PURGATORY: PART I
Peter Haddad
Catholic Invention of the Middle ages and not a doctrine handed
down to us from Christ and the earliest Chtitians.
In this, and following, articles, the DOGMA of PURGATORY
will be demonstrated to be BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL and TRUE. Since
further articles dealing with this most misunderstood DOGMA will
be following, I suggest that whoever is reading this, SAVE the
articles on a disk or Hard Drive. Since All the articles in the
series will form a WHOLE and for a better understanding of this
dogma, it is best to read all of them at the same time.
THIS ARTICLE: we will be looking at the belief in PURGATORY
among the Jews from BEFORE the time of Christ to this day. I ask
you to pray to the Holy Spirit that He may enlighten our minds as
we delve into the mystreies of the True FAITH. May He guide us into
ALL Truth and snatch us from the Jaws of Error. Amen.
The following is taken from the book "How Christ Said The First
Mass" written by Father James Meagher, D.D. and published by
TAN Books and Publishers.
"At every Mass we pray for the repose of the souls of the
dead. Did Christ pray for the dead at the Last Supper? We find no
record, but it was the custom of the Temple and synagogue in his day.
Prayers for the repose of the souls of the dead are found
in the earliest records of the Temple and synagogue. ... The Jews
of New York called the attention of the writer at different times to
the solemn prayers for the dead during the synagogue services. Their
belief regarding purgatory, souls detained there and helped by
fasting and prayer of their friends on earth, is the same as that
of the Church.
Let us give the words of a learned Protestant writer
(Rev. E. H. Plumptre, M.A., Prof. of Divinity in King's College,
London)who investigated the question."Whatever account may be
given of it, it is certain, that Prayers for the Dead appear in
the Church;s worship, as soon as we have any trace after the
immediate records of the apostolic age. It has been described by
a writer, whom no one can suspect of Romish tendencies as "an
immemorial practice." Though "Scripture is silent, yet antiquity
plainly speaks." The prayers "have found a place in every early
liturgy of the world." How indeed, we ask, could it have been
otherwise? The strong feeling shown in the time of the Machabees,
that it was "a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead,"
[II Mac. 12, 43-46], was sure, under the influence of the dominant
Pharisaic Scribes, to show itself in the devotions of the synagogue.
So far as we trace these devotions, we may say that there also the
practice is "immemorial," as old at least as the traditions of the
Rabbinic fathers. There is a probability, indefinitely great, that
prayers for the departed, the KIDDISH of later Judaism, were familiar
to the synagogues of Palestine, and other countries, that the early
Christian believers were not startled by them as an innovation, that
they passed uncondmned by our Lord himself. The writer already
quoted sees a probable reference to them in II Tim. i, 18. St. Paul,
remembering Onesiphorus, as one whose "house" had been bereaved of
him, prays that he may find mercy of the Lord "in that day." Prayers
for the dead can hardly therefore be looked on as anti-Scriptural.
In all Apostolic Liturgies, in every one of the Oriental
Rites, we find prayers for the dead, offerings for prayers,
stipends given by the laity for Masses for the repose of the souls
of the departed. Along the walls of the Catacombs, on tombstones,
on monuments of the apostolic age, on walls of church buildings now
made into mosques, in Constantinople, etc., the writer has seen
"Let them rest in peace," "Pray for the repose of the soul of
such a one" tec. These inscriptions are in Greek, Latin and other
ancient languages. The Jewish Prayer Book, used all over the world,
copying Temple and synagogue services, has prayers for the repose
of their dead relatives and friends, no synagogue service is complete
without the KIDDISH, called "PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD." The abuses of
offerings for Masses for the dead, and of Indulgences, rife before
the Reformation, induced the reformers to go too far, and abolish
these prayers and doctrine relating to purgatory.
The JEWS of our day believe that their dead go to a place
like purgatory, where they remain for a time and are aided by their
friends' prayers. Children pray for their parents on the day of
death, on the third, seventh, thirtieth day, and on the anniversary
of their death. These customs coming down from the Temple and
synagogue services gave rise to the burial of the dead on the third
day, the "Month's Mind," the anniversary and Masses for the departed.
The JEWS observed peculiar burial custom, the third, seventh
and thirtieth days being held as special mourning days, but when
these days fell on feasts they had special regulations. Cohabitaion,
wearing shoes, etc., were forbidden these days. Only near relatives
rent their garments and ate "the mourning meal". "When a coffing is
being removed from one place to another, those present must stand in
a row and pronounce the mourning benedictionand the words of
consolation." A learned scholar, or a Rabbi, pronounced the funeral
oration sometimes in verse. The "mourning women" wailed these days
but did not clap their hands.
In the time of Christ the Jews prayed for the repose of the
souls of the dead. JEWS of our day do not continue praying for
them for a whole year, lest it might imply that they remained for
a year in purgatory. The Jewish Prayer Book used to-day [1906] in
the synagogue, in the prayer for the dead has the following words.
"May God remember the soul of my revered father, (mother)
who has gone to his (her) repose. May his (her) soul be bound up in
the bond of life. May his (her) rest be glorious with the fulness
of joy in thy presence, and pleasures for evermore, at thy right
hand. Father of mercy, in whose hand are the souls of the living
and the dead, may thy consolation cheer us, as we remember (on
this holy day) our beloved and honored kinsfolk, who have gone
to their rest ... And may their souls repose in the land of the
living, beholding thy glory and delighting in thy goodness," etc.
They followed the example of their fathers, who offered
sacrifices in the Temple for the repose of the dead, as the
Machabees did. "For it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray
for the dead, that they may be loosed from theur sins."
[II Mac. 12, 46].
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Yours in Christ
Peter H. - Credo UNAM SANCTAM CATHOLICAM et APOSTOLICAM ECCLESIAM
steve kerry
Would you go to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and offer everyone
a glass of whisky?
Would you go to a self-help group for victim of rape and sexual abuse,
and show them pornography videos?
No?
Then WHY do you preach this stuff on alt.recovery.religion and
alt.recovery.catholicism?
This wasn't a follow-up, you deliberately posted to these groups.
Maybe I should complain to your SysAdmin? I'd prefer not to see
anyone have their account terminated, but if you can't use the net
responsible then don't use it at all.
--
steve kerry
Rebecca Lloyd
steve kerry <st...@metaphor.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>Would you go to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and offer everyone
>a glass of whisky?
Probably. After all, one of their aims is to 'bring us back into the
fold'. And, to continue the metaphor, proseltyzers are to recovering
Catholics +c what beer ads, alcoholic friends and the whole
booze-positive culture are to recovering alcoholics. They know you were
'in' once, they want you 'in' again, and they don't give half a damn how
much it hurts for you to have to listen to their crap. I honestly think
proseltyzing Christians just plain DON'T CARE if people have been
traumatized by their experience with Christianity and came onto a
newsgroup specifically to get support from others in their position,
AWAY from the tut-tutting masses of the faiths they left. Maybe they
don't think that anyone could actually be HURT by their experience with
Christianity or another religion. They certainly have no respect for
the rights of religious abuse survivors to create a forum where they can
discuss recovery issues unmolested. They're too busy racking up
spiritual brownie points to realize the damage they are causing, no
matter how much we yell at them to stop.
>
>Would you go to a self-help group for victim of rape and sexual abuse,
>and show them pornography videos?
If they were in as deep denial about sexual abuse as they are about
religious abuse, probably.
>
>Then WHY do you preach this stuff on alt.recovery.religion and
>alt.recovery.catholicism?
Because we're not people to them -- we're not 'saved', so apparrently we
have no rights, especially to privacy. We're targets. Sheep to be
brought into the fold. Why else would they act so bloody shocked when
we fight back?
>
>This wasn't a follow-up, you deliberately posted to these groups.
Sounds like a sadistic streak to me. But considering mainstream and
rightwing Christianity's history, that should come as no surprise.
>
>Maybe I should complain to your SysAdmin? I'd prefer not to see
>anyone have their account terminated, but if you can't use the net
>responsible then don't use it at all.
>
Hear, hear.
You know, what I would really like to see is getting the religious
recovery groups moderated, so we can discuss recovery issues in peace.
Seeker
(Who tries to be tolerant of people of all faiths and philosophies, but
is fast growing to hate Christian evangelists from all the crap they
have pulled on newsgroups I've been on)
The Answer is to Question
: In article <795861...@metaphor.demon.co.uk>,
: steve kerry <st...@metaphor.demon.co.uk> wrote:
: >
: >Would you go to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and offer everyone
: >a glass of whisky?
: Probably. After all, one of their aims is to 'bring us back into the
: fold'. And, to continue the metaphor, proseltyzers are to recovering
: Catholics +c what beer ads, alcoholic friends and the whole
: booze-positive culture are to recovering alcoholics. They know you were
: 'in' once, they want you 'in' again, and they don't give half a damn how
: much it hurts for you to have to listen to their crap. I honestly think
: proseltyzing Christians just plain DON'T CARE if people have been
: traumatized by their experience with Christianity and came onto a
: newsgroup specifically to get support from others in their position,
While i've discussed religion with some Christians who are noteable
exceptions, by and large most evangelical Christians i encounter fit the
above description. I might say that the majority of them just "don't get
it" rather than that they "don't care," though the latter may be true as
well for some. I've heard from a number of Christian proselytutes that if
what they're saying hurts me, then it must be because i was involved with
a group that twisted the bible and "wasn't *really* Christian," and that i
should listen to them & their version because *they* have it *right*.
Well, then, that would make almost all of evangelical and mainstream
Christianity "twisted and not *really* Christian," because the abusive
doctrines that hurt me are exactly the same as those who well-meaningly
(perhaps) but misguidedly spout at me again and again. This is the sense
in which i say that they probably "just don't get it"... for many
Christians it is inconcievable that the doctrines and theology of
Christianity itself could be cause for so much pain to some... it's much
easier to believe that it was a person or an institution that did the harm.
: AWAY from the tut-tutting masses of the faiths they left. Maybe they
: don't think that anyone could actually be HURT by their experience with
: Christianity or another religion.
I think that's the case... they don't believe that "real Christianity"
could ever actually hurt anyone.
: >Then WHY do you preach this stuff on alt.recovery.religion and
: >alt.recovery.catholicism?
: Because we're not people to them -- we're not 'saved', so apparrently we
: have no rights, especially to privacy. We're targets. Sheep to be
: brought into the fold. Why else would they act so bloody shocked when
: we fight back?
Indeed. I have heard some say that there are no "non-Christians," only
"pre-Christians." That sheds some interesting light on some Christians'
ideology. Of course, it never occurs to them that there might be
"post-Christians."
Christians of this type don't view non-Christians at eye level, although
they might say they do. For those who know of Lifton's Eight Criteria of
Mind Control (criteria for cultism) this is exactly what is meant by his
last criteria: "Dispensing of Existance"... Those of the "in-group" have
rights and are given status, credibility, etc, that those outside the
group don't have. Thus those outside the group can and should be treated
differently than those within the group. In extreme cases, this can lead
to a literal dispensing of existance with reference to who is allowed to
live and who must die (which, incidentally, is exactly what the final
judgement is supposed to be all about). A good example of this on TV is
the Borg Collective on Star Trek TNG: "You will be assimilated or
destroyed. Resistance is futile." Praise Jesus.
: You know, what I would really like to see is getting the religious
: recovery groups moderated, so we can discuss recovery issues in peace.
I've been thinking about this as well. While i'm usually against
moderation (as it can be easily abused, and it delays posts) in these
cases it might be worth the potential problems.
: Seeker
: (Who tries to be tolerant of people of all faiths and philosophies, but
: is fast growing to hate Christian evangelists from all the crap they
: have pulled on newsgroups I've been on)
Kris
steve kerry
gri...@gate.net "The Answer is to Question" writes:
> : You know, what I would really like to see is getting the religious
> : recovery groups moderated, so we can discuss recovery issues in peace.
>
> I've been thinking about this as well. While i'm usually against
> moderation (as it can be easily abused, and it delays posts) in these
> cases it might be worth the potential problems.
I talked to the staff at Demon Internet here in the UK about this. I said:
SK: Some newsgroups are moderated, and after reading some of the
SK: groups I think that's a fine thing.
SK: Two groups, alt.recovery.religion and alt.recovery.catholicism, are
SK: in serious need of moderation. They are constantly bombarded by
SK: people trying to save the souls of those who would leave the
SK: church - which is exactly what people who need these groups are trying
SK: to avoid! It's like rapists advertising in alt.recovery.sexual-abuse
SK: How does a newsgroup get moderated? Who does the moderating? A lot
SK: of the traffic is from cross-posting, including intellectual gems such
SK: as alt.f**k.the.skull.of.jesus - can anything be done about it?
And they replied:
D:> I'm afraid that moderated newsgroups involve a moderator stepping
D:> forwards and censoring all posts to the group - this moderator being
D:> fairly easy to circumvent for experienced 'net users anyway. The groups
D:> you mention have been created as unmoderated groups, and the only
D:> real solution would be to create new, moderated alternatives.
D:> Demons newsserver accepts all newgroup and rmgroup commands, and
D:> demon staff do not get involved with the moderation, creation or
D:> removal of newsgroups. For more information on the creation, and
D:> nettiquette of creating a new group I would suggest reading alt.config
D:> for a while...
D:> Hope this is of some help.
So, there you have it.
BTW, are there any christians reading this? Sorry, that was a stupid
question. I meant, to all the christians who I KNOW are reading this,
are any of you prepared to comment on this thread?
--
steve kerry