St. Thomas Aquinas on Satisfaction, Indulgences, and Crusades

In order properly to elucidate the church's doctrine on indulgences, the theologian must study the practice of granting in... dulgences in the contexts of the satisfaction of Christ and of peni... tential works undertaken by Christian believers.1 In his treatment of indulgences, Thomas Aquinas is concemed to explain how Christ's redemptive sufferings can spiritually benefit the members of the mysti... cal body. Aquinas understands that, through indulgences, the church allots certain spiritual benefits to those who collaborate by one means or another in building up the mystical body.2 In his view, then, the theology of indulgences simply develops the general theological axiom that one person can share according to some determined measure in