Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/97

 Martin Luther and his Revolt against the Church 59 V4- The penalty [for sin] must thus continue as long as the hatred of self — that is, true inward penitence ; namely, ' till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. v. 5. The pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties except those which he has imposed by his own authority, or by that of the canons. 6. The pope has no power to remit any guilt, except by declaring and warranting it to have been remitted by God ; or at most by remitting cases reserved for himself ; in which cases, if his power were despised, guilt would certainly re- main. .7. Certainly God remits no man's guilt without at the same time subjecting him, humbled in all things, to the authority of his representative, the priest. 20. Therefore the pope, when he speaks of the plenary Wrong remission of all penalties, does not mean really of all, but only of those imposed by himself. zi. Thus those preachers of indulgences are in error who say that by the indulgences of the pope a man is freed and saved from all punishment. 23. If any entire remission of all penalties can be granted to any one, it is certain that it is granted to none but the most perfect, — that is, to very few. 27. They preach man [rather than God] who say that the soul flies out of purgatory as soon as the money rattles in the chest. 28. It is certain that, when the money rattles in the chest, avarice and gain may be increased, but the effect of the intercession of the Church depends on the will of God alone. 39. It is a very difficult thing, even for the most learned theologians, to exalt at the same time, in the eyes of the people, the ample effect of pardons and the necessity of true contrition. notions of the nature of indulgences.