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Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church. It also extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things". [1]
Though this isn't a word that a lot of us are familiar with, it is a VERY important word in the history of the Church. Simon sought to purchase spiritual power, and many have sought to do so after him - because he was the first to be recorded in the New Testament, this sin has been named after him. Why is this important to us? Two reasons: one past, one present.
Past:
It can be pretty easily argued that simony was a major factor in the Reformation started by Luther. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his "95 Theses" (on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences) at Wittenberg. We'll come back to a few of them in a minute, but first a quick overview of what caused Luther to write them in the first place. The history of it is filled with simony.
A major player in this story is actually a building: St. Peter's Basilica was in dire need of repair, but there was insufficient "church money" to finance the construction of the dome:
"St. Peter’s Dome is at once the glory and the shame of papal Rome. It was built over the bones of the Galilaean fisherman, with the proceeds from the sale of indulgences which broke up the unity of Western Christendom. The magnificent structure was begun in 1506 under Pope Julius II., and completed in 1626 at a cost of forty-six millions scudi, and is kept up at an annual expense of thirty thousand scudi (dollars)." [2]
This was a HUGE project to improve "the resting place of the apostles", but where would the money come from? Indulgences:
"The rebuilding of St. Peter’s Church in Rome furnished an occasion for the periodical exercise of the papal power of granting indulgences. Julius II. and Leo X., two of the most worldly, avaricious, and extravagant Popes, had no scruple to raise funds for that object, and incidentally for their own aggrandizement, from the traffic in indulgences." [3]
So, if the project was to be financed with indulgences, what are indulgences?
"In the legal language of Rome, indulgentia is a term for amnesty or remission of punishment. In ecclesiastical Latin, an indulgence means the remission of the temporal (not the eternal) punishment of sin (not of sin itself), on condition of penitence and the payment of money to the church or to some charitable object. It maybe granted by a bishop or archbishop within his diocese, while the Pope has the power to grant it to all Catholics." [4] (emphasis mine)
Basically, it works this way: the Catholic Church believed (and still does) that after death, the soul must go through a period of "cleansing" before it can advance to Heaven. This purifying involves temporary punishment and cleansing in purgatory. There was, however, a way to reduce the amount of time and suffering in purgatory: an indulgence. It was said that the works of saints and even the perfect life and merit of Jesus were all stored in a (metaphorical, I think) treasure chest in heaven to be given out to people in need. Spending 2,000 years in purgatory? No problem - the works of St. Francis can get you out. How? Through an indulgence. Pay some money and the merit will be applied to you or a loved one (living or dead) to get them out of purgatory, or at least shorten their time there.
Back to history: Leo had a plan to help finance the building project. There was a man named Albrecht, who had already bought for himself several church positions (which would bring him considerable wealth) and now sought to buy another position. Here's more on Al:
"This prelate (born June 28, 1490, died Sept. 24, 1545), though at that time only twenty-five years of age, stood at the head of the German clergy, and was chancellor of the German Empire. He received also the cardinal’s hat in 1518. He was, like his Roman master, a friend of liberal learning and courtly splendor, worldly-minded, and ill fitted for the care of souls. He was himself destitute of theological education, but called scholars, artists, poets, free-thinkers, to his court..." [5]
The deal: Albrecht could borrow money from the Fugger banking house to pay for his position, and with the permission of the pope, use half to pay back his debt, giving the other half for the building project:
"Albrecht was largely indebted to the rich banking-house of Fugger in Augsburg, from whom he had borrowed thirty thousand florins in gold to pay for the papal pallium. By an agreement with the Pope, he had permission to keep half of the proceeds arising from the sale of indulgences. The agents of that commercial house stood behind the preachers of indulgence, and collected their share for the repayment of the loan. The Archbishop appointed Johann Tetzel (Diez) of the Dominican order, his commissioner, who again employed his sub-agents." [6]
Johann Tetzel was a bad guy, but a great indulgence salesman. His famous quote is "When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs". It is even said that he claimed to be able (through selling an indulgence) to keep from purgatory a person who had sexually violated Mary (mother of Jesus) herself! Luther saw firsthand the ridiculousness and depravity of what Tetzel was doing, as well as the horrible state of the indulgence system. When he couldn't take it anymore, he posted his 95 Theses. Now that you have some background, here are a few of them:
"27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.
75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.
82. Such as: “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.”
86. Again, “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?” [7]
The point of this all? Simony is a wicked, wicked sin. Did you notice Peter's response in verse 22: "Repent! Pray that God will forgive you, if that's even possible." That's pretty harsh. The Bible is clear that exchanging money for spirituality is not only impossible, but worthy of the severest damnation. The grace of God comes only with one price: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet history is stained with this practice - in many ways it led to the Reformation itself!
Today:
So why are we talking about this? What does this history have to do with us? We don't really see people bribing churches to get a pastoral position, do we? We don't see people selling indulgences left and right. But simony is alive and well and for the most part all you have to do is turn on TBN for a while to see it. Prosperity teachers for the most part teach just a modified form of simony: "Christian, God wants you to be rich. He doesn't want His people to be poor. Just send us some money and God will reward you with untold riches!" It makes me truly sick. It's not just the preachers that are like Simon though. Sure, they want your money in exchange for something spiritual. BUT - it is also those that seek spirituality through money or miracles or whatever. This is a HUGE "Jesus....and" as we talked about in Colossians. Giving money for things like this implies that Jesus isn't enough. I can say one of several things:
1. I have Jesus, but I really need more money too. Jesus, please give me money.
2. I have Jesus, but I just don't feel close to God with just Him. Maybe if I give Him something, He'll give me something in return.
3. I have Jesus, but my life sucks. Hopefully He'll do something to make it better.
4. I have Jesus, but what I really want is for Jesus to get rid of my migraines (or back problems, or cancer, etc).
The problem here is that Jesus isn't enough. We want Him, but on our own terms, if we're willing to pay what He asks. The problem is twofold: Jesus asks for nothing and everything. Grace is totally free - you can do nothing to earn or buy it. But at the same time, grace causes us to give up our very self in service to the Heavenly King. You can't buy things from Jesus. You can make a profit supposedly "selling" these things to people, but only the the expense of your own soul.
I don't know who among us is guilty of these things. It's very easy to want the "Jesus...and" and try to get it by any means necessary. Search your heart. Figure out if this is you and ask Jesus to be enough. Also, say as Simon Magus did:
"Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church. It also extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things". [1]
Though this isn't a word that a lot of us are familiar with, it is a VERY important word in the history of the Church. Simon sought to purchase spiritual power, and many have sought to do so after him - because he was the first to be recorded in the New Testament, this sin has been named after him. Why is this important to us? Two reasons: one past, one present.
Past:
It can be pretty easily argued that simony was a major factor in the Reformation started by Luther. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his "95 Theses" (on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences) at Wittenberg. We'll come back to a few of them in a minute, but first a quick overview of what caused Luther to write them in the first place. The history of it is filled with simony.
A major player in this story is actually a building: St. Peter's Basilica was in dire need of repair, but there was insufficient "church money" to finance the construction of the dome:
"St. Peter’s Dome is at once the glory and the shame of papal Rome. It was built over the bones of the Galilaean fisherman, with the proceeds from the sale of indulgences which broke up the unity of Western Christendom. The magnificent structure was begun in 1506 under Pope Julius II., and completed in 1626 at a cost of forty-six millions scudi, and is kept up at an annual expense of thirty thousand scudi (dollars)." [2]
This was a HUGE project to improve "the resting place of the apostles", but where would the money come from? Indulgences:
"The rebuilding of St. Peter’s Church in Rome furnished an occasion for the periodical exercise of the papal power of granting indulgences. Julius II. and Leo X., two of the most worldly, avaricious, and extravagant Popes, had no scruple to raise funds for that object, and incidentally for their own aggrandizement, from the traffic in indulgences." [3]
So, if the project was to be financed with indulgences, what are indulgences?
"In the legal language of Rome, indulgentia is a term for amnesty or remission of punishment. In ecclesiastical Latin, an indulgence means the remission of the temporal (not the eternal) punishment of sin (not of sin itself), on condition of penitence and the payment of money to the church or to some charitable object. It maybe granted by a bishop or archbishop within his diocese, while the Pope has the power to grant it to all Catholics." [4] (emphasis mine)
Basically, it works this way: the Catholic Church believed (and still does) that after death, the soul must go through a period of "cleansing" before it can advance to Heaven. This purifying involves temporary punishment and cleansing in purgatory. There was, however, a way to reduce the amount of time and suffering in purgatory: an indulgence. It was said that the works of saints and even the perfect life and merit of Jesus were all stored in a (metaphorical, I think) treasure chest in heaven to be given out to people in need. Spending 2,000 years in purgatory? No problem - the works of St. Francis can get you out. How? Through an indulgence. Pay some money and the merit will be applied to you or a loved one (living or dead) to get them out of purgatory, or at least shorten their time there.
Back to history: Leo had a plan to help finance the building project. There was a man named Albrecht, who had already bought for himself several church positions (which would bring him considerable wealth) and now sought to buy another position. Here's more on Al:
"This prelate (born June 28, 1490, died Sept. 24, 1545), though at that time only twenty-five years of age, stood at the head of the German clergy, and was chancellor of the German Empire. He received also the cardinal’s hat in 1518. He was, like his Roman master, a friend of liberal learning and courtly splendor, worldly-minded, and ill fitted for the care of souls. He was himself destitute of theological education, but called scholars, artists, poets, free-thinkers, to his court..." [5]
The deal: Albrecht could borrow money from the Fugger banking house to pay for his position, and with the permission of the pope, use half to pay back his debt, giving the other half for the building project:
"Albrecht was largely indebted to the rich banking-house of Fugger in Augsburg, from whom he had borrowed thirty thousand florins in gold to pay for the papal pallium. By an agreement with the Pope, he had permission to keep half of the proceeds arising from the sale of indulgences. The agents of that commercial house stood behind the preachers of indulgence, and collected their share for the repayment of the loan. The Archbishop appointed Johann Tetzel (Diez) of the Dominican order, his commissioner, who again employed his sub-agents." [6]
Johann Tetzel was a bad guy, but a great indulgence salesman. His famous quote is "When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs". It is even said that he claimed to be able (through selling an indulgence) to keep from purgatory a person who had sexually violated Mary (mother of Jesus) herself! Luther saw firsthand the ridiculousness and depravity of what Tetzel was doing, as well as the horrible state of the indulgence system. When he couldn't take it anymore, he posted his 95 Theses. Now that you have some background, here are a few of them:
"27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.
75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.
82. Such as: “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.”
86. Again, “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?” [7]
The point of this all? Simony is a wicked, wicked sin. Did you notice Peter's response in verse 22: "Repent! Pray that God will forgive you, if that's even possible." That's pretty harsh. The Bible is clear that exchanging money for spirituality is not only impossible, but worthy of the severest damnation. The grace of God comes only with one price: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet history is stained with this practice - in many ways it led to the Reformation itself!
Today:
So why are we talking about this? What does this history have to do with us? We don't really see people bribing churches to get a pastoral position, do we? We don't see people selling indulgences left and right. But simony is alive and well and for the most part all you have to do is turn on TBN for a while to see it. Prosperity teachers for the most part teach just a modified form of simony: "Christian, God wants you to be rich. He doesn't want His people to be poor. Just send us some money and God will reward you with untold riches!" It makes me truly sick. It's not just the preachers that are like Simon though. Sure, they want your money in exchange for something spiritual. BUT - it is also those that seek spirituality through money or miracles or whatever. This is a HUGE "Jesus....and" as we talked about in Colossians. Giving money for things like this implies that Jesus isn't enough. I can say one of several things:
1. I have Jesus, but I really need more money too. Jesus, please give me money.
2. I have Jesus, but I just don't feel close to God with just Him. Maybe if I give Him something, He'll give me something in return.
3. I have Jesus, but my life sucks. Hopefully He'll do something to make it better.
4. I have Jesus, but what I really want is for Jesus to get rid of my migraines (or back problems, or cancer, etc).
The problem here is that Jesus isn't enough. We want Him, but on our own terms, if we're willing to pay what He asks. The problem is twofold: Jesus asks for nothing and everything. Grace is totally free - you can do nothing to earn or buy it. But at the same time, grace causes us to give up our very self in service to the Heavenly King. You can't buy things from Jesus. You can make a profit supposedly "selling" these things to people, but only the the expense of your own soul.
I don't know who among us is guilty of these things. It's very easy to want the "Jesus...and" and try to get it by any means necessary. Search your heart. Figure out if this is you and ask Jesus to be enough. Also, say as Simon Magus did:
"Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simony
[2] Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. Timothy F. Lull and William R. Russell (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005).
[2] Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. Timothy F. Lull and William R. Russell (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005).
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