The Day Johannes Tetzel Sold An Indulgence For A Sin Someone Was About To Commit, And Lived To Regret It

-

A story from J. H. Merle D’Aubigné:

A Saxon gentleman had heard Tetzel at Leipsic, and was much shocked by his impostures. He went to the monk, and inquired if he was authorized to pardon sins in intention, or such as the applicant intended to commit? "Assuredly," answered Tetzel; "I have full power from the Pope to do so."

"Well," returned the gentleman, "I want to take some slight revenge on one of my enemies, without attempting his life. I will pay you ten crowns if you will give me a letter of indulgence that shall bear me harmless." Tetzel made some scruples; they struck their bargain for thirty crowns.

Shortly after, the monk set out for Leipsic. The gentleman, attended by his servants, laid wait for him in a wood between Jüterboch and Treblin,—fell upon him, gave him a beating, and carried off the rich chest of indulgence-money the inquisitor had with him. Tetzel clamoured against this act of violence, and brought an action before the judges. But the gentleman showed the letter, signed by Tetzel himself, which exempted him beforehand from all responsibility. Duke George, who had at first been much irritated at this action, upon seeing this writing, ordered that the accused should be acquitted.*

*J. H. Merle D’Aubigné, History of the Great Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Germany, Switzerland, Etc., (Philadelphia: James M. Campbell/ New York: Saxton & Miles, 1844), 72.

D’Aubigné gives as his source: "Letter of Myconius to Ebereus in  Hechtii Vita Tezelii, Wittemb. i. p. 14."  But this seems to be incorrect.  The souse mentioned is here. The letter of Myconius appears on pages 115-144.  In giving the letter a cursory scan, I do not find the story discover the story D’Aubigné tells. And it is not on page 14 either. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Timeline of David Alexander, Celebrity Ex-Evangelical Convert to Mormonism

-
Image
"...my 47 years in evangelical Christianity." See here ( 20:20) Here, as best as I can gather, is the religious background of the celebrated ex-evangelical convert to Mormonism David Alexander.  Alexander features his evangelical background as the platform from which he defends Mormonism and opposes evangelicals.  Questions have been posed about the extent of Alexander's evangelical involvement.  How one answers these questions will depend on (1) whether one considers the Twelve Tribe group in which Alexander (as "Duresh") belonged for what appears to be most of the last 20 years, should be counted as evangelical or not, and (2) whether the great number of churches Alexander reports having passed through during the previous 27 years, some of which could undoubtedly be counted as evangelical, represents typical evangelical experience.   I leave it to my readers to decide the answers to these two questions for themselves. Where possible I have relied on Alexand
Read more

Sex & the Spiritual Teachers: Spiritual Sexual Predators in the SBNR Community

-
Image
Recently added items:  " Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse ," Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide (Winter 2023): 63-77. Buddhadharma  is a spinoff of Shambhala Sun , which was founded by the notorious womanizer Chogyam Trungpa.  I was very interested in seeing whether the article mentioned Trungpa and his son Sakyong Mipham, since both of them represented poor examples of the problem described in the article.  And as it turns out they are mentioned later in the article.  They don't note, however, that Sakyong Mipham, whose sex-scandal goes back to 2018, laid low for a year or so and then went right back to teaching. They do mention that "Osel Tendzin, the American dharma heir of Chögyam Trungpa, had engaged in unprotected sex with a number of his students despite knowing he was HIV positive. One student later died of AIDS, as did Tendzin." But they don't address the charge by Stephen Butterfield, a member of the gro
Read more

Four Key Differences between the Essenes and Jesus

-
Image
1. Oil Defilement: The Essenes regarded oil as a defilement, such that “ anyone who accidentally comes into contact with it scours his person” ( Jewish War 2.123, cf. Damascus Document xii.16).   Jesus urged those who were fasting not to “ look dismal, like the hypocrites,” who “disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting,” but rather to “put oil on your head and wash your face.” (Matthew 6:16-17).   2. Hierarchy:   The Essenes were in general very big on hierarchical ranking, especially in their separated communities. If a higher-ranking member so much as touched a lower-ranking one he had to bathe, “as after contact with an alien” (Josephus, Jewish War 2.150, cf. Damascus Document XVI.5-6 and 4Q279, Community Rule III.19-25).   This naturally also affected who the Essenes in their various rankings would sit down and eat with and who they would not (Community Rule [1QS] V.10-19). Jesus, in contrast, rejected such ranking, insisting that his disciples
Read more