Explain Pergatory to me?

Question

I know that pergatory is a place between earth and heaven, where the souls who aren't totally pure go. Frankly shouldn't that be a pit stop for us all? My understanding is that we wait there until God reclaims the earth and all souls. Who can tell me more? All I really know about it is what I read in Dante's books which of course are mythical but still fascinating.

Answer 1

Mere reason suggests there must be a Purgatory. So many people seem to be good, but not so greatly good that they should be fit for heaven at once. Again, not nearly all are so evil as to deserve hell. So there should be a means of purification and paying the debt of temporal punishment for those not fit for hell, nor for heaven at once. (Of course Luther would say we can sin all we want and still go to heaven at once, if only we believe it is all covered by Christ's merits: Epistle 501 to Melanchthon).

There is not much in Scripture on Purgatory except that in Second Maccabees 12:45, Judas sends a collection to the Temple for those fallen in battle, found with amulets on, "that they might be freed from this sin." Luther saw so clearly that this referred to Purgatory--which he rejected--that he rejected this book too, declaring it not part of Scripture. Some have tried to see an implication of Purgatory in Matthew 12:32. There Jesus speaks of the sin against the Holy Spirit that will be forgiven "neither in this world nor in the next." But the expression quoted is known in Rabbinic literature, where it means merely "never." Still less could we deduce purgatory from First Corinthians 3:11-15. Paul means if the work of some Christian worker has been of such low quality that it burns down, he himself will be saved "as through fire." But the fire seems to mean the apocalyptic fire of the last day, not a fire of purgatory.

But our belief in Purgatory rests on the tradition and definitions of the Church, at the Councils of Lyons II, Florence, and Trent.

The essential, perhaps the only suffering of Purgatory is the loss of God--it is like what we described in speaking of hell, except that in Purgatory there is no despair, rather, great consolation from assurance of salvation. Is there also something like fire in Purgatory? A host of private apparitions say there is; the Church has never pronounced on it. In fact the Eastern part of the Catholic Church has no such tradition. Many theologians say the suffering is greater than anything on earth. Neither Scripture nor Tradition tells us if that be so.

We do know that the souls there cannot merit or help themselves in any way anymore, they can only suffer. We know we can by prayers and penances relieve them, and somehow, they are enabled to know it when we do that, and they pray for us. How long should we pray and sacrifice for a particular soul? We do not know. St. Augustine in his Confessions (9:13), written 10 to 15 years after the death of his mother, St. Monica, still asked for prayers for her. If we can believe the private apparitions, Purgatory may last the equivalent of many years (we speak thus, for there is no time in Purgatory). For certain, it is terribly wrong to virtually canonize a person at the funeral, as Protestants do under the influence of Luther's sad mistake.

***
Indulgences were never sold. At one time, for a period of perhaps two hundred years, it was possible to give a charitable donation to some cause, such as an orphanage or church building fund, as one of the ways in which an indulgence could be obtained. This was no different than Protestant ministries offering something in exchange for a charitable contribution or "love offering" to a worthy cause. However, because of the scandal that Protestants produced, over four hundred years ago (shortly after the Council of Trent) the Church forbade charitable giving as a way of obtaining indulgences.

**

Matthew 5:25-26, Jesus tells us: "Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny."

In this parable God is the Judge, and if we have not reconciled with our neighbors before we see God, God will hold us accountable for the wrong we did to them. This is what the Bible means when it says that God will take our revenge for us, so we should not take it ourselves, because God will defend the cause of the poor and uphold the case of the widow. Whenever a poor person or widow (or anyone else) is oppressed or wronged, God will hold the oppressor accountable for what he did -- unless the wronged person freely chooses to forgive the offender. In that case, God will not hold the offender accountable for the wrong he did on a human level (i.e., against the human he wronged), but unless he has obtained forgiveness from God for the wrong he did against God, he will still be held accountable for that.

Thus in our sins against others they are two dimensions -- the human, by which we sin against our neighbor in the act, and the divine, by which we sin against God in the act. Thus theft is a sin against our neighbor from whom we stole and a sin against God, whose law we broke. We must obtain forgiveness from God for the divine aspect of our sin, but, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:25-26, we must obtain forgiveness for the human aspect of our sin from the human we sinned against. If we do not, God will hold us accountable.

Of course, since humans are finite beings, our sins against them can only merit finite punishment (compared to our sins against God, who is an infinite being, so our sins against him can merit infinite punishment). Because this punishment is finite, it must be temporary (for an eternal punishment is infinite since involves the reception of pain over an infinite period of time). But if this punishment we will receive when we are judged by God (according to Jesus' parable) is temporary, then it's purgatory. Thus Jesus says, "You will not get out until you have paid the last penny," because there is a time when your finite punishment due to the finite, human dimension of your sins will be over.

Answer 2

With global warming and the upper level greenhouse gasses it may be that our souls never become pure due to the pollution, then we would never be able to leave that space between heaven and earth. If the sky turns brown, we will know that the souls of evangelicals are up there blocking the sun and may be the solution for global cooling.

Answer 3

Well it was something to explain the part in the Bible where it says that no one goes straight to heaven when they die, everyone has to wait till the day of judgment before they go to heave or get the second death. Some people just have a hard time with that concept. They can't understand who you can cease to exist after you die then exist again on the day of Judgment. Think of it like sleeping with no dreams.

Answer 4

There's nothing to know about pergatory - it's a manmade place started within the Catholic church to give people the feeling that their loved ones still had hope even after death - but scripture does not give us this teaching at all. What scripture does give us is a very clear picture of a rich man and a man named Lazarus who both died. Lazarus went to heaven and was found to be held in the bosom of Abraham, which would have been the ultimate appeasement to the Jew, and the rich man was in hell, where he was suffering great torment and he looked up into heaven. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him with just a drop of water to cool his tongue, but Abraham told him that there was a great chasm that could not be crossed. The rich man then asked that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to his brothers to tell them of this torment called hell. Abraham told him that they had the prophets just as he had had and would no more believe someone from the dead as those who would not believe Jesus, who was telling the parable. This makes it very clear that upon the rich man's death he went to hell and he suffered immediate torture. We also know that this is the only reference given where someone could look from heaven into hell, and it was given as a parable to the Jews by Christ to teach them of heaven and hell. We know from the consistency of Christ other teachings that we will not be able to look across from heaven to hell otherwise. I hope this has given you a clear understanding of the lack of there being a pergatory and the directness of our going to heaven or hell, based upon our relationship to Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

Be glad to.
Purgatory is an invention of the Catholic Church as a means to exact money from the parishioners. They, the church would sell special indulgences that would lessen the time the soul would spend in this place. There is nothing in the Scriptures to support this.><>

Answer 6

depends on your believes. Some people believe its basically like Hells Waiting room. Others believe Earth is pergatory. We are just here waiting to climb up to heaven.

Answer 7

How can I explain it, when there is no such thing.

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DEATH

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.—1 Corinthians 15:6.


The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.—John 11:11.
The account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it?— And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place?— Of course not!

Yet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7, Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.

Clearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.

Answer 8

Purgatory is a made up place that isn't in the Bible, however, I know a little bit of what it is supposed to be. For all the evil acts you did in your life, that will depend on how long you spend there, its a kind of lighter version of Hell. The catholics say that by buying certain pieces of paper that they sell, you will be able to limit you or one of your familily members time there, or just skip it all-together.

Answer 9

Theres no such thing. if you had read in the bible. it never talks about a holding place you would go and pray to god to be forgiven. its all false. before jesus arived the busom of abrahm was a place where souls went, but jesus blood covers your sins now. no more animal sacrific. and abrahms busom dose not exsits because jesus took back the keys of life

Answer 10

Its mostly in the catholic religion . a temorary place that you go to to remove your minor sins. before being allowed to go to the lowest level of heaven. they believe you can be prayed out of there thts what the candles are for at a price. or pay a priest to do so.

Answer 11

It's just an invention by the catholic CULT.

NO SUCH PCE at all.

It's either Heaven or Hell.