Failed to get "both" - both what of the penance?

It's a weird construction.

I read it as " an indulgence is a way to reduce the punishment one has to undergo for sins. An indulgence can reduce either the penance required after a priest has forgiven the sin, or the amount of time spent in purgatory, or both."

It is poorly written. But, let me break it down this way.

There are two types of punishment.

1) Penance required (after a sin has been forgiven)
2) Time spent in Purgatory (after death).

An indulgence may reduce either of these two punishments, or it may reduce both.

Both replies are cool.
Max's wins by a slim margin.
Thank you.

Either way, best not to believe nunna it, eh, Oris. I was a little Catlik boy about 8 years old when I got excommunicated. I was told that my sin was unforgivable and that even purgatory wasn't in the cards for me. Straight to hell, end of story.

So, ya know, why would I wanna believe that, even if it's true?

O, you "sinner"!
Martin Luther was excommunicated as well, by the Pope!
He's even condemned by the Emperor as an outlaw, much worse than your encounter.
Yet he has been honored as a religious reformer. He " taught that salvation and subsequently eternal life is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin." Ah? Good deeds, even a lifelong hard endeavor will lose to the easy word expressed by those who say they believe Jesus, even if they are criminals. For this reason, I think the Pope did the right thing to excommunicate him.

One of Luther's big bitches was the selling of the "indulgences" you started the thread with, eh? Who believes that the big guy in the sky is "on the take" for bribes, eh?