Near to the end of his life, Martin Luther lamented the fact that many people were growing tired of the Gospel and going back to the religious bondage of what they knew before the Reformation. This included pilgrimage (traveling to far off places in Europe) to see the relics of the Church in order to gain indulgences (which provide time off in purgatory after death).
The Roman Catholic Church boasted of having (amongst other things) pieces of the original cross of Christ, milk from the breasts of the virgin Mary as well as Joseph’s old pants… Wittenburg itself had an amazing assortment of these religious relics which were sanctioned by the Church to convey days, weeks, months, years, centuries and even millennia of time off in the place of purging, just by viewing them, the time being measured by the value and importance placed upon the relic. Continue Reading>>>
