Israel as a Christian Indulgence: The Case for Evangelical Reform

On October 31, 1517, the Christian world was torn asunder by the provocative words of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, the work of a rebellious priest who took a stand against the abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Catholic church and its subsidiaries by what he saw as the manipulative practice of selling indulgences. These indulgences, spiritual reprieves for sins, served as an incentive for donations, but, according to Luther’s findings, perpetuated a lax attitude towards sin and penitence among believers in its spiritual power. Luther described how the practice of securing one’s spiritual destiny through economic means perverted traditional doctrine and discouraged genuine introspection and repentance by offering an easy way out of taking responsibility for one’s actions. In his own words, “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” (Thesis 39).

The schism caused by Luther effectively cleaved Western Christendom into two Churches: Catholic and Protestant. While initially predominant, the Catholic Church lost much ground to the Protestant movements in Northern Europe, notably in Germany, Scandinavia and England. It prompted a similar counter-reformation within the Church in order to control the damage of the popular revolt, but the damage to Christian unity was irreparable. The revolt against the Papacy and the Church, originally a practical critique over the unregulated sale of indulgences, transformed into an alternative movement away from the fundamental precepts of Catholic theology and undermined the authority of the Church as the unique representative of Christianity.

The resulting tensions fuelled bloody feuds, wars and political strife whose consequences continue to haunt the West till this day. For example, the religiously-driven Thirty Years War (1618-1648), whose result delayed German nationalism by over two centuries, eventually led to Germany’s ill-fated attempt to violently reassert herself in global affairs, an effort that culminated in the human catastrophes of the past century’s world wars. Additionally, The English Civil War (1642-1651), and the subsequent Seven Years War with Catholic France (1756-1763), shaped not only European politics, but had a profound impact on the Americas as well, serving as the primary impetus for the American Revolution thirteen years later. Thus, Luther’s political contribution to Western history cannot be ignored. He was as much a statesman as a theologian, and the political impact of his audacious act of rebellion continues to affect our world today.

While, at first, the Catholic Church had the upper hand, as it was the more established and powerful of the two competing forms of Christianity, throughout the subsequent centuries, Protestant powers, led by England and then the U.S., slowly overtook Europe’s older, more prosperous, Catholic states (e.g. Spain and Venice), as the Protestant North began to industrialize and grow. With the advent of free-market economies, managed by private financial actors, the individualistic leanings of Protestant theology became an asset for the modern industrialist. In Max Weber’s famous analysis of the phenomenon, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” (1905), he attempts to explain the success of some economies by providing religious context for their perceived efficiency. According to his reasoning, a philosophy uniquely attributable to Protestantism had made it more effective in organizing modern industrialized society, and modernity in general. Whether or not Protestant theology served as the foundation of modernity, or developed as a result of such progress, the link between the material growth of Protestant lands and their presiding theology should not be discounted. In a way, though, the overwhelming growth and empowerment of Protestantism, at times at the direct expense of Catholicism, recreated the exact political circumstances that preceded Martin Luther: an overly totalitarian moral establishment, a lack of transparency and accountability, and the abuse of power of the clergy.

Today’s Protestant Church doesn’t present itself in the same way as the Catholic Church did on the eve of the Reformation, as a centralized religious authority with direct political involvement, but rather as a decentralized, “secular,” value-driven “society,” with financial, academic and government institutions having replaced the basilica of old. The influence of such organizations and platforms, whose reach extends to the ends of the Earth, fills the role the Catholic Church once had, disseminating God’s word and administering humanity. This new “Western” Protestant world order behaves not as a rebellious group of dissidents, but as the rightful heir to the Roman empire, once embodied in its now-weaker Catholic competition. It would be foolish to believe in the abstract, neutral secularism promoted by the regime’s officials, as it would ignore the strong Christian undertones of the social values and norms espoused and enforced by “society.” While defiantly unofficial, “The West” behaves as a de-facto unified Protestant Church.

In much the same way that St. Peter Basilica, whose construction was partially funded by indulgences, catalyzed the unrest that led to the Reformation, the State of Israel, a Western project from the beginning, plays a divisive role in the internal discourse of Protestantism. While the majority of Protestants continue to support Israel both politically and financially, as they believe that “those who bless Israel will be blessed,” many are starting to question the human toll that such religious doctrine has taken on the victims of Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, at times recalling scenes of the bloody crusades of the distant past. Additionally, many concerned citizens of the West, Jews included, reject the exploitative practice of using Israel (and Israelis) as a moral and spiritual foil for the West’s own sins: the unequal distribution of wealth, cultural paganism, and a lack of meaning in an artificial society. For many of those suffering from the overbearing callousness of the uninspired Western system, Israel has become an opportunistic point of clarity, revealing the true face of the greater world order.

There must be a reckoning within Protestantism, and in Christendom at large, on the issue of Christian Zionism. The internal corruption and disorder responsible for the countless internal wars and external conquests done in the name of Christianity, must be resolved and an effort made to reconcile the vying Churches. However, such a restoration should not be accomplished at the expense of other, non-Christian and non-European/Western peoples. The unification of Christendom must not come of extremist integralist impulses, dominated by power-hungry, self-righteous interests, but rather from a synthesis of the positive attributes of both Churches and out of a renewed willingness to face internal tensions and reform from within, even if by doing so Western influence may weaken on a global level. I beseech my Christian brethren to reassess their role in history and settle their internal feud that has been wreaking havoc upon all of humanity for many hundreds of years. I ask them them to open themselves up to the concerned input of fellow Abrahamic believers who wish to prosper together and live in peace.

“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…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…Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace! (Jer 6:14)”

(Theses: 50, 90, 92)