It is recorded in history that many who served the church especially in the Medieval period would do acts of service and penance in order to ‘gain merit’ from Christ and the Saints. The Catholic church at the time taught that Jesus and the apostles ‘gained an overflow of merit’ that the church could then distribute out to the people whenever they went on a pilgrimage, bought indulgences or visited sacred sites and relics.
At the time, the copy of the Bible was the Latin Vulgate which only the priests could access. The common person did not understand Latin, and a good many could not read. Thus, they relied heavily on the spoken words of the priests and the Pope who was considered the ‘head of the church’. *Martin Luther, who became an Augustinian Priest, was a man unsatisfied with the teachings of the church. He had been told that when swearing into the priesthood, his sins would be absolved. However, he still felt unsatisfied and ‘dirty’ with sin. He began studying Scriptures for himself and as he did so, he came to realize the error of the Catholic church: he found that salvation came by faith alone in Christ, not faith and deeds. His ninety-five theses on the problems of indulgences was nailed to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral (October 1517) which was also the university notice board. This caused a wave of frustration and concern for the church at the time. **William Tyndale had a heart for the common man and having studied in College, he desired to translate the Bible into English so that any person could read the Scriptures and own their own copy. As he translated the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into English, (1523-25), he discovered that words which, in the Latin Vulgate were ‘penance’ was really ‘repent’. Once printed, the Bibles sold as readily as could be accessed. Those who couldn’t read would find someone who could and all would pitch in to buy a Bible and hear it read in their own language. The truth of the words that Tyndale discovered enraged, the Catholic church, who saw the Bibles as an offense and irreverent. The Pope had the English Bibles burned and banned in England. But this did not stop the smuggling of Bibles into the country.
Prior to this, corruption was found in the catholic system as both priests and Pope were committing many ‘vices’ . Admiral Philip of Burgandy was said to comment that the “heathens in Rome lived more chastely and innocently than these who now draft the ecclesiastical laws for all of Christendom”. Papers of Indulgences, which were said to ‘cover the dead in purgatory,’ were being sold as if ‘ hotcakes on the market’. In Rome itself there was many “relics” including supposed bones from children whom King Herod had slain in trying to find the baby Jesus ( Matthew 2:16-18) and “feathers from the Holy Spirit” (represented as a dove at Jesus’ baptism: Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:22). The people believed that in doing these pilgrimages, visiting relics etc. they were either loosing time in purgatory or helping their loved ones be released from such.
Sadly, these ideas are found nowhere in the Bible. Instead, as Luther and Tyndale discovered, Scriptures teach that Jesus came to save sinners (Luke 5:22), that those who repent and believe in Jesus work on the Cross are saved (John 3:16; Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19); it is by Faith alone that one can receive salvation (Ephesians 2:8). There is nothing one can do to add to it. The Bible shares that ‘all have sinned’ (Romans 3:23) and because of that sin, no one can earn salvation; instead it is a gift given by God.
It is despicable how over the years, so many have taken Scripture and twisted it to achieve their owns ends. Many have been led astray. However when a person truly seeks God in Faith, they will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13; Deuteronomy 4:29; Matthew 7:7) and it is God who knows the human heart (Proverbs 16:2; 29:2) and those who are truly seeking Him.
*Reeves, Michael. The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the heart of the Reformation‘ 2010
**Edwards, Brian. God’s outlaw: The story of William Tyndale and the English Bible. 1981
Quest For Hope 