Indulgence — Social Studies definition
Remission of temporal punishment understood within Catholic teaching; historical practices were contested.
Where it is taught
- Reformations: Doctrine, Institutions & Political Conflict — Americas, European Reforms & Atlantic Encounters, Global History & Geography I: Early Societies to c. 1750, Grade 9
In use
Luther’s criticism of indulgence practices intersected with debates over salvation, scripture, and church authority.
Reformations: Doctrine, Institutions & Political Conflict
Questions using indulgence
Problem 1
Why is an indulgence not accurately described as a license to commit any sin?
Answer and explanation
Describe a contested teaching as each participant understood it before evaluating its practice. Saying forgiveness was merely sold for any future wrongdoing misstates the doctrine and obscures why critics challenged particular claims and arrangements.