Treasure House of Merit

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Treasure House of Merit (or treasure of merit) was one of the core complaints of Martin Luther at the start of the Reformation in his Ninety-Five Theses (see #56-60). While Luther did not question that the Treasure House of Merit existed, he questioned that the Church had sole possession. He believed God had given merits equally to everyone, and thus merits could not be sold by the Church.

According to Luther's understanding of Roman Catholic Church theology, in the early days of the Church, the great saints died and went to heaven before they had used up all their accumulated merits, which are earned by all Catholics while doing good deeds on Earth. The Church had possession of these extra merits and could, in Luther's understanding, sell them back to the people over time, thus allowing one to buy merits, rather than having to actually do the good deeds normally needed to earn them the "old fashioned way".