Jared Harfield's Blog

Strack and Billerbeck’s Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash is a colossal multi-volume reference work which illustrates the New Testament, verse-by-verse, with relevant rabbinic sources.

Hermann L. Strack (1848-1922) and Paul Billerbeck (1853-1932) were German scholars, trained in rabbincs and Judiasm. While Strack was more of a theologian, and Billerbeck was a Lutheran minister, together they co-authored this multi-volume work which has garnered a lot of attention over the years, both negative and positive.

Until this new republication from Lexham Academic, this resource was only available in the German language (Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch). But after careful translation and editorial work by Jacob N. Cerone, the commentary is now available in English.

The potential value of this resource is extraordinary, even as one recognizes the Jewish theological and cultural underpinnings of the Christian faith. But there is a risk of potential misuse: lazy scholarship.

By having such a rich collection of rabbinic quotations available, the reader can be tempted to “use Strack-Billerbeck as a key to New Testament interpretation or a summary of Jewish thought, when it is neither” (p. xxiv, Introduction to the English Translation). Instead of assuming bullseye conclusions from this commentary, the reader ought to view the material as a starting place of rabbinical considerations.

And yet, if used properly and with discretion, this commentary is a mighty tool whereby the reader is alerted to significant Jewish cultural and theological context for faithful Biblical exegesis.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lexham Academic in exchange for an unbiased review.

When I prepare to preach a sermon or lead a Bible study, I have my “go-to” commentaries that I trust for exegetical aid and then others for homiletical purposes. But I am glad to have discovered a newer line of commentaries that combines exegetical precision with creative preaching aids: the Kerux Commentaries.

The Kerux Commentaries are published by Kregel and are based on the “big idea” preaching model. They intentionally combine an experienced exegetical scholar with a homiletician as collaborative authors. What this provides is razor sharp exegesis and compelling creative communication tips. For those who want to deliver God’s word faithfully and winsomely, this is a staple resource.

I am leading our church youth group through Colossians and have been glad to have this commentary as a resource. I’ve noticed in my reading that there’s a lot of ink spilled on each verse, and it’s not fluff. The exegetical emphases are clear and compelling, even as it often draws conclusions based on the original Greek. I’m not usually one to mark up commentaries, but I find myself regularly clicking my pen to star, underline and circle parts that are exceptionally helpful. The preaching idea and preaching pointers connected to each passage are also rich and helpful for getting the creative juices flowing for making application to people today.

I’m thankful to Kregel for the complimentary review copy and though I’m not obligated to give a positive review, I just can’t help it. It’s a fabulous commentary, and I commend it to you.

Bible-believing, Christ-treasuring, God-fearing Christians are prone to unintentional functional athiesm when life gets full.

Many of us know what “at capacity” feels like. There are those seasons when the to-do list seems endless: financial pressures, household tasks, family dynamics, car maintenance, church responsibilities, job demands, and more.

When life gets full, it’s tempting for the Christian to de-prioritize the ordinary means of grace. Our brains might be buzzing with all the important things that demand our attention, that we forget or neglect our relationship with the Lord.

Functional Athiesm

Less Bible, less prayer, less devotion to Christ. Instead of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27), our energies gravitate towards the tasks before us. The tyranny of the urgent often elevates important things to become ultimate things. To us, our task list becomes so big that our God becomes very small.

And though our doctrinal convictions haven’t changed, there is a change of priority in our hearts. The pressures of our current season have the potential to squeeze out the vitality of our faith in Christ. The furthest end of this can have the same result as the seed sown among the thorns: the cares of the world choke out the word (Mark 4:7,18-19) in a permanent sense. But at the very least, there can a degree of temporary functional athiesm.

The Christian can be functionally atheistic when we live as if Christ’s person and work has no bearing on our lives. In the busyness of a full season, we drift to self-sufficiency. There are things to do, and little time to do it, so we get going. But instead of walking by the Spirit, we actually live our lives according to the strong arm of the flesh.

Flesh vs. Spirit

We ought to chuckle at how much we depend on the strong arm of the flesh (cf. 2 Chron 32:8, Jer 17:5), because the Bible and personal experience show us how feeble it is. It’s quite strange that we would rely on our own mere strength, wisdom, and ability, when there are inexhaustible storehouses of grace (2 Cor 12:9), wisdom (James 1:5), and power (Phil 2:13) offered to us as we trust and walk with the Triune God.

As a well known Christian author has written, when we are too busy to pray, it actually means we are too busy not to pray. The mounting pressures ought to remind us how needy we really are for God to give us life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).

Jesus Lived Life To The Full

If anyone knew capacity, it was Jesus in his earthly ministry. He would teach and perform miracles all day long, going late into the evening, to then rise very early the next morning to pray in a desolate place (cf. Mark 1:32-35). For Jesus, life was full – full of ministry, full of journeying, full of obedience, and often full of opposition from his own people.

Jesus knows what it is to be busy and in many ways at capacity. Some have pondered whether Christ’s whole life of sacrificial outpouring may have resulted in physically noticeable aging: “So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” (John 8:57). He was in his early thirties, but maybe as a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3) he experienced physical aging to appear older than he really was. Perhaps you can relate.

Yet Jesus is different than you and I. He always lived every moment Coram Deo, in dependence of his Heavenly Father who had sent him and loved him. He was sustained in wearying days with food his disciples knew nothing about – doing the will of his Father (John 4:32-34).

Jesus Christ lived a full life, carrying the greatest burdens imaginable. But more than that, his ultimate burden was to bear the sins of his people on the cross. It was there that Christ felt the fullness of God’s wrath against sin and exhausted it entirely. By his righteous wrath-bearing crucifixion in the place of sinners, he has made full atonement for all who trust in him. It is in this way that weary people weighed down with guilt can find true peace with God.

From His Fullness, Grace Upon Grace

Looking to this Jesus, we find “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

Here are 3 simple reminders for you and I in the full seasons, where we feel at capacity and prone to wander from the God we love:

1. Jesus Understands Your Load (Heb. 4:14) He is able to sympathize with you from his place in heaven now, since it wasn’t all that long ago that he experienced the same hardships on earth. You might not feel like others understand the weight you are carrying, but Jesus does, and is warmly sympathizing with you now.

2. Jesus Has Finished What You Never Could (Heb. 1:3b) Our most ultimate challenge before us is not getting our tasks accomplished, but getting right before God. After making purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. That means in the midst of a really busy season with lots to do, we can breathe a happy sigh of relief – the most important work has been completed by Jesus on our behalf. Thankfully, even our sin of self-sufficient functional athiesm was paid for on the cross.

3. Jesus Is With You (Matt. 28:20, Is. 41:10) We might forget or neglect our relationship with Christ, but what mercy it is that he never forgets about us. He is with you and his power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Your load of responsibility may not change, but you can roll the weight onto his strong shoulders. For he is your God, he will strengthen you, he will help you, he will uphold you with his righteous nail-scarred right hand.

It was a memorable day in Jerusalem,
Jesus of Nazareth’s triumphal entry.
All of Jerusalem was stirred up,
“Who is this?”, “Hosanna!”, “Blessed be!”

Cloaks and palm branches laid down,
The people praised the Son of David.
But not all received him kindly,
The religious elite watched and hated.

Christ’s triumphal entry was a humble glory.
Instead of a war horse, he rode a donkey.
Fulfilling prophecy left and right,
His face like flint rode in confidently.

Disrupting the city and its worship,
Jesus overturned tables and traditions.
The marginalized of society loved him,
But the religious remained in opposition.

Jerusalem wasn’t Christ’s ultimate destination,
He was headed to the cross.
Jesus was on a search and rescue mission,
He came to seek and save the lost.

I’ve been waiting for Jim Hamilton’s commentary on the Psalms for years.

After reading Hamilton’s large Biblical theology work, “God’s Glory In Salvation Through Judgment“, I grew exponentially in my understanding and appreciation of Biblical theology. Hamilton has a scholar’s mind and a shepherd’s heart, and his writing brings both together.

At EMA 2018 in London, UK (Evangelical Ministry Assembly) Jim Hamilton was the keynote speaker and gave several lectures on Biblical theology. During one of his talks he mentioned how he had just recently finished his commentary on the Psalms and it was going into pre-publication review in the weeks ahead. I made a mental note and kept tabs on when it would be released.

It was a good day when I finally received my copy of his 2 volume commentary on Psalms. Released in December 2021, this commentary is an weighty addition to the already impressive Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary series by Lexham Academic.

A Biblical-Theological Commentary

Too often, the Psalms are studied individually without appropriating an overview of the whole Psalter. Hamilton bucks the trend:

“This commentary seeks to interpret the book of Psalms as a book, that is, as a purposefully ordered collection of poems that build on and interpret one another.”

Psalms, Volume 1, p. 3

This commentary explains the interconnectedness of Psalms to one another and to the whole canon of Scripture. The introduction to the book gives really compelling chiastic structures for the five books within the Psalms, as well as overarching Biblical theological themes (God’s word and the promises in it, the suffering righteous servant, and the sudden destruction of the seemingly powerful wicked) p.75.

Each Psalm follows the same structure in its commentary:

• Overview and Structure of Psalm
• Scripture (in CSB and author’s translation)
• Context: Verbal and Thematic Links with Surrounding Psalms
• Exposition
• Bridge (typological fulfillment in Christ and general application for his people)

I own several excellent commentaries on the Psalms already, but this 2 volume set has quickly become one of my favourites. I find Hamilton to be very helpful in the way he writes, again as a combination of scholar and pastor. His observations are not only exegetically trustworthy, but also spiritually uplifting.

Here’s an excerpt from Psalm 121:

“Yahweh can help in any way he chooses, and he has no shortage of imaginative solutions to the problems of his people. He can help them with water from rocks, sticks that sweeten bitter waters, jars of oil, enemy armies turning their swords on themselves, even the birth of babies, one baby in particular.”

Psalms, Volume 2, p. 384

I highly recommend this commentary on Psalms from Lexham Academic. By combining Biblical-theology with literary sensitivity and pastoral heart, Jim Hamilton has produced a truly excellent resource for the church.

I received a complimentary copy of this commentary from Lexham Academic in exchange for an unbiased review.

I want to become a better preacher.

Most preachers are aware of their personal quirks and deficiencies to overcome. Like Paul, we are looking to the Lord that “words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). And yet, this ought not to create passivity in the preacher. Trusting in the Lord, there are small ways we can actively strive to improve our ministry.

Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington, scholar-preacher, has written a book on exactly this. Small Preaching is appropriately small – a mere 119 pages, but even the size communicates its aim: “25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Become a Better Preacher.”

Pennington isn’t trying to say everything about preaching in this book – he happily leaves that to other books on preaching and homiletics seminary courses. Instead, he focuses on giving his readers some very specific and practical ideas to improve their preaching.

In his introduction he says:

“How does lasting change come about in diet and exercise or aquiring a new skill? Through taking small steps in the same direction over time. This book does not promise that if you just do this one thing, then your preaching will be magically different, the preaching version of hiring the $200 million slugger or the 7’2″ center. Instead I offer you here some small ideas that can have big consequences if you play the long and methodical game with sincerity and intentionality.”

Pennington, Small Preaching, p. 3

Like any good preacher, Pennington has divided the chapters under three main headings, alliterated with the letter P: the Person of the Preacher, the Preparation for Preaching, and the Practice of Preaching.

The Person of the Preacher deals with the spirit in which we endeavour to preach God’s word. How do you respond when someone thanks you and gives you praise for the sermon you preached? Or what about when someone gives you valid criticism? Is there perhaps an subconscious tendency in us to think we need to be God’s lawyer, when really we are called to be his witness? And though all preaching involves teaching, how should the preacher understand the overlap and distinctions? In this section, practical advice is offered to give the reader a sharper purpose of preaching, and humble happiness no matter what response he receives.

The Preparation for Preaching was the most helpful section of the book for me. Pennington stresses the real importance of writing out your sermon in a full manuscript (full sentences and paragraphs), regardless of what you take into the pulpit. In his view, “writing is thinking” (p. 40). By writing the sermon out, it gives the preacher more ability to reflect and refine the logic and articulation of the sermon. But what’s more, Pennington encourages preachers to try doing “snack writing” throughout the week. Popping quick thoughts and reflections into an app or notepad throughout the week keeps things fresh and provides the preacher with a mountain of insights and reflection once it comes time to compile everything into the finished form. Oh, and do you ever think “This sermon stinks?” as you’re preparing it? Pennington does too, and he helps us understand why.

The Practice of Preaching is the longest section of the book with 10 chapters. The most helpful chapters to me were about the first minute of the sermon and the last minute of the sermon. These chapters contain very practical and immediately applicable tips for improving the sermon. Having a punchy and engaging introduction memorized can really help grab the attention of your people and sets the stage for the rest of the sermon. Then thinking about concluding thoughts, we must grapple with skillfully landing that 747 of a sermon. The first and last 60 seconds of the sermon are important and deserve our prayerful consideration.

Overall, this is an excellent book from Dr. Pennington. The chapters are succinctly and warmly written, making it very readable. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I’ve already incorporated many of his ideas into my own preaching and teaching. These small steps are already making a big impact, and I am grateful.

I received a complimentary copy of this book by Lexham Press in exchange for an unbiased review.

From eternity past,
the Triune God is and will always be.
Father, Son and Spirit,
God is One, reigning as Three.

In His glorious counsel of love,
This Godhead overflowed to create.
The heavens and earth would be filled,
Creatures small and creatures great.

Yet, as the omniscient God knew,
The pinnacle of creatures would rebel.
Humans, made in God’s own image,
Would reject him and prefer hell.

God the Father addresses the Godhead,
“Let us show mercy to these who will spit in our face.”
God the Son, responds,
“Yes Father; and what justice demands I will pay in their place.”

And so it was, humanity was formed.
God was pleased; “it was very good”.
But before long, mankind had sinned,
And under God’s wrath now stood.

Born of woman, born under the law,
That first Christmas, God sent us his Son.
He came to redeem us from sin’s bondage,
And secure our adoption as sons.

God the Son came and emptied himself,
Not by subtraction, but by addition.
Veiled in flesh; fully God fully man,
Jesus Christ came to make propitiation.

Wrapped in humiliation, God the Son descended,
Emptied not of divinity but hidden by krypsis.
He came to bear the cross and rise,
The Triune God offers salvation at Christmas.

Kregel Academic has published another outstanding volume in their “40 Questions” series. Up for review here is “40 Questions About Roman Catholicism” by Gregg R. Allison.

It shouldn’t come as a great surprise, but this book isn’t written by a Roman Catholic, but instead by a Protestant (more specifically, a Reformed Baptist).

Although Gregg Allison may not himself be a Catholic, he is well versed in historical theology. Everyone will inevitably have bias and blindspots, but his reputation precedes him as one who represents differing theology and tradition accurately. Equally important as his own integrity is how this book weighs the distinctions of Roman Catholicism against those of Protestant evangelicalism.

The historical part (Q’s 1- 10) of the book carefully reviews the significant events and people prior to the Protestant Reformation, and also includes the more recent complexities of Vatican Council II, an aggiornamento of the Roman Catholic Church. Vatican Council II occurred in the early 1960’s and updated “doctrines, practices, liturgy, structures, and relationships” (p.43). Many changes from Vatican II are still being implemented today. And deeper still, where are the lines of agreement and disagreement with Protestants? What terminology is understood similarly and what is not?

Theological questions about revelation and authority, the Church, the sacraments, penance and reconciliation, salvation and Mariology are addressed in the second part (Q’s 11-34). Here you’ll find important questions regarding the process of salvation, the role of good works and merit, the role of purgatory, to name a few.

Lastly, to address the contemporary moment of the Roman Catholic Church, the third part of the book (Q’s 35-40) addresses the state of the Church today, including challenges and contributions. A growing phenomenon is how some Protestant evangelicals are embracing Catholicism. How should we as Christians think about addressing this? And the final 40th question is worth our deep consideration – “How Can I Talk With My Catholic Loved Ones about the Gospel?

I am convinced this is a book I will return to many times to better understand the history and theological distinctions of Roman Catholicism. Gregg R. Allison has written a thorough treatment on the subject, and I commend it to you. One might suggest some less academic titles for those seeking a basic understanding, but for those who are prepared to think deeply, Gregg Allison will happily be your guide.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kregel Academic in exchange for an unbiased review.

Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.
4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to the vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.
11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept (Mt 13:25).
12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them.
14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear.
15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation.
17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.
18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love.
19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.
20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words “plenary remission of all penalties,” does not actually mean “all penalties,” but only those imposed by himself.
21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.
22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life.
23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.
24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.
25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish.
26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them.
27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend.
30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission.
31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.
32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
33. Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the pope’s pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.
34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man.
35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.
36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.
37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.
38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission.
39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.
40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them — at least it furnishes occasion for hating them.
41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.
44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.
46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.
47. Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money.
49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.
52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.
53. They are the enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.
55. It is certainly the pope’s sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The true treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.
57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not distribute them freely but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure.
61. For it is clear that the pope’s power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by himself.
62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last (Mt. 20:16).
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.
66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.
67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain.
68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.
70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned.
71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed.
72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed.
73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.
74. Much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth.
75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.
76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.
77. To say that even St. Peter if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.
78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written. (1 Co 12[:28])
79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.
81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity.
82. Such as: “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church?” The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial.
83. Again, “Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?”
84. Again, “What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, beca use of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love’s sake?”
85. Again, “Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?”
86. Again, “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?”
87. Again, “What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?”
88. Again, “What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?”
89. “Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?”
90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace! (Jer 6:14)
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross!
94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).