Sacrament of Penance

To answer the problem of how to deal with sin after you have been baptized, (temporal punishment) there were three developments: 1) categorization of sins: mortal vs venial; 2) Public discipline of penance (moves to private and public confessional; 3) Doctrine of purgatory

Nominalism

Who: William of Ockham; When: 1350-1500; Where: England; What:13th Century philosophical view and type of scholasticism via William of Ockham- denies the existence of a universal. Particulars cannot teach us about the universal because it does not exist. Faith, Hope, and Love don't have intrinsic merit, God chooses to give them value, and thus protects omnipotence of God. Nominalism relativizes everything (via moderna).  Luther argues against a Catholic Church rooted in Ockham.

Indulgences

When: 9th and 10th century; moral decline of monasteries.  Context: laxity in upholding Benedictan Rule; Arab conquests; Rise of Feudal Society which the Church became closely associated with.  What: A grant from the church's treasury of release from payment due for one's sins or the sins of a dead loved one.