Alcala 1958

sin is for given ,a can cell ationor reduct ion eff ected by the Chu rch ex op ere op er at o thr oug ha gra nt from the treasur yof me rit and sat isf act ion to wh ich the Chu rch has ac cess by rea son of the pow er of the ke ys . 9 Bec aus ethe Chu rch is a Bod y, the re is a un ion among he r members whereby the abundance of on e can aid the de ficien cy of oth ers . St. Pa ul, for exa mp le,wri tes in hi s lette r to the Co los sia ns:"I am gla d of my suf fer­ ings on you r beha lf,as, in thi s morta l fram e of mi ne , I he lp 'topa y off the deb t tha t the af fli cti on sof Chr ist lea ve still to be pa id, for the sak e of hi s bo dy ,the Chu rch ." 10 He cle arl y sta tes tha t hi s su ffe rin gsare on be­ hal f of the Co loss ian sand tha t the y are fo r the goo d of Chr ist's bod y, the Chu rch. Fur the rmo re,it is ev ide nt that the satis ­ fac tio n of Chr ist is inf ini te and in no way app lica ble to Hims elf sin ce He wa s "holy and gu iltl ess an d undefiled , not reck oned am on gus sin ne rs, lifted high abo ve all the he av ens." 11 Lik ewise the sai nts did many act s of pen anc e and reparation that far ex cee de d in many cas es the sat isf act ionreq uir ed by the ir own sin s. It is not di fficu lt, then , to und erst and the jus tificat ionof the Chu rch' s tea ching abo ut the tre asu ryof me rit and sati sfacti on . Wh en we sa y that an ind ulg enc e is a gra nt from the trea sury of the Chu rch in fav or of one of her members, it is com­ par abl e to a ma n's wr itin ga che ck on hi s acc ount. Let us say he ho lds an acc ountof a mil­ lion doll ars an d he wr ites a chec k fo r $5 00 for hi s bro the r, who is in debt to that amoun t. Th e mi llio na ire ha s drawn the sum from hi s ho ld ing sand turn ed it ove r to hi s bro the r, wh o tak es it as payme nt for hi s per sonal deb t. 9 C jr . Bill ot, De Ecc lesi ae Sac ram enti s, torn. II (Rome, 19 47 ), ed. oct ava ; "D e Ind ulgentii s," p. 227. gi e , l ation tio ato y i action i . e , i g dance i i cy s. l, le, t si ns: - lf, ortal frame , l ·t l ctions i id, , c ." rings - l ians i ' , . t r ore, t - ti n i ite li ble l l les fil , g rs, e s." 11 e is t e ed i action i ed s. lt, , and tifi tion 's i t ry tisfaction. l ence ers, - le ' iti g nt. t - s it t r, t. ire ings a , t al t. fr. , l ae Sacramentis, m , ), ; l l ti s,"

und erst and an ind ulg enc eas the rem issi on of ven ial sin . No tic e, tho ugh , tha t thos e who hol d thi s theory of venia l sin exc lude rea tus cu lpa e. There for e,ev en in thi s hy­ pot hes isan ind ulg enc eis not the rem issi on of sin in the stric t sen se. Mos t theolo gian s, how ever, tak e a dim vie w of thi s the ory of ven ial sin , as well as of its app lication to the doc trin e of ind ulg enc es. Fin ally, wha t of the po ssi bil ityof iden ti­ fy in gthe ind ulg enc ewith the rem ission of the eter nal pun ishm ent du e to mor tal si n? Th is is exc luded bec ause mor tal sin and the deb t of eter nal pun ishmentare inse par abl e. Wh en the sin is for giv en , thedebt of eternal pun ishm ent is als o can cel led . And sin ce mor tal sin can be for giv enon ly in depe nd­ ence on the sac ram entof pe nanc e,it foll ows tha t the debt of eter nal punis hmentcan be remitted on ly in con jun ctio nwi th the sacra ­ men t, thus lea vin gno room fo r the opera ­ tion of ind ulg enc es. We have now con sid ered and reje cted two ext rem e pos itio ns.The first represents what we mi gh t ca ll an ultra- intrin sic ism : the ind ulg enc epen etrates the ve ry abyss of consci enc eto the po int of be in gthe remi s­ sion of sin . Thesec ondreprese nts,conv erse ­ ly, an ext rem eex tri ns ici sm : the ind ulg enc e is me rel y an ext ern al thi ng in no way tan­ gen t upo n the pre cin ctsof cons cie nc e. We ma y now app roa chthe po sit ive sid e of the analy sis . Th e Cat holi cdoc trin eof ind ulg en cespre­ suppos esthre e th ings : 1 . Th e ex ist ence of a treasur yof sup er­ abun da nt sa tis fa cti ondue to the me rit s of Ch ris tan d the sa in ts. 2 . Th e pow er of the ke ys ,wh ic hena ble s the Pope an d Bis hop s to ha ve au th or ita tiv e access to this tre as ur y. 3 . Th e pre vio us remi ssi onof sin . Th is in min d, we can formulat ethe fol­ low ingde fin itio nof an indu lge nc e: it is the can cel lat ion or red uction of the debt of tempora l punishm ent rema ini ng afte r the l ence ission i l . ti e, , l t s l e. fore, - is l ence is io s . i s, , s i l , li ti i e l ences. l , ility o i- i g l ence issi l i e t l i t l l i nt able. i en, the i ent lled. l i en l - e t o nce, s ent c l ction • t, g • l ences. re e posit ons. T t intrinsic sm: l ence t ence t i g - . he es nts, s - e e insicism: l ence l al • i cts cience. ch ive of l sis. lic i e lgences • es i gs: . e i te ce f y f - dant f ctwn rits f rist i ts. . e f ys, ich e l s s t oritative sury. . wus s wn f . i , l te t . i iti n lgence: t cancellation or reduction of l i ent ining a

2

10 Coloss ians1:2 4. 11 Hebre ws7:2 6. 10 olo ians : . 11 rews : .

72