Why do us catholics believe in pregatory?

Question

I am a catholic and I have always wondered.. Why do we believe in pregatory?

Answer 1

Yes.

Catholics believe in Purgatory.

Are you perfect now? Most people would say no.

Will you be perfect in heaven? Most people believe yes.

Purgatory (or purgation) is the process of God's love changing our imperfect selves into perfect beings. Depending on the amount of change needed by different people this can be an easy or slightly harder process. Everyone in purgatory is on their way to heaven. I don't think Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a very hard time of it.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Us Catholics don't ask the public for a reason for the hope that is within us. That comes from the Gospel message, entrusted only to those holding an ordained office. No where in the whole Bible is the "Gospel message" the property of individuals. I know its hard to take for some of you, but the Church is the foundation and pillar of truth, not the Bible, and not yahooAnswers.

And it's even wrong for me to make a distinction because the Church is not apart from the Bible. She never was because it's impossible. Tradition and the Bible are two wellsprings that flow up from Apostolic Teaching of the Church.

No one can explain a book better than the person who wrote it. It was the Catholic bishops of 4 councils that put together the books of the Bible, not Constantine, not Jewish Rabbis of Jamnia, and not Martin Luther.

Purgatory (not pregatory) was thrown out in the 16th century because it was in sharp contrast to the newly invented "justification by faith alone" theory. (BABJB) BE A BLOB JUST BELIEVE. This man-made tradition was so flawed, Luther had to ADD TO THE BIBLE the word "alone" to "justified by faith ALONE" in Romans. This made Luthers invention look more respectable.

Even the Lutherans themselves no longer teach the same now as then. They finally made a joint declaration with the Catholic Church!

The teaching of purgatory is all over the Bible.

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/purgatory.html

Answer 3

Purgatory is not Hell minus a few torments and degrees Fahrenheit; it's not Heaven minus joy. It's not a "Third Final Destination" of souls. Purgatory is simply the place where already saved souls are cleansed of the temporal effects of sin before they are allowed to see the holy face of Almighty God. Revelation 21:27 tells us that "...nothing unclean will enter [Heaven]."

That there are temporal effects of sin is obvious when one considers that even those who have been baptized, who have a deep and intimate relationshp with Jesus, who are the "elect" or "the saved/being saved," or what have you, are subject to pain, work, death and sickness.

The best way to understand the idea of already being forgiven but still having to be cleansed of the temporal effects of sin is by analogy: imagine you are the parent of a 7-year old child who steals a candy bar from the local grocery. The child is repentant, in tears, sobbing his apologies. You, being the good parent (as God, our Father is!) forgive that child and love him and show him your mercy. But being a good parent means that you are also just and will expect that child to pay back the store. Purgatory is God's way of forgiving us, loving us, showing us His mercy and justice -- and making us "pay back the store." Can you imagine what would happen to the child of a parent who never expected that child to "pay back the store" (especially when that same parent believed also that there was nothing that child could do to become "disinherited," as in the "once saved, always saved" doctrine)? As always, the best way to understand Catholic doctrine is to think of God as the wisest, most loving, most merciful, and most just Father that we can possibly envision.

Nota bene: Purgatory is His way of ensuring that Revelation 21:27 is true and that nothing unclean will see Heaven. It is only through Christ's sacrifice that we are shown this mercy! It is Christ and Christ alone Who allows us access to the Father.

OK, so where's the word "Purgatory" in the Bible? It's isn't in the Bible, but neither are the words "Trinity," "abortion," "lesbianism," and "cloning" (or "Rapture," for that matter), and it doesn't matter whether you call the process of purgation "purgatory" or the "Final Theosis": the concept of a "final cleansing" or "purgation" for those who require it is very evident in the Bible, in the writings of the early Church Fathers, and in the Old Testament religion whence Christianity sprang.

Daniel 12:2, Matthew 12:32, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, 2 Timothy 1:16-18, Hebrews 12:14, Hebrews 12:22-23, 1 Peter 4:6 and Revelation 21:10, 27 all speak of Purgatory in their telling of the need for purification, prayers for the dead, Christ's preaching to the dead, or how nothing unclean will see God.

Answer 4

I dont know the answer to your question exactly but let me shine a light on something that might be helpful.

Contrary to popular believe, there is no hell. The Bible does not mention hell as a place, only as a pronoun.

The place where spirits, good and bad, go when they die is Sheol. This is in the Bible, look it up.

So in Sheol there's two sides, one for the believers and one for the non-believers.

And we wait for the end time, when everyone is judged.

That in my opinion is where the idea of purgatory, or a place of waiting, comes from.

Sheol.

But the actual place that fulfills the concept of purgatory is non-existant!

God Bless!

Answer 5

That is a very good question, because I often contemplate that myself. I am a religious Christian, and I can't for the life of me understand where the concept of "purgatory" came from. As children of God, there are only two places we can go when we die...heaven or hell. There is no in-between place. The Holy Bible does not talk of any in-between place. Watch "Luther" featuring Joseph Fiennes...it is a fascinating account of how the concept of purgatory fell out of the Lutheran Church.

Answer 6

Purgatory is not about paying the penalty of sin. Jesus on the Cross pays the penalty of our sin -- which is death. Those in purgatory are not in spiritual death; they are all headed to heaven.

Purgatory pays for the "consequences" of our sin, not for the sin itself.

For example, if I throw a rock through your window I have committed a sin. I can become sorry for my sin and go to Confession and be absolved of that sin. Jesus paid the price for my sin. But......... the window is STILL broken. The broken window is the "consequence" of my sin and it still needs to be repaired. The Cross does not repair the window, that is my responsibility.

Thus, one of the aspects of purgatory is to pay for all the broken windows in our life that we did not get around to paying for during our life on earth.

As to why Purgatory? The answer is love. We cannot enter heaven unless we are perfected and totally holy. While we may die in a state of grace most of us are probably not perfect. Purgatory is a place of perfection. It purges the imperfections from us 'til what is left is pure gold.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 is a great definition of Purgatory:

12 Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- 13 each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

In otherwords, how well we lived our lives as Christians will be judged, the good works and not-so-good works will be judge. The not-so-good works are the wood, hay, and straw that will burn up in the purging. The good works are the gold, silver, and precious stone that will survive the purging.

We cannot enter heaven with works that can be consumed. We must enter heaven only with works to our credit that can survive the fire. Thus God, who loves us so, provides a way for us to rid ourselves of the wood, hay, and straw in our lives so that we can enter heaven perfect and holy.

Again, this is NOT about purging sin, it is about purging the consequences of sin (paying for the broken windows) and about purging our imperfections in living the Christ-life.

Some Protestants call this the "Judgment Seat of Christ". Our salvation is not being judged here, rather how well we lived our life for Christ is being judged. While some Evangelicals refer to this as Judgment Seat of Christ and Catholics call it Purgatory, it is the same thing.

by Bro. Ignatius Mary
posted with permission

Answer 7

Catholics have to beleive the Bible. Purgotary was created by the catholic church to make money.

Answer 8

The Catholic Church did away with purgatory and limbo many years ago. I did away with the Catholic Church many years ago too!

Answer 9

Because that has been a belief since the earliest of times. For example, St. Augustin makes reference to it in his work 'On the Care of the Dead.'

Answer 10

Do you really believe in Purgatory?