This is On Script, bringing you conversations about current scholarship on scripture.

Warrior host, Matt and Matt. Thanks for listening.

At the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Dominican indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel developed a clever marketing strategy to help with the sale of indulgences.

He is reported to have walked the streets of Leipzig and Hala crying out,

As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.

The purchase of an indulgence was thought to secure a reduction of the amount of time a person

might need to spend in purgatory, which was conceptualized as a place where Christians

received purification in preparation for the attainment of heaven.

Now, Tetzel had received authorization from Pope Leo to raise money for the reconstruction

of St. Peter's by selling indulgences, so this activity was approved by the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther found the sale of indulgencese, theologically objectionable, so he nailed his 95

theses to the door of his bishop's castle in Wittenberg,

actions that would lead to the Protestant Reformation.

Contemporary Christians, even most Catholics, tend to find the idea that giving money can result in forgiveness from God very distasteful.

But where did this idea come from? This notion that giving money or charity to the church or anyone else could somehow alleviate the human sin problem? Is it a medieval Catholic idea, a notion from late antiquity? Or perhaps is this idea stretched back into the New Testament time period or even earlier? Fortunately, we have an expert to sort all of this out for us. David Downs, to discuss his new book, Alms, Charity, Reward, and Atonement in Early Christianity.

David, welcome to OnScript.

It's great to have you with us today.

Are you going to be able to sort all this out for us today, David?

Well, I'm not sure that I'll be able to take us up through the Protestant Reformation since my book stops in the middle of the third century, but I'll do my best.

Thanks, David. David Downs is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds degrees from Clemson, Fuller, and Princeton, having served as a teaching fellow at Princeton and as a visiting professor at Holy Cross.

In addition to the book we were discussing today, Alms, David has also published the offering of the Gentiles,

Paul's collection for Jerusalem in its chronological, cultural, and cultic contexts with more Zeebeck, as well as numerous journal articles.

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