What are Purgatory, Indulgences and the Treasury of Merits? What does the Roman Catholic Catechism say about them?

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 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.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.


As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. cf Mt 12:31

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." (2 Macc 12:46) From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.610 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:


Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.cf. Job 1:5

The intermediate state is the condition of the dead until the resurrection of the body. Protestant Christians hold various viewpoints on the nature of the intermediate state based on their interpretation of relevant biblical passages. There are Scriptures used when refering to Purgatory and praying for the spiritually alive but physically dead:

Numbers 12 - While they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman. They complained, "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?" And the LORD heard this. Now, Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. So at once the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the meeting tent." And the three of them went. Then the LORD came down in the column of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called Aaron and Miriam. When both came forward, he said, "Now listen to the words of the LORD: Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him; Not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust. Face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?" So angry was the LORD against them that when He departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper! When Aaron turned and saw her a leper,
"Ah, my Lord!" he said to Moses, "please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! Let her not thus be like the stillborn babe that comes forth from its mother's womb with its flesh half consumed." Then Moses cried to the LORD, "Please, not this! Pray, heal her!" But the LORD answered Moses, "Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not hide in shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; only then may she be brought back." So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not start out again until she was brought back. After that the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the desert of Paran.

2 Sam. 12:13-23 - Then 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." Then Nathan returned to his house. The LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill.
David besought God for the child. He kept a fast, retiring for the night to lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth. The elders of his house stood beside him urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor would he take food with them.
On the seventh day, the child died. David's servants, however, were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said: "When the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to what we said. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do some harm!" But David noticed his servants whispering among themselves and realized that the child was dead. He asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" They replied, "Yes, he is." Rising from the ground, David washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the house of the LORD and worshiped. He returned to his own house, where at his request food was set before him, and he ate. His servants said to him: "What is this you are doing? While the child was living, you fasted and wept and kept vigil; now that the child is dead, you rise and take food." He replied: "While the child was living, I fasted and wept, thinking, 'Perhaps the LORD will grant me the child's life.' But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

Psalm 6:5 - No one remembers You when he is dead. Who praises You from the grave?

Psalm 88:10-12 - Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah 11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

Psalm 115:17 - It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence;

Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 - Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 - For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.... Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Isaiah 14:9-10 - The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you-- all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones-- all those who were kings over the nations. 10 They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."

Isaiah 26:20 - Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till His wrath is over.

Isaiah 38:18 - For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.

Ezekiel 32:21 - From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, `They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.'

Dan. 4:24 - Therefore, O king, take my advice; atone for your sins by good deeds, and for your misdeeds by kindness to the poor; then your prosperity will be long.

Dan. 12: 10 - Till a number are tested and make themselves clean; and the evil-doers will do evil; for not one of the evil-doers will have knowledge; but all will be made clear to those who are wise.

Zechariah 13:9 - And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.

Malachi 3:2-3 - But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap; and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.

2 Maccabees 12:42-45 - They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; 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. Comment: This is the earliest statement of the doctrine that prayers (2 Macc 12:42) and sacrifices (2 Macc 12:43) for the dead are efficacious. The statement is made here, however, only for the purpose of proving that Judas believed in the resurrection of the just (2 Macc 7:9, 14, 23, 36). That is, he believed that expiation could be made for certain sins of otherwise good men-soldiers who had given their lives for God's cause. Thus, they could share in the resurrection. His belief was similar to, but not quite the same as, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.

Matthew 5:26 - Truly I say to you, You will not come out from there till you have made payment of the very last farthing.

Mark 9:49, 50 - Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.

Luke 12:47-48 - That servant, who knew his lord's will, and didn't prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn't know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whoever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.

Luke 12:58-59 - For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny. "

Luke 16:19-31 - "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' 27 "He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 " `No, father Abraham,' he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Luke 23:43 - Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

John 11:11-14 - After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." 12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Acts 2:22-27 - Peter said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words, 'Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. After being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken Him, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain Him. He whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.' For David speaketh concerning him, 'I foresaw the Lord always before My face, for He is on My right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did My heart rejoice, and My tongue was glad; moreover also My flesh shall rest in hope because Thou wilt not leave My soul in Hades, neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to Me the ways of life; Thou shalt make Me full of joy with Thy countenance.'"

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 - According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 - Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

2 Cor. 12:1-4 - I must boast; not that it is profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know someone in Christ who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows), was caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this person (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up into Paradise and heard ineffable things, which no one may utter.

Philippians 1:21-24 - For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

2 Timothy 1:16-18 - May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord's mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well. Comment: Onesiphorus had died and Paul is praying for him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 - Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

Hebrews 10 - And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, 'The Lord will judge His people .' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Hebrews 12:1-14 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (Thoses in the Great Hall of Faith Hebrews Chap. 11), let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards. Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:18- 13:16 - You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them, for they could not bear to hear the command: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said, "I am terrified and trembling." No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel. See that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much more in our case if we turn away from the one who warns from heaven. His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, "I will once more shake not only earth but heaven." That phrase, "once more," points to (the) removal of shaken, created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. Therefore, we who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body. Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never forsake you or abandon you." Thus we may say with confidence: "The Lord is my helper, (and) I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?" Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching. It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not benefit those who live by them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come. Through him (then) let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.

1 John 5:16,17 - If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

1 Peter 1:7 - So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 5:4 - And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Revelation 6:9-11 - When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

Rev. 7:9-17 - After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, 9 and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Rev. 21:27 - And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life.

The following is interesting since some Early Christians considered the Apocalypse of Peter to be Scripture (if this is the same one as theirs): http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1893-15.htm

More Scripture:

Rev.3:18 uses the same metaphor of intense heat of fire able to purge the dross from the gold, that they may have "white raiment”. Rev.3: 18: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment”
This is the wedding garment.

Isa.4. 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Jewish Historians and Tradition:

Josephus in "Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades", page 637-638 of the "Works of Josephus, William Whiston, A.M. Translator, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Mass, 01961-3473, says in the first paragraph, "Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the of the good things they see, and rejoice in the righteous and unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a place in the world not regularly finished; a subterraneous region, wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance, that in this region the light does not shine, it cannot be but there must be in it perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a place of custody for souls, ill which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them TEMPORARY PUNISHMENTS, agreeable to every one's behavior and manners."

Orthodox Jews to this day believe in the final purification, and for eleven months after the death of a loved one they pray a prayer called the Mourner's Qaddish for their loved one's purification. From the book “Understanding Judaism” page 232, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech we read: "The World of Souls (olam ha-neshamot). Death is the separation of the soul from the body. The soul comes from God and must return to Him. Like God, it is immortal. This soul has consciousness and awareness. Death does not dim its powers nor diminish its ability to be aware both of self and of others. The Talmud describes souls, "speaking to each other" after death. At the time of death, the soul hovers near the body that is served well. It "hears" the eulogy; it "sees" the friends who come to pay final respects The soul goes through a purification process after death to cleanse it of the sins that adhered to it during its lifetime. This purification process is universal., since "There is not one so righteous upon the earth who does only good and sinneth not". Eccleesiastes teaches us, All must be "washed away". Every soul must go through some period of purification and punishment after death. For the most pious it may last but a moment. For the most wicked it can last a maximum of twelve months. There is reason why Kaddish is recited for the deceased for a period sufficient to cover even an extremely terrible sinner. At the same time, the deceased is spared embarrassment because the mourner stops reciting Kaddish in the twelfth month. This implies that the deceased was not a terrible sinner and his or her degree of punishment after death was not long. Once the purification process is completed, the soul survives in the "presence of God", drawing ever closer to the Almighty on the anniversary of the day of death, a fact commemorated through celebration by survivors as they commemorate the Yahrzeit. In this world of souls, there is peace and contentment, there is no pain or suffering."

"Jews have always prayed the 'Kaddish.' This prayer, which reaffirms faith in God despite the mourner's loss, was thought to hasten the process of purification. So to claim the doctrine was invented long after the Apostles is utterly false. Granted, they did not call it purgatory, but the basis is exactly the same. So the witness of this doctrine existed among the Jews long before the Apostles, was referenced to by the Scriptures (cf. 2 Maccabees 12:42-46), and has continued witness in the earliest Christians and early Church Fathers." Kevin Tierney

PURGATORY (Late Lat. purgatorium, from purgare, to purge), according to Roman Catholic faith, a state of suffering after death in which the souls of those who die in venial sin, and of those who still owe some debt of temporal punishment for mortal sin, are rendered fit to enter heaven.

It is believed that such souls continue to be members of the Church of Christ; that they are helped by the suffrages of the living - that is, by prayers, alms and other good works, and more especially by the sacrifice of the Mass; and that, although delayed until "the last farthing is paid," their salvation is assured. Catholics support this doctrine chiefly by reference to the Jewish belief in the efficacy of prayer for the dead (2 Macc. xii. 42 seq.), the tradition of the early Christians, and the authority of the Church.

Irenaeus regards as heretical the opinion that the souls of the departed pass immediately into glory; Tertullian, Cyprian, the Acts of St Perpetua, Clement of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil, Gregory of Nyassa, Ambrose, Chrysostom and Jerome, all speak of prayer for the dead and seem to imply belief in a purgatory, but their view seems to have been affected by the pre-Christian doctrine of Hades or Sheol. Some of the Greeks, notably Origen, teach that even the perfect must go through fire in the next world. Augustine writes (De VIII. Dulcitii quaestionibus) that "it is not incredible" that imperfect souls will be "saved by some purgatorial fire," to which they will be subjected for varying lengths of time according to their needs;. but in other passages he expresses conflicting opinions (De civitate, xx. 25, xxi. 13, 26; Enchiridion, 69).

Gregory the Great was the first to formulate the doctrine in express terms, "de quibusdam levibus culpis esse ante judicium purgatorius ignis credendus est" (Dial. iv. 39). Thenceforth it became part of the theology of the Western Church, and was definitely affirmed at the councils of Lyons (1274), Florence (1439) and Trent. Concerning the word purgatory, Innocent IV. writes: "Forasmuch as (the Greeks) say that this place of purification is not indicated by their doctors by an appropriate and accurate word, we will, in accordance with the tradition and authority of the holy fathers, that henceforth it be called purgatorium, for in this temporary fire are cleansed not deadly capital sins, which must be remitted by penance, but those lesser venial sins which, if not removed in life, afflict men after death."

Many points about purgatory, on which the Church has no definition, have been subjects of much speculation among Catholics. Purgatory, for example, is usually thought of as having some position in space, and as being distinct from heaven and hell; but any theory as to its exact latitude and longitude, such as underlies Dante's description, must be regarded as imaginative. Most theologians since Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura have taught that the souls in purgatory are tormented by material fire, but the Greeks have never accepted this opinion. It must be inferred from the whole practice of indulgences as at present authorized that the pains of purgatory are measurable by years and days; but here also everything is indefinite. The Council of Trent, while it commands all bishops to teach "the sound doctrine of purgatory handed down by the venerable fathers and sacred councils," bids them exclude from popular addresses all the "more difficult and subtle questions relating to the subject which do not tend to edification."

The Eastern Church affirms belief in an intermediate state after death, but the belief is otherwise as vague as the expressions of the pre-Nicene fathers on the subject. An authoritative statement of the present Eastern doctrine is to be found in the Longer Catechism of the Orthodox Church (Q. 376): "Such souls as have departed with faith but without having had time to bring forth fruits meet for repentance may be aided towards the attainment of a blessed resurrection by prayers offered in their behalf, especially such as are offered in union with the oblation of the bloodless sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, and by works of mercy done in faith for their memory."

The efficacy of prayers for the dead, and indirectly the doctrine of purgatory, were denied by early Gnostic sects, by Aerius in the 4th century, and by the Waldenses, Cathari, Albigenses and Lollards in the middle ages. Protestants, with the exception of a small minority in the Anglican communion, unanimously reject the doctrine of purgatory, and affirm that "the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory." Rejection of an intermediate state after death follows the Protestant idea of justification by faith as logically as the doctrine of purgatory results from the Catholic idea of justification by works.

An analogy to purgatory can be traced in most religions. Thus the fundamental ideas of a middle state after death and of a purification preparatory to perfect blessedness are met with in Zoroaster, who takes souls through twelve stages before they are sufficiently purified to enter heaven; and the Stoics conceived of a middle place of enlightenment which they called Eµirtpw ns. The principal authoritative statements of the Catholic Church on the doctrine of purgatory were made at the Council of Florence (Decret. unionis), and at that of Trent (Sess. vi. can. 30; Sess. xxii., C. 2, can. 3; Sess. xxv.). See H. J. D. Denziger's Enchiridion; J. Bautz, Das Fegfeuer (Mainz, 1883); and L. Redner, Das Fegfeuer (Regensburg, 1856).

A very elaborate treatise from the Catholic standpoint is that of Cardinal Bellarmine, "De purgatorio". The subject is discussed, moreover, in all major works on dogmatic theology. There is a representative Catholic statement by Hense in the Kirchenlexikon under the title "Fegfeuer," 2nd ed., vol. 4, col. 1284-1296; and a corresponding Protestant presentation by Rud. Hoffmann in Hauck's Realencyklopddie, 3rd ed. vol. v. pp. 78879 2. (C. H. HA.)

Also Pope Benedict XVI has a book on the subject called "Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life" (CUP 1988)

Belief in life after death of the body, according to Christian eschatology, also usually includes belief in an intermediate state. Most traditions believe that the grave does not interrupt consciousness; rather, the immaterial soul experiences a particular judgment after death while separate from the body. The particular judgment is followed by confinement either in the presence of God in Heaven or away from God's presence in Hell, where the soul is consciously subject either to happiness or torment.

Additionally, the Catholic tradition further compartmentalizes existence after death, and includes belief in Purgatory. Some Catholic theologians have also argued for the existence of Limbo, but there has never been a definitive Church teaching about the matter binding on the faithful. The Protestants differ from one another in their respective degrees of opposition to the teaching. Orthodoxy does allow that the disembodied soul may have a course to pass through on the way to an ultimate destination; theosis continues after death. John Calvin included this belief among those things not worth arguing about but accepted it as doctrine in his Institutes. Later Protestants tend to be less vague in their opinion, and definitely reject any idea of intervening experience for the soul after death, prior to being in the presence of God.

However, an issue on which Catholic and Orthodox faiths are united against most Protestantism is that the souls of at least some of the saints in heaven are aware of those who call upon them in request of their intercession. In stark contrast it is antithetical to most traditions of Protestantism to believe that the souls of those who have died either should or even can be called upon for help or intercession with God. Prayers directed toward those who have died, or rituals or masses dedicated to assisting the dead in their salvation, are often dogmatically taught by Protestants to be contrary to Scripture. Protestants typically deny that the souls of men adopt omniscience omnipresence, or ubiquity after death, or that they are troubled any longer with the trials of life, or that their exceeding virtue in life remains as a deposit of grace in the Church that can benefit the living.

Catholic and Orthodox Christians do not claim that departed saints gain omniscience or omnipresence, however an essential consequence of Jesus' death and resurrection is the defeat of death itself. Because of this death neither puts a person beyond God's help nor prevents the Christian from praying. The physically living souls are not deprived of the prayers of a Christian simply because the Christian dies; otherwise death would still claim victory. Neither does a person's death make it impossible for God to sanctify them; otherwise death would limit what God could do.

The Orthodox Church carefully avoids defining exactly how departed saints are aware of requests for their intercession, or exactly how the departed may be helped by prayers made on their behalf. It just continues to pray as it always has, with faith in God for the results. This is fine but it is mainly due to the fact it has not had the ability to have consensus on anything since 1054.

The Fathers on the Intermediate State and Efficacy of Litanies:

"But not to dwell upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent spiritual heroes. Let us take the noble examples furnished in our own generation. Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the Church] have been persecuted and put to death. Let us set before our eyes the illustrious apostles. Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labours, and when he had finally suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience." St. Clement of Rome (96) 1.6 Comment: They went to the 'place of glory' and the 'holy place' due to their martyrdom.

"Ye see, beloved, how great and wonderful a thing is love, and that there is no declaring its perfection. Who is fit to be found in it, except such as God has vouchsafed to render so? Let us pray, therefore, and implore of His mercy, that we may live blameless in love, free from all human partialities for one above another. All the generations from Adam even to this day have passed away; but those who, through the grace of God, have been made perfect in love, now possess a place among the godly, and shall be made manifest at the revelation of the kingdom of Christ. For it is written, 'Enter into thy secret chambers for a little time, until my wrath and fury pass away; and I will remember a propitious day, and will raise you up out of your graves.' (LXX) Blessed are we, beloved, if we keep the commandments of God in the harmony of love; that so through love our sins may be forgiven us. For it is written, 'Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not impute to him, and in whose mouth there is no guile.' This blessedness comes upon those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." St. Clement of Rome (96) 1.18
Comment: We are to be perfected in love in order to be resurrected. For now we enter the 'secret chamber' if we are perfected in our love.

"I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as ye have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that they are [now] in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this present world, but Him who died for us, and for our sakes was raised again by God from the dead."St. Polycarp (135) 1.35 Comment: The faithful and righteous who loved not the world are in their 'due place in the presence of the Lord'.

"And giving heed unto the grace of Christ they despised the tortures of this world, purchasing at the cost of one hour a release from eternal punishment. And they found the fire of their inhuman torturers cold: for they set before their eyes the escape from the eternal fire which is never quenched; while with the eyes of their heart they gazed upon the good things which are reserved for those that endure patiently, things which neither ear hath heard nor eye hath seen, neither have they entered into the heart of man, but were shown by the Lord to them, for they were no longer men but angels already." Martyrdom of Polycarp or Polycarp 2:3 (135) 1.39 Comment:

As long, therefore, as we are upon earth, let us practise repentance, for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in his hands, fashions it over again; but if he have before this cast it into the furnace of fire, can no longer find any help for it: so let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. For the Lord saith in the Gospel, "If ye have not kept that which was small, who will commit to you the great? For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." This, then, is what He means: "Keep the flesh holy and the seal undefiled, that ye may receive eternal life."2 Clement (150) 7.519

"'But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished.'Justin Martyr (160) 1.182

"For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines [delivered] by Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians" Justin Martyr (160) 1.197

"Even as there was no ignorance on God's part when He asked Adam where he was, or asked Cain where Abel was; but [it was done] to convince each what kind of man he was, and in order that through the record [of Scripture] we might have a knowledge of all: so likewise Christ declared that ignorance was not on His side, but on theirs, who thought that He was not the Christ, but fancied they would put Him to death, and that He, like some common mortal, would remain in Hades."Justin Martyr (160) 1.239

For neither will you commit any offence against your fathers, if you now show a desire to betake yourselves to that which is quite opposed to their error, since it is likely enough that they 288 themselves are now lamenting in Hades, and repenting with a too late repentance; and if it were possible for them to show you thence what had befallen them after the termination of this life, ye would know from what fearful ills they desired to deliver you.Justin Martyr (160) 1.248

Nor can the devils persuade men that there will be no conflagration for the punishment of the wicked; as they were unable to effect that Christ should be hidden after He came. But this only can they effect, that they who live irrationally, and were brought up licentiously in wicked customs, and are prejudiced in their own opinions, should kill and hate us; whom we not only do not hate, but, as is proved, pity and endeavour to lead to repentance. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged we must surely die; and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things; and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted. For they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure."Justin Martyr (160) 1.288

St. Ireneaus (180) 1.403, 411,560, 561

"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 this 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" Abercius left a request for prayers on his gravestone erected in AD 190.

Tertullian (197)3.52
St. Clement of Alexandria (202) 2.490, 491

" [T]hat very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease . . . For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other. . . . and [I] knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then . . . I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown to me. I saw that that place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment. . . . [And] he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment" . Prayer for the dead was mentioned in the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity(202) where Perpetua prays for her dead brother, who "was in suffering, but I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering…" and later receives a joyous vision of him, wherefore "I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment."(The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 2:3-4 [A.D. 202])

Hippolytus (205) 5.202, 222
Tertullian (207)3.399, 406
Tertullian (210) 3.230, 551, 557, 565, 575, 576, 187, 216, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235.
Likewise, Tertullian (216) wrote: "A woman, after the death of her husband . . . prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection."[23]
Origen (225) 4.372
St. Cyprian of Carthage (253) 5.331,332,465
Novatian (255) 5.612, 662, 663
Victorinius (280) 7.351
Methodius (290) 6.377
Arnobius (305) 6.445

"But also, when God will judge the just, it is likewise in fire that he will try them. At that time, they whose sins are uppermost, either because of their gravity or their number, will be drawn together by the fire and will be burned. Those, however, who have been imbued with full justice and maturity of virtue, will not feel that fire; for they have something of God in them which will repel and turn back the strength of the flame." Lactantius Divine Institutes, 7:21:6 (307)

"For a second life is not granted to us, so that when we seek wisdom in this life we may be wise in that one..."Lactantius (307) 7.85

"First of all, therefore, we say that the power of God is so great, that He perceives even incorporeal things, and manages them as He will. For even angels fear God, because they can be chastised by Him in some unspeakable manner; and devils dread Him, because they are tormented and punished by Him. What wonder is it, therefore, if souls, though they are immortal, are nevertheless capable of suffering at the hand of God? For since they have nothing solid and tangible in themselves, they can suffer no violence from solid and corporeal beings; but because they live in their spirits only, they are capable of being handled by God alone, whose energy and substance is spiritual. But, however, the sacred writings inform us in what manner the wicked are to undergo punishment. For because they have committed sins in their bodies, they will again be clothed with flesh, that they may make atonement in their bodies; and yet it will not be that flesh with which God clothed man, like this our earthly body, but indestructible, and abiding for ever, that it may be able to hold out against tortures and everlasting fire, the nature of which is different from this fire of ours, which we use for the necessary purposes of life, and which is extinguished unless it be sustained by the fuel of some material. But that divine fire always lives by itself, and flourishes without any nourishment; nor has it any smoke mixed with it, but it is pure and liquid, and fluid, after the manner of water. For it is not urged upwards by any force, as our fire, which the taint of the earthly body, by which it is held, and smoke intermingled, compels to leap forth, and to fly upwards to the nature of heaven, with a tremulous movement. The same divine fire, therefore, with one and the same force and power, will both burn the wicked and will form them again, and will replace as much as it shall consume of their bodies, and will supply itself with eternal nourishment: which the poets transferred to the vulture of Tityus. Thus, without any wasting of bodies, which regain their substance, it will only burn and affect them with a sense of pain. But when He shall have judged the righteous, He will also try them with fire. Then they whose sins shall exceed either in weight or in number, shall be scorched by the fire and burnt: but they whom full justice and maturity of virtue has imbued will not perceive that fire; for they have something of God in themselves which repels and rejects the violence of the flame. So great is the force of innocence, that the flame shrinks from it without doing harm; which has received from God this power, that it burns the wicked, and is under the command of the righteous. Nor, however, let any one imagine that souls are immediately judged. after death. For all are detained in one and a common place of confinement, until the arrival of the time in which the great Judge shall make an investigation of their deserts. Then they whose piety shall have been approved of will receive the reward of immortality; but they whose sins and crimes shall have been brought to light will not rise again, but will be hidden in the same darkness with the wicked, being destined to certain punishment."Lactantius (307) 7.217

Alexander of Alexandria (324) 6.300, 231, 235

"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice (Job 1:5), why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them."St. Cyril of Jerusalem (350),[17]

"Useful too is the prayer fashioned on their behalf, even if it does not force back the whole of guilty charges laid to them. And it is useful also, because in this world we often stumble either voluntarily or involuntarily, and thus it is a reminder to do better" Epiphanius of Salamis "Medicine Chest Against All Heresies" 75:8 (375).

"If a man distinguish in himself what is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch for a life of greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by reason. If he have inclined to the irrational pressure of the passions, using for the passions the cooperating hide of things irrational, he may afterward in a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, after his departure out of the body, he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire" St. Gregory of Nyssa "Sermon on the Dead" (382).

"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them" St. John Chrysostom "Homilies on 1 Corinthians"(392).

"Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extant of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly giving alms to the poor on their behalf. Not in vain was IT DECREED BY THE APOSTLES that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed. They knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. when the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God, should we not succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not reckoned as worthy of this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And what is that? We may give alms to the poor on their behalf" St. John Chrysostom Homilies on Philippians 3:9-10 (402).

St. Augustine quotes:

"There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for other dead who are remembered. It is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended" (Sermons 159:1 [A.D. 411]).

"But by the prayers of the Holy Church, and by the salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is no doubt that the dead are aided, that the Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins would deserve. The whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers: that it prays for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself; and the sacrifice is offered also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, then, works of mercy are celebrated for the sake of those who are being remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose behalf prayers to God are not offered in vain? It is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit to the dead; but for such of them as lived before their death in a way that makes it possible for these things to be useful to them after death" (ibid., 172:2).

"Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by 'some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment" (The City of God 21:13 [A.D. 419]).

"The prayer either of the Church herself or of pious individuals is heard on behalf of certain of the dead, but it is heard for those who, having been regenerated in Christ, did not for the rest of their life in the body do such wickedness that they might be judged unworthy of such mercy [as prayer], nor who yet lived so well that it might be supposed they have no need of such mercy [as prayer]" (ibid., 21:24:2).

"That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire" (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 18:69 [A.D. 421]).

"The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh. Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are given in the Church. But these things are of profit to those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these things. There is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no avail after death" (ibid., 29:109).

Pope Gregory I related penances in this life to the reduction of temporal punishment in purgatory, and also gave the following argument: As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

The Purpose of Purgatory
Ken Follis

The man after God's own heart said, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart! He who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully! He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalm 24:3-50) The son of David, our Lord Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." (Matt. 5:8) Later, another son of David, the half-brother of Jesus said, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." (Santiago 4:8)

The writer to the Hebrews said, "And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, 'The Lord will judge His people .' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." The writer said, "Our God is consuming fire!" He said, "God chasten those whom He loves who are His legitimate, un-bastardized children". The writer also said, "Without faith it is impossible to please God and likewise, without holiness it is impossible to ever even see Him."

But I used to proclaim, "I am saved already and I have the blood of Jesus over me, why do I need to be holy to see God?" The answered whispered back was, "If you are holy then why do I command you to be holy?"

Man is a tripartheid (three parts) being. I am spirit, soul and body. St. Paul prayed for us saying, "And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly (holy); and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." St Paul prayed for us to be whole- spirit, soul and body and it is in that order for which we will be. That is when I realized we are saved, being saved and will be saved.

I asked, "What is it that is perfect and saved already about us?" Our spirits are born-again and saved in baptism. We are born again of incorruptible seed (1 Peter). Our spirits are completely whole, holy, saved, redeemed, reconciled, justified and perfect. St Paul said this in past tense, “Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.” This took place in our Baptism and Confirmation. We know our souls ("psuche", or psyche) need to be transformed. It was commanded, "...be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1) Our souls are being saved as we "work out our salvation with fear and trembling". Our souls are being made whole, holy, saved, redeemed, reconciled, justified and perfect. This is the day- to- day carrying of our cross and walking in faith, hope and love. The Sacrament of Penance will save us as we receive the absolution of our sins. (James 5:14-17) This is the salvation that takes place as well in the Eucharist, the medicine of immortality and nourishing food from Heaven. Last, we know that our bodies are not holy or whole because we are corruptible, ill and stained. We still get weak and sick. The Sacrament of Unction gives a taste of eternity with the healing of body and soul. (James 5:14,15) It is written, "But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you . (Rom. 8:11) On that Day, at the Great Resurrection, we will look up for our redemption draweth nigh (Matt. 24)and we will be changed in a moment-in a twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15) our bodies will be saved and we will “awake in His likeness”- completely glorified. One day our physical bodies will be made completely whole. (1 Cor. 15) Our bodies will be completely whole, holy, saved, redeemed, reconciled, justified and perfect. When? At the Resurrection after the Second Advent Jesus Christ! The Catholic Church teaches that Purgatory will cease at this point as well, it will not be needed any longer. What about those souls at the last day whose souls were not yet perfect? I suspect the Last Days great wrath (Tribulation) on the Earth, preceding the Second Advent with the commencing of the persecution of Christians will be the purgation of those are alive and remain. There will be no need of any after those days. We will all be manifested children of God on that day. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. For the creation waits, with eager expectation, for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience.” (Rom. 8) Why is it yearning? St James said it this way, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope based on Him makes himself pure, as He is pure. Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or known Him. Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” King David also said, “As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I am awakened and behold Thy Form.”


When St Paul refers to “sufferings of this present time” is he referring to only those on Earth? The Blessed Hope is for the whole communion of saints- triumphant and militant.

"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified." (Rom. 8:28, 29)

St Paul tell us the working together of the Good. This is the economy of God for our salvation:
1. He foreknew us.
2. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
3. He called us.
4. He justified us.
5. He glorified us.

The purpose of purgation is to see that we make it to number five.

Recently, I was reading to the children The Parable of the Unjust Servant who entered the Wedding Feast without a wedding garment. He was kicked out! I taught them that by baptism we are in Covenant with God and invited to the Wedding Feast but if we enter without a royal robe of righteousness we will be kicked out at the Judgement even though we were Covenant children who answered the call to the feast. I instructed them that we should strive to be holy and a part of the aspiration is to fufill 1 John 1:9 whereas Eucharist and Penance help us reach that place of perfection so we will have less time necessary for it in the afterlife.

Purgatory is the process of purification for those who have died in God's grace, but are still imperfect. It removes the dross from the silver and gold of our works. Lastly, just as Jesus was raised from the dead and was in need of glorification so as to not allow Mary to touch Him, so also will we after our resurrection need to be glorified. This final glorification takes place at the general Great White Throne Bema Judgment. Until then we have the Saints praying for us and we pray for the saints. Until then we keep being saved by renewing our souls through the Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.

What did Calvin believe?
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iv.iii.xxvi.html

Ok, Mr. "I like to talk to myself" Ken. Can you talk more about indulgences? Someone just asked me this week how people can "buy their way to Heaven." I confessed that I hadn't dealt with indulgences at all in my studying so far, so I didn't try to make something up.

He's heavily influenced by Luther and Luther's problem with the selling of indulgences. I need an answer to give to him. Any thoughts/help?

Jaybird

J-

I am still reading up on the Fathers about the Intermediate State, which if we could grasp would explain the whole purgation/ purgatory issue, the communion of Saints, prayers to and for 'dead but alive' Christians and, last- the teaching on Indulgences and the Treasury of Merits. To me, Indulgences would mean nothing unless there was a purgation/ purification after death.

Did my "Purpose for Purgatory" make sense? We covered "the life of the world to come" part of the Creed at RCIA and the things I mentioned in it last week but I will teach it again briefly Wed. night to make sure it sticks. However I am teaching the Sacraments for the next three weeks. I am starting with the initiations and honestly I have never, in my life, been this excited.

I am pooped. I will finish the Fathers' reference to the Afterlife tomorrow.
Also, I am working on a paper for the History of the Eucharist and how the Agape and Charismas have historically been used in regard to the Divine liturgy. This will illustrate the Fourth Cup of the Seder and how it relates to Mass.

K

Indulgences only apply to those who are already headed to Heaven. They are releases of temporal punishment or expiations in the Intermediate State/ Hades received by acts we do for our perfection and for that of those who are in the state of purgation.

In short, this is what Christ meant when He said that each of us will give an account for every thought, idle word and deed done in the flesh (or not done as with the story of the Sheep and Goats. cf Keith Green) (Matt 25)

If I recall correctly, Luther's main argument in the 95 Theses was against the selling of indulgences not against indulgences themselves per se.

This is quite correct. Luther was concerned with the "sale" of indulgences. (At least at the time when he posted his 95 theses.)

Was he justified?

I would say his concerns were justified. Indulgences are not for sale. Tetzel was abusing the issue of indulgences by selling a "ticket to Paradise" but Luther ended up teaching all who have faith get a free trip there. Who was right? Neither, except official Church doctrine and authority- then and now. Luther's means of addressing the abuses was not the wisest either. He should have followed his bishop and submitted his thesis to him and not posted it on Wittenburg Cathedral's door. He was hot- tempered and protested but that protestation lead to rebellion not reformation. In the beginning, he said the right things in a wrong way and in the end did a wrong thing is the worse way by starting a whole new denomination which spurred on the dissension of millions over time.

Ken,

I agree with everything you state here, except for one thing:

Nailing his theses to the church door was not an act of defiance, but rather a request for discussion. It was common for university professors (which Luther was) to post lecture or debate topics on the church door, because that was the place where the literate of the community would go -- precisely to know what was going on in the university.

I agree with your assessment of Luther's, shall we say, temper issues -- and that led to serious problems -- but the original posting of the theses was in full accord with academic and ecclesial practice at the time.

Blessings,

Thank you for the correction. :)

Thanks Ken, you mention Matt 25. The "works of mercy" and the social teachings of the Catholic church are what concern me most. We can have great ecclesiology and great liturgy and apostolic succession, but what of showing our faith by our works?

Is this a proper time and place to discuss these items? If so, you have my rapt attention. These teachings of the Catholic church are what keep me Catholic. The lives of saints fraught with peril and determination to show forth the works of God a la Matt 25, Sermon on the Mount, etc. If not, I will keep searching for a forum that discusses these items.

My thought all through my wanderings in the Christian and Charismatic world of literalism has been: why don't these other churches take these words from the Gospel (red letter, even), literally?

Mike Baldwin

Mike,
Those are good questions. I look forward to hearing the answers, too!

I certainly believe it is part of the same thread. The Treasury of Merits will be discussed after I finish the scriptures and father's quotes on indulgences. I anticipate and appreciate all of your input as I am "ironing" out these difficulties in my own mind.

I like your references on the acts of mercy and social teaching of the Church. To me, Jesus in Matt. 25 is talking about things that came naturally to both the Sheep and Goats. Also, I do not think we will be saved just by doing these deeds or acts if they are not done in love. (1 Cor. 13) Certainly that isn't a problem anyways is it? Who will do this for too long if it isn't motivated by faith, love and obedience. There are some, myself included, who do these great deeds at times out of sheer obedience based on faith. However if I am to not have compassion for folks in these predicaments, then that is an indicator something is wrong with me. This is the case with me at times.

The whole argument on purgatory, indulgences and treasury of merits breaks down when we realize that all of it is about Agape love. This love is the fruit of our baptism. It is what then will perfect us. It really isn't about avoiding hell or even purgatory but obeying God out of love for His forgiveness and loving our neighbor in chains, sickness and poverty because well...it comes naturally. It is the fruit of my faith.

Even the sheep had to ask, "When Lord, did we see You hungry, sick, naked and imprisoned?" He replied, "In as much as you did it to the least of them, My brethren, You did it to Me!"

(My guess to your last question is because folks read Chiltons "Productive Christians In An Age Of Guilt Manipulators" without reading "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity" by Ronald J. Sider. What I mean is that there is a sharp divide in social responsibilty that is as deep and wide in Protestantism as the Calvin/ Arminius debate. What helps to put the CEC in perspective in this regards is that the Tylerite/ Christian Reconstruction/ Dominion Theology is not foreign to doctrines of Word of Faith/ Health & Wealth Prosperity Theology/ "Name it and claim it"/ New Apostolic Movement through CEC predecessors whom embraced both of these latter camps-Earl Paulk and Bill Hamon. Also, back in the beginnings of the Word of Faith Movement, Tylerite Gary North spoke on the Word of Faith satellite schools beamed all over America in Charismatic churches- Adler's churches Stone Mountain and Faith Community were likely to have been a part of the CIBC or Word of Faith satellite schools. Anyone care to comment?)