The Dispute with Catholics – Indulgences and the Merits of the Saints

The lecture explains the concept of indulgences as presented in Catholic thought and discusses the related idea of the merits of the saints, clarifying their incompatibility with Orthodox biblical and theological teaching.

🕊️ Spiritual and Educational Essence

Pope Shenouda III explains that forgiveness cannot be the result of visiting places or reciting prayers a certain number of times or years, because forgiveness is a deep spiritual matter connected to true repentance.

📖 The Position of the Saints and Apostles

He emphasizes that all saints, regardless of their spiritual stature, stood before God as sinners in need of His mercy, continually asking for forgiveness as declared in Holy Scripture.

🧠 Critique of the Merits of the Saints

The teaching that saints possess “extra merits” that can be transferred to others is rejected, because even after fulfilling all commandments, a person remains an unworthy servant.

✝️ Intercession in the Orthodox Understanding

The intercession of the saints is explained as the intercession of prayers, asking God’s mercy on our behalf, not the distribution of stored merits or indulgences.

⚠️ True Forgiveness

The lecture stresses that there is no forgiveness without repentance, as Christ said: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish,” and that repentance cannot be replaced by external practices.

🕯️ Conclusion

Forgiveness is either complete through God’s grace with repentance or does not exist at all. There is no forgiveness calculated by days or years, because the matter concerns eternal life or eternal condemnation.

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