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| PURGATORY III |
| The following is a "proof sheet" on the subject of Purgatory. I didn't write it. I don't know who did. |
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church [#1030-32]: “All who die in God’s grace and
friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after
death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of
heaven. (#1030] The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect,
which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (#1031] The Catechism goes
to give several important biblical and historical reasons for this doctrine.
Purgatory comes from the verb “purge” meaning “to purify or cleanse.” We should keep this
notion of purification in mind when explaining this doctrine. Purgatory is a temporary state of
purification for the imperfect saints. The souls of the just who have died in the state of grace
but with venial sins or with reparation due for forgiven mortal and venial sins are fully cleansed
in Purgatory so that they may enter heaven. In Purgatory all remaining reparation for sin is
made; all remaining self-love is purged and purified until only love of God remains.
Remember these three points:
(1) Only imperfect saints in the state of grace enter Purgatory. It is not a “second chance”
for those who die in unrepented mortal sin.
(2) Purgatory exists for purification and reparation. The effects of sin are purged. The
punishments due to sin are paid.
(3) Purgatory is only temporary. Once the imperfect saints are purified they enter heaven.
Everyone in Purgatory will go to heaven. Purgatory will then cease to exist. Only heaven and
hell will remain eternally,
In order to defend the doctrine of Purgatory, you must explain two preliminary distinctions: (I)
between guilt and punishment; and (2) between mortal and venial sin.
DOES GOD FORGIVE THE GUILT OF SIN AND STILL REQUIRE PUNISHMENT
(REPARATION, ATONEMENT)?
Ask King David. In 2 Sam 12:13-14 we read: “David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the
Lord. • Nathan answered David, ‘The Lord on His part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.
But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely
die.’” God forgave the guilt of David’s sin, but He still required reparation in the form of
suffering. A man might forgive a teenager for breaking his window, but still insist that he repair
the damages.
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN?
I Jn 5:16-17 proves degrees of sin, distinguishing between deadly sin and sin that is not
deadly. James 1:14-15 reads: “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his
own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives
birth to death.” St. James distinguishes desire from sin, and beginning sin from mature sin
which brings death. Sin which brings death to the soul is mortal. Sin which only wounds and
disfigures the soul is venial.
WHAT IF YOU DIE WITH ONLY VENIAL SINS?
The souls of those who die in the perfect state of grace, without the least sin or reparation due
to sin, go directly to heaven. The souls of those who die in the state of unrepented mortal
(deadly) sin go directly to hell. What about the middle sort of people: those who die in the
state of grace, but with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgiven sin? They do not
merit hell; they are still in the state of grace; yet they are not pure enough for heaven, where
“nothing unclean will enter” (Rev. 21:27).
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THIS?
God is perfect holiness.
Is 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!’ they (The Seraphim) cried one to the other.”
We are called to that same holiness.
Mt 5:48: “So be perfect, just as ‘our heavenly Father is perfect.”
I Peter 1:15-16: “...as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your
conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.”
Without perfect holiness, we cannot see God in heaven.
Heb 12:14: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see
the Lord.”
Rev 21:27: “...nothing unclean will enter it [heaven).”
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FAITHFUL WHO DIE WITHOUT PERFECT HOLINESS OR WITH SIN
THAT IS NOT DEADLY? The biblical, logical, and historical answer is Purgatory.
IS PURGATORY SCRIPTURAL?
First, we should note that the word “purgatory” is not found in Sacred Scripture. This is not the
point. The words “Trinity” and “Incarnation” are not found in Scripture, yet these doctrines are
clearly taught there. Likewise, the Bible teaches that an intermediate state of purification
exists. We call it Purgatory. What is important is the doctrine, not the name.
WHERE IS THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY FOUND IN THE BIBLE?
Mt 12:32 “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever
speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
Jesus implies that some sins can be forgiven in the next world. Sin cannot be forgiven in Hell.
There is no sin to be forgiven in heaven. Any remission of sin in the next world can only occur
in Purgatory.
1 Cor 3:15: “But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss: the person will be
saved, but only as through fire.” This cannot refer to eternal loss in hell, for there no one is
saved. Nor can it refer to heaven, for there no one suffers. It refers, to a middle state where
the soul temporarily suffers loss so that it may gain heaven. This is essentially the definition of
Purgatory.
1 Peter 3: 18-20: “For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the
unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in
the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient
while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few
persons, eight in all were saved through water.”
1 Peter 4:6: “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead that, though
condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of
God.” Note that it is a prison for disobedient spirits, and yet they were saved when Jesus
preached to them. This is not hell, because no one is saved from hell. This is probably not the
“limbo of the fathers,” (often called “Abraham’s bosom,” where the righteous souls of the OT
waited until Christ opened the gates of heaven), because this is a place for disobedient spirits.
One cannot imagine that St. Peter is describing the waiting place of such righteous OT saints
as David and John the Baptist when he mentions disobedient spirits.
St. Peter is describing a temporary state for disobedient souls who were eventually saved. At
the very least, it proves that a third place can exist between heaven and hell. At the very most,
it proves the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.
The clearest affirmation of the existence of Purgatory comes from the Greek Septuagint: the
Old Testament Scriptures used by Christ, all the NT writers, and the councils of Hippo and
Carthage (which authoritatively determined the “canon” of inspired books of the Bible at the
end of the 4th century).
2 Maccabees 12:44-46: “...for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have
been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid
reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.” It is impossi ble
to aid souls in heaven (they have no need), and equally impossible to aid souls in hell (they
have no hope). Praying for the dead presumes souls in a middle state where atonement for
sin can be made.
This passage from Maccabees is a PROOF text, it explicitly affirms an intermediate state
where the faithful departed make atonement for their sins. 2 Maccabees was so contrary to
the “justification by faith alone” theology of the Reformers that Martin Luther chose to remove
it (along with six other books) from the Old Testament.
This takes us back to the question of the canon of the Bible:
How do you know which books realty constitute the Bible? By whose authority do you trust that
the books upon which you stake your eternal salvation really are inspired?
Do you rely on the private judgment of a renegade priest, Luther, who also wanted to throw
out Esther, James and Revelation, and thought nothing of adding the word “alone” to his
translation of Romans 3:28?
OR, do you accept the divinely protected judgment of the Catholic Church who used her
authority around the year 400 A.D. to determine the official Canon of the Bible. This is the
same Bible (less seven books) used by the Protestants to attack the very authority of the
Church who gave it to them.
Even if 2 Maccabees is rejected as Scripture, there can be no doubt that, as history, the book
accurately reflects the religious character of the Jews of the second century BC. A little more
than one hundred years before Christ, Jews prayed for their dead (and still do today).
In fact, some of the earliest Christian liturgies (worship services) include prayers for the dead.
Ancient Christian tomb inscriptions from the second and third centuries frequently contain an
appeal for prayers for the dead. This practice makes sense only if early Christians believed in
Purgatory even if they did not use that name for it.
Tertullian, writing in the year 211 A.D., presents the practice of praying and sacrificing for the
dead as an established ,custom: “We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday
anniversaries.” The practice of praying for the dead was universal among Christians for fifteen
centuries before the Reformation.
ARE THERE ANY NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT REFER TO PRAYERS AND
PRACTICES PERFORMED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE DECEASED?
2 Tim 1:16-18: “May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often gave
me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains.... May the Lord grant him to find mercy from
the Lord on that day.” St. Paul prays for his departed friend Onesiphorus, which makes sense
only if he can be helped by prayer.
I Cor 15: 29-30: “Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the
dead? If the dead are not raised at all then why are they having themselves baptized for
them? In his argument for the resurrection of the body, St. Paul mentions (without condemning
or approving) the practice of people having themselves baptized for the benefit of the dead,
who cannot be helped if there is no intermediate state of purification.
In short, if the Jews, St. Paul, and the early Christians prayed for the dead, we should have no
fear of praying for them as well. Praying for the dead presumes an intermediate state of
purification, whatever you may call it. Catholics call it Purgatory.
The epitaph of Abercius (180 AD] reads The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I
lived that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the
chaste shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields who has great eyes
surveying everywhere who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius
ordered tihs to be inscribed; truly I was in my seventy second year. May everyone who is in
accord with this and who understands it pray for "Abercius” (Jurgens, p. 78, #187). -
3 On the grounds of sola scriptura, Protestants have no way to refute the Mormon practice of
baptism for the dead. They must have recourse to the Fathers and Church Tradition to prove
that Christianity never endorsed this practice.
friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after
death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of
heaven. (#1030] The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect,
which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (#1031] The Catechism goes
to give several important biblical and historical reasons for this doctrine.
Purgatory comes from the verb “purge” meaning “to purify or cleanse.” We should keep this
notion of purification in mind when explaining this doctrine. Purgatory is a temporary state of
purification for the imperfect saints. The souls of the just who have died in the state of grace
but with venial sins or with reparation due for forgiven mortal and venial sins are fully cleansed
in Purgatory so that they may enter heaven. In Purgatory all remaining reparation for sin is
made; all remaining self-love is purged and purified until only love of God remains.
Remember these three points:
(1) Only imperfect saints in the state of grace enter Purgatory. It is not a “second chance”
for those who die in unrepented mortal sin.
(2) Purgatory exists for purification and reparation. The effects of sin are purged. The
punishments due to sin are paid.
(3) Purgatory is only temporary. Once the imperfect saints are purified they enter heaven.
Everyone in Purgatory will go to heaven. Purgatory will then cease to exist. Only heaven and
hell will remain eternally,
In order to defend the doctrine of Purgatory, you must explain two preliminary distinctions: (I)
between guilt and punishment; and (2) between mortal and venial sin.
DOES GOD FORGIVE THE GUILT OF SIN AND STILL REQUIRE PUNISHMENT
(REPARATION, ATONEMENT)?
Ask King David. In 2 Sam 12:13-14 we read: “David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the
Lord. • Nathan answered David, ‘The Lord on His part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.
But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely
die.’” God forgave the guilt of David’s sin, but He still required reparation in the form of
suffering. A man might forgive a teenager for breaking his window, but still insist that he repair
the damages.
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN?
I Jn 5:16-17 proves degrees of sin, distinguishing between deadly sin and sin that is not
deadly. James 1:14-15 reads: “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his
own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives
birth to death.” St. James distinguishes desire from sin, and beginning sin from mature sin
which brings death. Sin which brings death to the soul is mortal. Sin which only wounds and
disfigures the soul is venial.
WHAT IF YOU DIE WITH ONLY VENIAL SINS?
The souls of those who die in the perfect state of grace, without the least sin or reparation due
to sin, go directly to heaven. The souls of those who die in the state of unrepented mortal
(deadly) sin go directly to hell. What about the middle sort of people: those who die in the
state of grace, but with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgiven sin? They do not
merit hell; they are still in the state of grace; yet they are not pure enough for heaven, where
“nothing unclean will enter” (Rev. 21:27).
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THIS?
God is perfect holiness.
Is 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!’ they (The Seraphim) cried one to the other.”
We are called to that same holiness.
Mt 5:48: “So be perfect, just as ‘our heavenly Father is perfect.”
I Peter 1:15-16: “...as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your
conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.”
Without perfect holiness, we cannot see God in heaven.
Heb 12:14: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see
the Lord.”
Rev 21:27: “...nothing unclean will enter it [heaven).”
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FAITHFUL WHO DIE WITHOUT PERFECT HOLINESS OR WITH SIN
THAT IS NOT DEADLY? The biblical, logical, and historical answer is Purgatory.
IS PURGATORY SCRIPTURAL?
First, we should note that the word “purgatory” is not found in Sacred Scripture. This is not the
point. The words “Trinity” and “Incarnation” are not found in Scripture, yet these doctrines are
clearly taught there. Likewise, the Bible teaches that an intermediate state of purification
exists. We call it Purgatory. What is important is the doctrine, not the name.
WHERE IS THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY FOUND IN THE BIBLE?
Mt 12:32 “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever
speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
Jesus implies that some sins can be forgiven in the next world. Sin cannot be forgiven in Hell.
There is no sin to be forgiven in heaven. Any remission of sin in the next world can only occur
in Purgatory.
1 Cor 3:15: “But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss: the person will be
saved, but only as through fire.” This cannot refer to eternal loss in hell, for there no one is
saved. Nor can it refer to heaven, for there no one suffers. It refers, to a middle state where
the soul temporarily suffers loss so that it may gain heaven. This is essentially the definition of
Purgatory.
1 Peter 3: 18-20: “For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the
unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in
the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient
while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few
persons, eight in all were saved through water.”
1 Peter 4:6: “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead that, though
condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of
God.” Note that it is a prison for disobedient spirits, and yet they were saved when Jesus
preached to them. This is not hell, because no one is saved from hell. This is probably not the
“limbo of the fathers,” (often called “Abraham’s bosom,” where the righteous souls of the OT
waited until Christ opened the gates of heaven), because this is a place for disobedient spirits.
One cannot imagine that St. Peter is describing the waiting place of such righteous OT saints
as David and John the Baptist when he mentions disobedient spirits.
St. Peter is describing a temporary state for disobedient souls who were eventually saved. At
the very least, it proves that a third place can exist between heaven and hell. At the very most,
it proves the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.
The clearest affirmation of the existence of Purgatory comes from the Greek Septuagint: the
Old Testament Scriptures used by Christ, all the NT writers, and the councils of Hippo and
Carthage (which authoritatively determined the “canon” of inspired books of the Bible at the
end of the 4th century).
2 Maccabees 12:44-46: “...for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have
been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid
reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.” It is impossi ble
to aid souls in heaven (they have no need), and equally impossible to aid souls in hell (they
have no hope). Praying for the dead presumes souls in a middle state where atonement for
sin can be made.
This passage from Maccabees is a PROOF text, it explicitly affirms an intermediate state
where the faithful departed make atonement for their sins. 2 Maccabees was so contrary to
the “justification by faith alone” theology of the Reformers that Martin Luther chose to remove
it (along with six other books) from the Old Testament.
This takes us back to the question of the canon of the Bible:
How do you know which books realty constitute the Bible? By whose authority do you trust that
the books upon which you stake your eternal salvation really are inspired?
Do you rely on the private judgment of a renegade priest, Luther, who also wanted to throw
out Esther, James and Revelation, and thought nothing of adding the word “alone” to his
translation of Romans 3:28?
OR, do you accept the divinely protected judgment of the Catholic Church who used her
authority around the year 400 A.D. to determine the official Canon of the Bible. This is the
same Bible (less seven books) used by the Protestants to attack the very authority of the
Church who gave it to them.
Even if 2 Maccabees is rejected as Scripture, there can be no doubt that, as history, the book
accurately reflects the religious character of the Jews of the second century BC. A little more
than one hundred years before Christ, Jews prayed for their dead (and still do today).
In fact, some of the earliest Christian liturgies (worship services) include prayers for the dead.
Ancient Christian tomb inscriptions from the second and third centuries frequently contain an
appeal for prayers for the dead. This practice makes sense only if early Christians believed in
Purgatory even if they did not use that name for it.
Tertullian, writing in the year 211 A.D., presents the practice of praying and sacrificing for the
dead as an established ,custom: “We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday
anniversaries.” The practice of praying for the dead was universal among Christians for fifteen
centuries before the Reformation.
ARE THERE ANY NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT REFER TO PRAYERS AND
PRACTICES PERFORMED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE DECEASED?
2 Tim 1:16-18: “May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often gave
me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains.... May the Lord grant him to find mercy from
the Lord on that day.” St. Paul prays for his departed friend Onesiphorus, which makes sense
only if he can be helped by prayer.
I Cor 15: 29-30: “Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the
dead? If the dead are not raised at all then why are they having themselves baptized for
them? In his argument for the resurrection of the body, St. Paul mentions (without condemning
or approving) the practice of people having themselves baptized for the benefit of the dead,
who cannot be helped if there is no intermediate state of purification.
In short, if the Jews, St. Paul, and the early Christians prayed for the dead, we should have no
fear of praying for them as well. Praying for the dead presumes an intermediate state of
purification, whatever you may call it. Catholics call it Purgatory.
The epitaph of Abercius (180 AD] reads The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I
lived that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the
chaste shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields who has great eyes
surveying everywhere who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius
ordered tihs to be inscribed; truly I was in my seventy second year. May everyone who is in
accord with this and who understands it pray for "Abercius” (Jurgens, p. 78, #187). -
3 On the grounds of sola scriptura, Protestants have no way to refute the Mormon practice of
baptism for the dead. They must have recourse to the Fathers and Church Tradition to prove
that Christianity never endorsed this practice.
| WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC BELIEF ABOUT PURGATORY? |
