Where In The Catholic Bible Does It Talk About Purgatory

What Does God Say When You Dont Make It To Heaven

John 14:6 Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 3:5 Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. We cant get to heaven by works, because God doesnt pick favorites.

You Asked: What Does Bible Say About Purgatory

Roman Catholic Christians who believe in purgatory interpret passages such as 2 Maccabees 12:4146, 2 Timothy 1:18, Matthew 12:32, Luke 16:1916:26, Luke 23:43, 1 Corinthians 3:113:15 and Hebrews 12:29 as support for prayer for purgatorial souls who are believed to be within an active interim state for the dead

Where Does The Soul Go After It Leaves The Body

Good and contented souls are instructed to depart to the mercy of God. They leave the body, flowing as easily as a drop from a waterskin are wrapped by angels in a perfumed shroud, and are taken to the seventh heaven, where the record is kept. These souls, too, are then returned to their bodies.

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Evidence In The Old Testament

The chief Old Testament verse that indicates the necessity of purgation after death is 2 Maccabees 12:46:

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

If everyone who dies goes immediately to Heaven or to Hell, then this verse would be nonsense. Those who are in Heaven have no need of prayer, “that they may be loosed from sins” those who are in Hell are unable to benefit from such prayers, because there is no escape from Helldamnation is eternal.

Thus, there must be a third place or state, in which some of the dead are currently in the process of being “loosed from sins.”

What Does The Catholic Church Say About Purgatory

According to the Catholic Church, the souls of men who have died under grace but are not free of all imperfections go to purgatory. The Catholic Church teaches that the soul in purgatory must be freed of certain defects: the guilt of venial sin the inclination toward sin and temporal punishment due to sin.1 The Church also teaches that the punishment due to sin, whether mortal or venial, is not always and necessarily forgiven along with the guilt of sin hence this punishment is to be paid by the sinner either in this life or in the next before he can enter the kingdom of heaven .2

The Catholic church also teaches that: Concretely, the souls in purgatory can be helped by works of piety, such as prayer, indulgences, alms, fasting, and sacrifices. These works are undertaken by the faithful on earth . . . and they are performed for the benefit of these souls.3 It says that the manner in which this is accomplished is hidden in the mystery of divine wisom.4

With this teaching, the Catholic Church is saying that Christs work was not sufficient to take away our sin. It only takes away our guilt. According to the Catholic Church, whether Christ died or not, we must go to purgatory to pay for our sins. But

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I The Early Churchs Belief In Purgatory

And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again receives her. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: Mother, thou shaft have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the just. Acts of Paul and Thecla .

Abercius by name, I am a disciple of the chaste shepherdHe taught mefaithful writingsThese words, I, Abercius, standing by, ordered to be inscribed. In truth, I was in the course of my seventy-second year. Let him who understands and believes this pray fro Abercius. Inscription of Abercius .

Accordingly the believer, through great discipline, divesting himself of the passions, passes to the mansion which is better than the former one, viz., to the greatest torment, taking with him the characteristic of repentance from the sins he has committed after baptism. He is tortured then still morenot yet or not quite attaining what he sees others to have acquired. Besides, he is also ashamed of his transgressions. The greatest torments, indeed, are assigned to the believer. For Gods righteousness is good, and His goodness is righteous. And though the punishments cease in the course of the completion of the expiation and purification of each one, yet those have very great and permanent grief who are found worthy of the other fold, on account of not being along with those that have been glorified through righteousness. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 6:14 .

Thoughts On Where Is Purgatory In The Bible

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Why Do Protestants Not Believe In Mary

The Roman Catholic Church reveres Mary, the mother of Jesus, as Queen of Heaven. However, there are few biblical references to support the Catholic Marian dogmas which include the Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity and her Assumption into heaven. This is why they are rejected by Protestants.

When You Die Do You Go To Heaven Or Wait For Judgement Day

According to the 9th century Zoroastrian text Dadestan-i Denig , a soul is judged three days after death. Depending on the souls balance of good and bad deeds, it goes to heaven, hell, or hamistagan, a neutral place. In its appropriate place, the soul awaits Judgment Day.

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Bible Verses Used To Support Purgatory

The Catholic Church believes that other Scriptures teach the reality of Purgatory like in Matthew 12:32, Anyone 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 and Matthew 5:26, Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny among many other Scriptures. You can see why the Catholics used Matthew 5:26 to prove the existence of Purgatory. I will not include all of the Scriptures that some use as Scriptural proof for the existence of Purgatory because there are several of them and space will simply not allow for them all. Besides the verses Matthew 5:26 and 12:32, there are Micah 7:8-9, Malachi 3:2-4, Luke 16:9, Zechariah 9:11, Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3:19-20 and 4:6. Another one that is used is Luke 16:19-31 which is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus which I will include below:

Does Scripture Support Purgatory

The very popular Pope John Paul II, with the support of the Italian Vatican, published a second edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1997. It states, praying for the dead was necessary:

All who die in Gods 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. .

Devout Catholics also look to the book of 1 Corinthians to support their beliefs about purgatory.

If anyones work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire, .

Nick Rabiipour, reporter for Get Fed, believes purgatory is essential. Many Christians die with attachments to sin that must be gotten rid of before they can be united with God in a perfect union of love through all eternity, he wrote in his article, What Do Catholics Really Believe About Purgatory?

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St Century Catholic Apologetics For Mary’s Spiritual Warriors

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Much has been said over the centuries of a “third” place that people go to after death. In the Second Book of Maccabees 12:43-46, it says, “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.”.

Since Martin Luther threw both books of Maccabees out of his Protestant Bible during the sixteenth century Reformation, most Protestants today dont recognize Maccabees as scripture. However, both 1 and 2 Maccabees are in the Gutenberg Bible, published a century before Luther was born, which proves that the Catholic Church didn’t add them at the Council of Trent after the Reformation they were taken out by Luther during the Reformation.

Why a need for purgation after one’s sin has already been forgiven? The premier example from the Bible comes from David, in the book of 2 Samuel 12:13-14:

And when God speaks, fire issues forth from His mouth:

In Hebrews 12:22-24, St. Paul says the following:

Do Baptists Believe In Purgatory

As their central belief, the Baptist Church focuses on its faith in Jesus Christ as the only thing that can bring salvation. The latter is believed to be true according to the Baptists , and this excludes the purgatory . Moreover, the former believes in praying through the intercession of Mary and the Saints.

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Purgatory: An Act Of Mercy

Ultimately, Purgatory is another example of Gods great mercy for us. Imagine if heaven and hell were the only options. You cant enter heaven unless youre perfect, so where would that leave most of us?

God loves us so much that He offers Purgatory as one more, guaranteed opportunity to enter heaven if we fall short on earth.

True, a few men and women are believed to have bypassed Purgatory and entered heaven right awaywe call them Saints. In fact, being a true Saint is the only way to skip Purgatory. Thats a major reason to always strive for Sainthood during our lives on earth.

A Very Good Place To Start

Perhaps the best place to start is with the most overt reference to a Purgatory of sorts in the Old Testament. I say a Purgatory of sorts because Purgatory is a teaching fully revealed in the New Testament and defined by the Catholic Church. The Old Testament people of God would not have called it Purgatory, but they did clearly believe that the sins of the dead could be atoned for by the living as I will now prove. This is a constitutive element of what Catholics call Purgatory.

In II Maccabees 12:39-46, we discover Judas Maccabeus and members of his Jewish military forces collecting the bodies of some fallen comrades who had been killed in battle. When they discovered these men were carrying sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear , Judas and his companions discerned they had died as a punishment for sin. Therefore, Judas and his men turned to prayer beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out He also took up a collection and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

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Is Purgatory In The Bible

This may well be the most common single question I receive concerning our Catholic Faith whether it be at conferences, via email, snail mail, or any other venue. In fact, Ive answered it twice today already, so I thought I might just blog about it.

Well begin by making clear just what we mean by Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

All who die in Gods grace, 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 .

This seems so simple. Its common sense. Scripture is very clear when it says, But nothing unclean shall enter . Hab. 1:13 says, You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wrong How many of us will be perfectly sanctified at the time of our deaths? I dare say most of us will be in need of further purification in order to enter the gates of heaven after we die, if, please God, we die in a state of grace.

What Did Jesus Say About Purgatory

Jesus mentioned nothing about the existence of purgatory. If anything, Jesus spoke more about the realities of hell than the doctrine of purgatory.

During his crucifixion, Jesus offered a profound answer to a dying thief.

Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise,Luke 23:42-43.

Jesus is . Jesuss words are true. If He said, today, than he meant it.

In Matthew 13:49, Jesus spoke of what would come at the end of the Church Age that angels would separate an evil humanity from a righteous one. Matthew 13:50 goes on to tell us the wicked would be thrown into a fiery furnace where weeping and gnashing of teeth would occur. This scripture does not support the doctrine of purgatory.

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Sacred Tradition And Sacred Scripture Agree

In this passage, Chrysostom sums up all of the Church Fathers, East and West, who never doubted that prayer and liturgy for the dead were both necessary and useful. Thus Sacred Tradition both draws upon and confirms the lessons of Sacred Scripturefound in both the Old and New Testaments, and indeed in the words of Christ Himself.

The Bibles Clearest Description Of Purgatory: 1 Corinthians : 11

which is Jesus Christgold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubblethe fire will test what sort of work each one has donewill receive a rewardwill be savedthrough fire

1. Where is all this burning happening?

What is this third place?

2. Who will be saved? Only those with a surviving building?

will be saved

3. Good works are important!

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What Is The Support Against Purgatory

Many denominations do not support the idea or doctrine of purgatory. But why? Do they simply not like the idea of purgatory? Or do they have support for their reasons not to believe in it?

One could point to the fact that the refinement process described in the verses above represents sanctification, an ongoing process of purification a Christian receives during their life to become more like Christ.

Most of the passages listed above have a rebuttal found here.

Scripture only seems to discuss two distinct destinations after we perish: heaven or hell.

Also, purgatory has some doctrinal issues. It seems to make salvation a works-based process instead of a gift given freely by the grace of God through his sons sacrifice and resurrection.

After all, if we experience enough refinement in purgatory, we can earn a spot in heaven. And those on earth can speed up the process via indulgences and prayer .

Scripture also appears to support the idea that when those who are saved die, they immediately go to heaven, no temporal refinement process involved.