erase sin.

[00:07:28]So, if Catholics do not buy forgiveness, what exactly is an indulgence?

[00:07:32]Let's keep this simple because, honestly, this topic sounds more complicated than it really is.

[00:07:38]An indulgence is not forgiveness of sin.

[00:07:40]That surprises a lot of people.

[00:07:43]Forgiveness comes through Jesus Christ.

[00:07:45]Period. A Catholic serious sin is forgiven through repentance and confession.

[00:07:51]You confess your sins, receive absolution, and God forgives you.

[00:07:55]So then the obvious question becomes, if sin is already forgiven, what is the point of an indulgence?

[00:08:01]Are indulgences just the Catholic Church selling forgiveness and selling salvation? That's one of the biggest gripes about Catholicism, but an indulgence does not forgive your sins.

[00:08:12]Only confession does that. What an indulgence does is deal with what we call temporal punishment. What does that mean? Temporal punishment is the lingering effect of sin even after you've been forgiven. So if you think about it like this, if you crash your dad's car, but he forgives you, your relationship is healed, but the car still is wrecked. The damage still needs to be repaired, and that is temporal punishment. The Bible clearly shows this, too. In 2 Samuel, David is forgiven for his sin, but he still suffers consequences. In Colossians, we have Paul talking about uniting his sufferings to Christ for the sake of the church. That's the theology of indulgences. They are the church applying the infinite merits of Christ along with the prayers of the saints and the sacrifices of the saints to help repair that damage that sin leaves behind. Yes, in history, there were abuses, and the church corrected that.

[00:09:08]Indulgences is not about selling salvation. They are about God's mercy and healing both the guilt and the consequences of sin. It's not greed, but grace. The easiest way to explain it is this.

[00:09:20]Forgiveness removes guilt, but consequences can still remain.

[00:09:25]Think about parenting for a second.

[00:09:27]Imagine a child disobeys his parents and breaks a window.

[00:09:32]Later the child comes back crying and says, "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry."

[00:09:36]The parents forgive him. Relationship restored.

[00:09:39]But does the broken window magically fix itself?

[00:09:42]No.

[00:09:43]There are still consequences.

[00:09:45]Maybe the child helps clean it up. Maybe he loses privileges.

[00:09:49]Maybe he works to repair the damage.

[00:09:52]The forgiveness was real, but the effects of what happened still matter.

[00:09:56]Catholics believe sin works in a similar way.

[00:09:59]When we sin, God forgives us through Jesus Christ. But sin can still leave wounds, damage, and consequences in our soul and in the lives of others.

[00:10:09]This is where Catholics talk about something called temporal punishment.

[00:10:12]Now, don't let that phrase scare you because it sounds way more complicated than it is.

[00:10:17]Temporal punishment simply means the consequences or purification connected to sin even after forgiveness.

[00:10:24]The eternal punishment of sin, separation from God, Jesus already paid for on the cross. Catholics fully believe that. Jesus saves us.

[00:10:33]Jesus forgives us.

[00:10:35]But scripture also shows that forgiveness does not always mean consequences disappear overnight. Look at King David in the Bible. David committed serious sin. He repented and God forgave him.

[00:10:48]Yet consequences still followed. In 2 Samuel, the prophet Nathan tells David that although God forgave him, consequences remained because of what happened. So forgiveness happened, but healing and purification was still needed.

[00:11:01]That idea matters because Protestants often ask, "If Jesus paid it all, why would anything still remain?"

[00:11:08]Fair question.

[00:11:09]But think about everyday life. If a drunk driver destroys your fence and later apologizes, forgiveness may happen.

[00:11:16]But somebody still has to repair the damage.

[00:11:19]Sin leaves damage.

[00:11:20]God forgives us, but he also wants to heal us completely.

[00:11:24]This is where indulgences come in. An indulgence is the church applying the grace of Christ to reduce this temporal punishment.

[00:11:31]Notice what I said. The grace of Christ.

[00:11:34]Not money. Not magic.

[00:11:37]Not Catholics trying to earn salvation.

[00:11:39]Jesus is still the source.

[00:11:41]Always.

[00:11:42]The Catholic Church teaches that Christ gave his church real authority to spiritually guide believers.

[00:11:48]Catholics point to scripture here, especially Matthew 16:19, where Jesus says to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

[00:12:03]That matters because Jesus gave the church authority. Not authority to replace him.

[00:12:09]Not authority to invent salvation.

[00:12:12]But authority to shepherd souls, guide believers, and spiritually bind and loose.

[00:12:18]Catholics believe indulgences flow from this authority. The church is not replacing Jesus. The church is applying his grace in the way he intended.

[00:12:26]Then people ask, "Okay, but where is purgatory in the Bible?"

[00:12:30]That is another fair question.

[00:12:32]Catholics believe scripture points toward purification after death.

[00:12:37]One passage often discussed is 1 Corinthians 3:15, where Paul talks about someone being saved, but only as through fire.

[00:12:45]Notice that carefully.

[00:12:47]Saved, meaning this person is not in hell, but still purified. Something still needed cleansing.

[00:12:54]And honestly, this makes sense if we think about ourselves. Most Christians love Jesus, but are most Christians spiritually perfect when they die?

[00:13:02]Probably not.

[00:13:04]We still struggle with pride, anger, selfishness, jealousy, bitterness, lust, impatience, and sin.

[00:13:11]Catholics believe heaven is complete holiness in God's presence. So, if God finishes purifying us, that is not punishment in the way people think about hell. It is preparation, healing, mercy. Now, here comes the biggest misunderstanding. Modern Catholics do not pay for indulgences.

[00:13:29]Let me say that clearly again. Catholics today do not buy indulgences. You cannot swipe your debit card and reduce purgatory.

[00:13:37]That is not how this works. Today indulgences are connected to prayer, repentance, devotion, and acts of faith.

[00:13:44]The church may attach indulgences to things like reading scripture prayerfully, Eucharistic adoration, praying the rosary, certain pilgrimages, acts of charity, or specific prayers. And usually confession, communion, and sincere repentance are part of indulgences, too. Some hear the word and immediately feel uncomfortable because they associate it with medieval corruption or misunderstandings.

[00:14:11]But when you slow down and actually understand what the church teaches, indulgences are really about mercy.

[00:14:18]God helping heal the damage sin causes.

[00:14:21]The church encouraging prayer and holiness.

[00:14:24]Grace flowing from Jesus Christ. So, next time someone says, "Catholics paid for forgiveness." don't panic. Keep it simple. You can say this.

[00:14:32]Catholics do not buy forgiveness.

[00:14:34]Forgiveness comes through Jesus Christ.

[00:14:37]Indulgences are about spiritual healing after forgiveness, not paying for salvation.

[00:14:42]And if someone brings up the abuses of the 1500s, be honest. Say, "Yes, there were abuses. The church corrected them."

[00:14:50]But abuse does not equal official teaching.