HISTORY
THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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a tax break given to church clergy
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a type of prayer
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a document that excused a person’s sins
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a papal bull
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Detailed explanation-1: -What is an indulgence? An indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment for sins after the sinner confesses and receives absolution. Under Catholic teaching, every sin must be purified either here on earth or after death in a state called purgatory.
Detailed explanation-2: -A letter of indulgence took the form of ready-made receipts leaving an empty space for the name of the purchaser, who was meant to take it to a father confessor as proof of having obtained the right to the forgiveness of sins.
Detailed explanation-3: -The Roman Catholic Church sold “letters of indulgence”. They were sold to people with the understanding that it would decrease the time one’s soul spends in purgatory. The higher the amount paid, the lesser the time spent in purgatory. The Church accumulated a lot of wealth this way.
Detailed explanation-4: -The Catholic Church had granted indulgences since the Middle Ages to penitent Christians as a form of absolution after they fulfilled proscribed conditions such as prayer or fasting, but by Luther’s time the church was selling indulgences outright as a source of revenue.