Caput VIII. De indulgentia
The Lord's Command to Forgive
Christ's Gospel commands to forgive are presented as a great mercy, placing the measure of divine judgment into our own hands.
The Lord says in the Gospel: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven."✦ Again: "If you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins."✦ "But if you do not forgive people, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your sins" (Matthew✦ 6:14, 15). This saying of the Lord indeed proclaims a great mercy over us, to those who are able to understand it rightly. Therefore God judges us by our own judgment, and in a certain way it is in our power how we will be judged by God the Judge. If we judge mercifully concerning those who sin against us, God will judge us mercifully concerning those who sin against him. Let us attend to his example, as the Teacher of the nations says: "Forgive one another, if anyone has a complaint against someone else."✦
Forgiving as God in Christ Forgave
Paul's counsel to forgive as Christ forgave us, returning good for evil, is grounded in the sure promise that we receive the same measure of pardon we extend.
Just as God gives to you in Christ, so you also must do (Coloss.✦ III, 13).✦ Just as God in Christ forgave us our sins, so let us also forgive those who sin against us.✦ Likewise: rendering evil for evil to no one.✦ And in another place: Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good (Rom.✦ XII, 17, 21).✦ It must be known most certainly that each person will receive from God the same measure of forgiveness they have given to their neighbor.✦1 That prayer for our sins will quickly reach the ears of almighty God, if the prayers of those who offend against us are acceptable in our ears.✦
The Promise of Mercy to the Merciful
A merciful forgiver will surely receive divine mercy, for we are forgiven exactly as we have forgiven those who harmed us.
Whoever knows how to forgive those who sin with mercy will most certainly receive the mercy of divine grace. For we will be forgiven just as we forgave those who harmed us with whatever malice.✦
Read the original Latin
Dominus in Evangelio ait: Dimittite, et dimittetur vobis. Item: Si dimiseritis hominibus peccata eorum, dimittet et vobis Pater vester coelestis peccata vestra. Si non dimiseritis hominibus, nec Pater vester coelestis dimittet vobis peccata vestra (Matth. VI, 14, 15). Haec vero Domini sententia magnam super nos misericordiam sonat his, qui eam recte intelligere possunt. Igitur ex nostro judicio judicat nos Deus, et quodammodo in potestate nostra est, quomodo judicemur a judice Deo. Si misericorditer judicamus de in nos delinquentibus, misericorditer judicabit Deus de nobis in se peccantibus. Intendamus exemplum illius, sicut Doctor gentium ait: Donate in vobismetipsis, si quis adversus aliquem habet querelam.
Sicut Deus donat vobis in Christo, ita et vos facite (Coloss. III, 13). Quomodo Deus in Christo nobis nostra peccata donavit: sic etiam nos his qui in nos peccant, dimittamus. Item: Nulli malum pro malo reddentes. Et alio loco: Noli vinci a malo, sed vince in bono malum (Rom. XII, 17, 21). Sciendum est certissime quod unusquisque talem indulgentiam accepturus est a Deo, qualem et ipse dederit proximo suo. Illa oratio pro peccatis nostris ad aures omnipotentis Dei cito perveniet, si delinquentium in nos preces in nostris auribus acceptabiles sunt.
Qui clementer peccantibus ignoscere novit, clementiam divinae pietatis certissime accipiet. Sic enim remittetur nobis, ut nos remiseremus eis qui nobis quacunque malignitate nocuerunt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.6.37 — Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- ↩Matt.6.14 — For if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- ↩Matt.6.15 — But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- ↩Col.3.13 — bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord forgave you, so also you must.
- ↩Col.3.13 — bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord forgave you, so also you must.
- ↩Col.3.13 — bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord forgave you, so also you must.
- ↩Col.3.13 — bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord forgave you, so also you must.
- ↩Rom.12.17 — Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is good in the sight of all people.
- ↩Rom.12.21 — Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
- ↩Rom.12.17 — Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is good in the sight of all people.
- ↩Matt.7.2 — For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- ↩Matt.6.14-Matt.6.15 — For if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matt.6.15 — But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- ↩Matt.6.12 — And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Notes
- 1 ↩Latin indulgentiam here means forgiveness/forbearance toward others, not the later technical sense of an indulgence.
On Virtues and Vices (De virtutibus et vitiis) companion
Read the plan one portion at a time — delivered daily
The Chosen Portion app serves each day's Alcuin chapter as a morning devotional, free.
Alcuin designed this book for daily use by a layman with no spare time, and Chosen Portion restores that use: one chapter-length portion per morning until the mirror is complete.
- All 30 days of the plan delivered automatically — no bookmark-keeping or lost PDFs
- Each chapter arrives as a 3-5 minute modern-readable portion with its Scripture references linked
- When day 30 ends, keep going: dozens more royal-house devotional works in the same format