what is purgatory and does it exist?...from both the Catholic and non-Catholic?

Answer 1

"But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Cor 3:15)

"So that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet 1:7)

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 his or her way to heaven.

I do not think Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a very hard time of it.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: I bet you didn't know one of the best known and well respected Evangelical writers C.S. Lewis believed in purgatory. I bet you didn't know that the Jews believed in a type of purgatory after death where the soul is purified of all imperfections before coming upon Mt. Sion.

Purgatory is not so much a place as it is transition. There is no backdoor to hell from purgatory as it is the one way road to heaven. Purgatory can be called a purgation and contrary to the posts to follow claiming it isn't found in the bible when in reality throughout the New Testament you discover instructions eluding to it's existence. I'm sure someone else will come along and list the scriptures but if they don't I'll return with the addition information.

addendum: one thing purgatory has never been is... limbo. some people on here think it is but purgatory has never been interchangeable with the the theory of limbo. I think some of you need to do your homework.

Answer 3

The apparition of Our Lady of Fatima is a good source. She spoke of purgatory, when she appeared before the three shepherd children. She ask them to pray for the poor souls in purgatory. If you would choose to look it up and read it for yourself, you can find it on the Internet or at your Library. It is written that there were many who bore witness to the miracle. The truth is out here if you care to do the research and believe.

Answer 4

For those who say purgatory is not biblical, you need to know that, during the Protestant Reformation, it was specifically removed from your bibles in an attempt to refute Catholicism.

It was a part of THE bible for 1500 years. As Spirit Roaming mentions, 2 Maccabees. Until Luther.

There have been a number of instances of religious people who have passed on appearing to others asking for prayers saying they are in purgatory.

One such apparition left behind a burnt hand-print. Church of the Sacred Heart has a museum to such items.

In 1731, Friar Panzini (dead) marked a table with his hand, burnt a handprint on to paper and twice clutched at the sleeves of a nun's tunic, leaving scorch marks.

Panzini's spiritual smoke signals are a taster of what's on display in a bare room, dubbed the Little Purgatory Museum, off to the side of the church.

SisterZeal: I'm surprised you would recommend Luther. I'm not a fan of Luther's teaching but I was appalled that the film portrayed him as psychotic. Banging his head against the wall and mumbling to him self. While I think he suffered from a tremendous ego, I do not think he was that sort of babbling idiot.

Answer 5

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.


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 from which 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.

Archaeology also indicates the antiquity of the Christian belief in Purgatory/the Final Theosis: the tombs of the ancient Christians were inscribed with words of petition for peace and for rest, and at the anniversaries of deaths, the faithful gathered at the graves of the departed to make intercession for those who'd gone before.

http://www.fisheaters.com/purgatory.html
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/purgatory.html
http://www.catholic.com/library/Purgatory.asp
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00C16T
http://purgatoryisreal.blogspot.com/

Answer 6

It is biblical. it's most obvious reference is in one of the books that Martin Luther removed from the Bible, 2 Mac.

You will not find the actual word in the Bible, but you also can't find Trinity, Incarnation, and Bible in the Bible.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

Christ refers to the sinner who "will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32), suggesting that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one’s sins. Similarly, Paul tells us that, when we are judged, each man’s work will be tried. And what happens if a righteous man’s work fails the test? "He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor 3:15). Now this loss, this penalty, can’t refer to consignment to hell, since no one is saved there; and heaven can’t be meant, since there is no suffering ("fire") there. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory alone explains this passage.

Then, of course, there is the Bible’s approval of prayers for the dead: "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 dead 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" (2 Macc. 12:43–45). Prayers are not needed by those in heaven, and no one can help those in hell. That means some people must be in a third condition, at least temporarily. This verse so clearly illustrates the existence of purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine.

Prayers for the dead and the consequent doctrine of purgatory have been part of the true religion since before the time of Christ. Not only can we show it was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified. It was not the Catholic Church that added the doctrine of purgatory. Rather, any change in the original teaching has taken place in the Protestant churches, which rejected a doctrine that had always been believed by Jews and Christians.

Answer 7

Due to the fact that these
Christians use the Protestant Old Testament which is lacking 7 entire books 2 (Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, and II Maccabees), 3 chapters of Daniel and 6 chapters of Esther may be one of the reasons they ask catholics so many questions.

For the Sola Scriptura this is too bad .
In the 16th c., Luther removed those books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as:

prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45),

Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7),

intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14),

and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15).

The lesson, though, is this: relying on the "Bible alone" is a bad idea; we are not to rely solely on Sacred Scripture to understand Christ's message. While Scripture is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it is not sufficient for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. It is the Church that is the "pillar and ground of Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)! Jesus did not come to write a book; He came to redeem us, and He founded a Sacramental Church through His apostles to show us the way. It is to them, to the Church Fathers, to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, to the living Church that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and to Scripture that we must prayerfully look.


any further questions, try this website:

http://www.fisheaters.com/beingcatholic....

Answer 8

many christians & non-christians have various definitions of purgatory. I am a former RC & but I still believe in pugatory just not like the others do. I believe pugatory is like a Native American sweat lodge that helps to purify the soul not punish it.

Answer 9

I asked a Catholic friend of mine this very question.

Having been brought up as a Lutheran, I was taught that there is no such thing. Now I'm not so sure.

"Purgatory" (a place/method of purging) is a method of purification of the saved soul before it enters into the presence of God.

Forgiveness of one's sins is one thing --
Purity of the soul is quite another.

To use an Eastern analogy:
Purgatory burns off all of the residual bad karma.

.

Answer 10

Purgatory, between heaven and hell where you stayed until your "minor" sins were burned off, was created by the Catholic Church, then discarded when the Church decided that infants went straight to heaven, not to limbo.