Treasure House of Merit

Treasure House of Merit

Treasure House of Merit (or treasure of merit) was one of the core complaints of Martin Luther at the start of the Reformation in his Ninety-Five Theses (see #56-60). While Luther did not question that the Treasure House of Merit existed, he questioned that the Church had sole possession. He believed God had given merits equally to everyone, and thus merits could not be sold by the Church.

According to Luther's understanding of Roman Catholic Church theology, in the early days of the Church, the great saints died and went to heaven before they had used up all their accumulated "merits", which are earned by all Catholics while doing good deeds on Earth. The Church had possession of these extra merits and could, in Luther's understanding, sell them back to the people over time, thus allowing one to buy merits, rather than having to actually do the good deeds normally needed to earn them the "old fashioned way".


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Merit (Catholicism) — Merit (Latin meritum), in general, is understood to be that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward (prœmium, merces) from him in whose service the work is done. By antonomastic usage, the word has come to designate… …   Wikipedia

  • English country house — The English country house can be vast or comparatively small and of great or little architectural merit. The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned… …   Wikipedia

  • Grace (Christianity) — A series of articles on Grace in Christianity Actual grace a Catholic theological concept …   Wikipedia

  • arts, East Asian — Introduction       music and visual and performing arts of China, Korea, and Japan. The literatures of these countries are covered in the articles Chinese literature, Korean literature, and Japanese literature.       Some studies of East Asia… …   Universalium

  • List of military decorations — This is a list of military decorations, by country in alphabetical order and in order of precedence.r.Ancient Rome: Both Roman Republic and Roman Empire. *Victory Titles (including imperator and pater patriae ) *Triumphal Arch *Triumph *Triumphal …   Wikipedia

  • National Treasures of Japan — For the informal term of Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties, see Living National Treasures of Japan …   Wikipedia

  • MUSIC — This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction written sources of direct and circumstantial evidence the material relics and iconography notated sources oral tradition archives and important collections of jewish music… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …   Universalium

  • The Irish (in Countries Other Than Ireland) —     The Irish (in countries other than Ireland)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Irish (in countries other than Ireland)     I. IN THE UNITED STATES     Who were the first Irish to land on the American continent and the time of their arrival are …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Christian Archaeology —     Christian Archaeology     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Christian Archaeology     Christian archaeology is that branch of the science of archaeology the object of which is the study of ancient Christian monuments. The modern historian who… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”