On October 31, 1517, Augustinian monk and university professor Martin Luther released his Ninety-five Theses, calling into question the church’s selling of indulgences, papally authorized documents that granted the bearer or the bearer’s dead relatives relief from eons in Purgatory….
‘The saints have no extra credits’: Reformations then and now
Luther’s phrase, “The saints have no extra credits,” reminds us that the practice of selling indulgences didn’t end with the Reformation. Consider William Barr’s recent “religious liberty” speech at Notre Dame Law School.