By the time of the Reformation the selling of pardons (forgiveness of sins for payment) was seen as a form of?

Catholic Answer

The current protestant understanding is that the whole indulgence episode involved corruption and that indulgences were seen as a payment for the pardon of sin, a payment to avoid hell and go to heaven, but this was never correct.

There is a LOT of misunderstanding about indulgences. Even if properly explained to a non-Catholic Christian, there is still room for a lot of misunderstanding because the concepts being explained are not part of the Protestant heritage. Indulgences have nothing, whatsoever, to do with the forgiveness of sins, and they never have. It is impossible to gain an indulgence without *PRIOR* confession and absolution (in other Words, the sin is already forgiving). In the economy of salvation, there is a debt incurred in any sin. This debt is NOT the part that needs forgiveness. Let me try to explain by an analogy. You are a kid playing Baseball in your neighborhood. You hit one "out of the ballpark" so to speak, and it goes flying clear across the yard and right smack through your neighbor's plate glass window. Now, you go across the street, ring the bell and apologize to Mrs. Smith, explaining what happened and that you are very sorry. Mrs. Smith forgives you (she has sons of her own). Are you off free? No. You are forgiven, but the window is still broken. Therefore, restitution is needed. In all sin there is damage to more than just ourselves, every sin affects the whole Body of Christ in some way, to some degree; and to that degree restitution must be made. One way of making up this restitution is the penance the priest assigns you as your penance at the end of confession. The repair work extends beyond the window, so to speak. If you have made a habit of that sin, you also need to repair the damage done to your soul by formation of that habit. Without getting into the whole history of indulgences, they are a form of the restitution that I have explained above FOR SINS WHICH HAVE ALREADY BEEN FORGIVEN. At one time in the church's history, money was involved. There was never such a thing as "buying" an indulgence - that was and is the sin of simony which is very serious. But, for instance, donating money for a charitable cause, such as building a church, was, at one time, one of the ways for people to earn an indulgence. They still had to go confession, be absolved, be in a state of grace, go to Holy Communion, and say certain prayers, then as now, but the work involved was a contribution of money. That is no longer permission due to the misunderstandings that it provoked.

So, to be clear THERE WAS NEVER, EVER SELLING OF PARDONS FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS; NEVER. The selling of any sacred thing or service of a priest has always been a serious sin.