Re: [form-al confession]

Dave Long (dl@silcom.com)
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 10:54:46 -0800


> When the Church sold indulgences, it was (in theory anyway) supposed
> to track this against the value of specific relics. When a relic had
> 'saved all it could', presumably it would lose its efficacy.

As has been pointed out elsewhere on this list, when the market says one
thing (in this case, the left pinkie of St. Misbehavin is worth the
same today as yesterday, whole or in parts or even if there are a
dozen such pinkies) and a cleric says another (particularly one for a
pre-counter-reformation vatican), believe the market. If the market
can correctly account for future earnings, certainly it can manage
future salvation. The effect of predestination is left as an
exercise for the reader.

It's kind of nice they built those cathedrals, though. Bazaars may
have done more for the good of the common (modal) man at the time,
but they were a bit too ephemeral be attractive to the tourist of
today. Their relative benefits in the event of rapture are still
an open question.

-Dave