Why do Catholics believe in a place between Heaven and Hell called Purgatory?
Patrick
Purgatory? Where is Purgatory mentioned in the Bible?
The main body of Christians have always believed in the existence of a place
between Heaven and Hell where souls go to be punished for lesser sins and to
repay the debt of temporal punishment for sins which have been forgiven.
Even after Moses was forgiven by God, he was still punished for his sin. (2
Kg. or 2 Sam. 12:13-14). The primitive Church Fathers regarded the doctrine
of Purgatory as one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith. St.
Augustine, one of the greatest doctors of the Church, said the doctrine of
Purgatory ``has been received from the Fathers and it is observed by the
Universal Church.'' True, the word ``Purgatory'' does not appear in the
Bible, but a place where lesser sins are purged away and the soul is saved
``yet so as by fire,'' is mentioned. (1 Cor. 3:15). Also, the Bible
distinguishes between those who enter Heaven straightaway, calling them
``the church of the firstborn'' (Heb. 12:23), and those who enter after
having undergone a purgation, calling them ``the spirits of the just made
perfect.'' (Heb. 12:23). Christ Himself stated: ``Amen I say to thee, thou
shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.'' (Matt. 5
:26). And: ``Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an
account for it in the day of judgment.'' (Matt. 12:36). These are obviously
references to Purgatory. Further, the Second Book of Machabees (which was
dropped from the Scriptures by the Protestant Reformers) says: ``It is
therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may
be loosed from sins.'' (2 Mach. 12:46). Ancient Christian tomb inscriptions
from the second and third centuries frequently contain an appeal for prayers
for the dead. In fact, the custom of praying for the dead--which is
meaningless if there is no Purgatory--was universal among Christians for the
fifteen centuries preceding the Protestant Reformation.
Furthermore, ordinary justice calls for a place of purgation between Heaven
and Hell. Take our own courts of justice, for example. For major crimes a
person is executed or sentenced to life imprisonment (Hell); for minor
crimes a person is sentenced to temporary imprisonment for punishment and
rehabilitation (Purgatory); for no crime at all a person is rewarded with
the blessing of free citizenship (Heaven). If a thief steals some money,
then regrets his deed and asks the victim for forgiveness, it is quite just
for the victim to forgive him yet still insist on restitution. God, who is
infinitely just, insists on holy restitution. This is made either in this
life, by doing penance (Matt. 3:2; Luke 3:8, 13:3; Apoc. 3:2-3, 19), or in
Purgatory .
Also, what Christian is there who, despite his faith in Christ and his
sincere attempts to be Christlike, does not find sin and worldliness still
in his heart? ``For in many things we all offend.'' (James 3:2). Yet ``there
shall not enter into it [the new Jerusalem, Heaven] anything defiled.''
(Apoc. or Rev. 21:27). In Purgatory the soul is mercifully purified of all
stain; there God carries out the work of spiritual purification which most
Christians neglected and resisted on earth. It is important to remember that
Catholics do not believe that Christ simply covers over their sinful souls,
like covering a manure heap with a blanket of snow (Martin Luther's
description of God's forgiveness). Rather, Christ insists that we be truly
holy and sinless to the core of our souls. ``Be you therefore perfect, as
also your heavenly Father is perfect.'' (Matt. 5:48). This growth in
sinlessness--in Christian virtue and holiness--is of course the work of an
entire lifetime (and is possible only through the grace of God). With many
this cleansing is completed only in Purgatory. If there is no Purgatory, but
only Heaven for the perfect and Hell for the imperfect, then the vast
majority of us are hoping in vain for life eternal in Heaven.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html#q29
ilbe...@gmail.com
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/catholic_heresies-a_list.htm
. Looks like Purgatory was first invented in A.D. 593 Patrick.
The doctrine makes the atonement of Christ insufficient because Christ
paid for ALL of our sins...past, present, and future if you recieve
Christ and his finished atonement. Christ yelled out from the
Cross :' Testelestai ! (the sin debt has been paid in full) ' .
When a true Christian dies, he goes immediately to be with the Lord
--- "To be absent from the body is to be at home with teh Lord' . The
Apostle Paul said he would rather go to BE WITH CHrist than to stay
here on earth. When the UNsaved die, they go to Hades, which is the
intermediary place to await final judgement at the Great White Throne
judgement of God. Purgatory with other RCC doctrines serve to
minimize the total sufficiency of Christ which makes it a teaching
from the Pit of Hell ... thats what Satan wants : to minimize Christ
and his completed work. Dont buy into it Patrick, its a
counterfiet. Regards, Dave.
Patrick
. Looks like Purgatory was first invented in A.D. 593 Patrick.
The doctrine makes the atonement of Christ insufficient because Christ
paid for ALL of our sins...past, present, and future if you recieve
Christ and his finished atonement.
P - How do I get to receive this atonement stuff?
And what makes you think Christ died for our future sins?
------------------------
Christ yelled out from the
Cross :' Testelestai ! (the sin debt has been paid in full) ' .
Pat - He did?
Perhaps you have a reference for this quote?
---------------------------
When a true Christian dies, he goes immediately to be with the Lord
--- "To be absent from the body is to be at home with teh Lord' . The
Apostle Paul said he would rather go to BE WITH CHrist than to stay
here on earth. When the UNsaved die, they go to Hades, which is the
intermediary place to await final judgement at the Great White Throne
judgement of God. Purgatory with other RCC doctrines serve to
minimize the total sufficiency of Christ which makes it a teaching
from the Pit of Hell ... thats what Satan wants : to minimize Christ
and his completed work. Dont buy into it Patrick, its a
counterfiet. Regards, Dave.
P -- When a true Christian dies, he goes immediately to heaven?
That is pretty cool. How does one become a true Christian?
Which church do you subscribe to as the one real church?
How many true Christians are with Christ immediately after death?
duke
>http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/catholic_heresies-a_list.htm
>. Looks like Purgatory was first invented in A.D. 593 Patrick.
>The doctrine makes the atonement of Christ insufficient because Christ
>paid for ALL of our sins...past, present, and future
Where does scripture say that?
> if you recieve
>Christ and his finished atonement. Christ yelled out from the
>Cross :' Testelestai ! (the sin debt has been paid in full) ' .
Of Adam and Eve, not our actual sins.
Why would Christ die on the cross out of obedience to our Father just so we can
give him lip service?
>When a true Christian dies, he goes immediately to be with the Lord
>--- "To be absent from the body is to be at home with teh Lord' .
Or in hell.
> The
>Apostle Paul said he would rather go to BE WITH CHrist than to stay
>here on earth. When the UNsaved die, they go to Hades, which is the
>intermediary place to await final judgement at the Great White Throne
>judgement of God. Purgatory with other RCC doctrines serve to
>minimize the total sufficiency of Christ which makes it a teaching
>from the Pit of Hell ... thats what Satan wants : to minimize Christ
>and his completed work. Dont buy into it Patrick, its a
>counterfiet. Regards, Dave.
Purgatory:
Rev 21:27: "�nothing unclean will enter heaven�"
Mat 5:8: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God"
Heb 12:14: "strive�for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord".
Mat 5:48: "�be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect".
1Cor 3:13
13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's
work.
Now here's the kicker.
Matthew 12
32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone
who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or
in the age to come.
What age to come? "Speaking against the Son of Man" forgiven in the age to come
and "nothing unclean will enter heaven" are contradictory terms in scripture if
there is nothing in between; ie, a state of purging of the sin nature.
Note:
Matthew 12
32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone
who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or
in the age to come.
Speaking against the Son of Man (man) can be forgiven in the next age. Anyone
who speaks against the Holy Spirit (God) will not be forgiven in the next age.
Now Rev 21:27 says: "�nothing unclean will enter heaven�". That means there is
an age to come that is short of heaven because sins can be forgiven there
whereas no sin enters heaven.
The Dukester, American-American
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"The Mass is the most perfect form of Prayer."
Pope Paul VI
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