Indulgence

An indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment for sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. In Catholic teaching, it is granted through the Church’s ministry and applied under prescribed conditions.

Temporal punishment: In Catholic theology, a consequence of sin that may remain after the sin’s guilt has been forgiven. Indulgences concern remission of this punishment, not forgiveness of guilt.
Sin: A moral or religious transgression against divine law or moral order. Indulgence doctrine begins with sin but distinguishes its guilt from its consequences.
Council of Clermont: A church council held in 1095 at which Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade. Its promise of remission for crusaders became an influential early form of indulgence.
Protestant Reformation: A sixteenth-century movement that divided Western Christianity and produced Protestant churches. Disputes about indulgences helped turn reform debates into a broader religious rupture.
Protestantism: A family of Christian traditions originating in the Reformation and distinct from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Rejection of indulgence doctrine became one marker separating many Protestant traditions from Catholicism.
Sacrament of Penance: A Catholic sacrament in which sins are confessed, absolution is received, and penance is undertaken. Absolution forgives guilt; an indulgence addresses remaining temporal punishment.
Absolution: A declaration of forgiveness of sins, especially one given by a priest in the sacrament of penance. An indulgence does not replace the forgiveness expressed in absolution.
First Crusade: A military campaign launched by western European Christians in 1096 to capture Jerusalem. Crusade preaching helped expand the use of indulgences tied to specific acts.
Justification (theology): In Christian theology, the act by which God makes sinners righteous or declares them righteous. Reformation disagreements over justification shaped competing interpretations of indulgences.
Printing press: A machine for producing texts by applying inked type to paper or other material. Printed polemics rapidly circulated arguments about indulgences across Europe.

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