Conclusion

Simony is an earnest desire to buy or sell something spiritual or something annexed to a spiritual thing. The doctrine was affirmed in principle by the fathers, defined and elaborated by the medievals in theology and law, wielded by the Reformers, and then slowly forgotten as the grossest abuses were corrected. In the foregoing sections, we considered the definition of simony, examining the nature of spiritual things, the circumstances of their exchange, and the desire that itself constitutes the sin. We also explored the boundaries of licit and illicit giving, revealing the shape of the minister’s proper maintenance: from the people he receives honor rather than a price for his service or labor; from God, his true employer, he receives wages. Then, we surveyed how the tradition grounded its case in Scripture and classed the transgression as a species of heresy. To buy or sell a spiritual thing is to put a price on the priceless and undermine the very character of grace. Lastly, we built on this foundation to analyze the simony that exists in our own day and identify what may be done about it.

Along with those who have attempted to honestly analyze the condition of the church in their own day, we must acknowledge that we have presented a bleak picture in demonstrating the prevalence of commerce in spiritual things.¹One nineteenth-century Anglican clergyman wrote, “That the statements I have laid before you present a melancholy view, through a long period of the Church, of that corruption, which, even in holy things, has so constantly exhibited its baneful form, we must confess.” Willis, Simony: In Two Parts, 25. Simony plagued the medieval church, and it remains the leprosy of the twenty-first-century church. Insofar as her denizens continue to tolerate the sale of biblical teaching with self-assurance, they invite the same destruction that caused Jerusalem to become a heap of ruins (Mic. 3:11–12), yet she will be saved at the last (Rev. 20:9).

The path of repentance will not be easy. Sometime around the feast of Bartholomew in August 1540, Luther’s wife Katharina joked that he should begin charging his students. The doctor rejoined, “For thirty years I have taught and preached for free. Why would I now, in my decrepit old age, begin to sell anything?”²Luther, Tischreden, no. 5187 (WA TR 4, 704:18–23). For many it will be the opposite: they have taught at a price for decades; why should they now change their ways? While many of the present generation may not catch this wave of reform, the body of Christ will grow into the full stature of Christ, and on the basis of this precious and very great promise we have a certain hope that this corruption within her will be greatly diminished before he returns.

A recovered doctrine of simony adds immediacy to that hope. Much remains to be done, and many areas remain unexplored, but perhaps this initial effort will supply the equipment by which we may begin charting the murky waters that lie before us.

May the Almighty grant repentance to the wicked in order that they may, if possible, be forgiven the intent of their hearts and set free from the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.