Catholics and purgatory?

Question

On my quest of further understanding.

I have a couple questions I would like answered.
1) Who goes to purgatory? Is it only Christians? Or is it a second chance for non-Christians?
2) Why would you go to purgatory and not straight to Heaven?
3) What exactly happens in purgatory?
4) How do you get out of purgatory?
5) Can you be trapped in purgatory forever?

I really would like your opinions and not a laundry list of verses. If you need to provide a verse for a question I don't mind at all. I just don't want an answer that is just verse after verse. I know I could look this up but I really prefer to hear from the people who believe in it. I think that leads to better answers.

tanat - Not exactly an answer to the question I was asking. I don't believe in purgatory either. However that does not stop me from wanting to understand it.

STAR POWER=) - nah I don't see me becoming a Catholic. I just want to understand them. I know some Christians on here attack Catholics constantly. I want to understand their beliefs so I can know if they are my brothers and sister in Christ or not. The conclusion I have come to is our beliefs are not so dissimilar, which I did not expect when I started asking these questions. Also that they are indeed Christians, which I did believe to be the case from the beginning.

komindiebos - I asked them to not supply a laundry list of verses because I have read the verses that are used before. I am just seeking an understanding of purgatory from a Catholic viewpoint. I am a Pentecostal Christian. I read and study my Bible regularly as I hope many Catholics do. I don't see anything wrong with just trying to understand another doctrine whether I agree with it or not.

Answer 1

1) Who goes to purgatory? Is it only Christians? Or is it a second chance for non-Christians?

Anyone on their way to heaven but not completely perfect will experience some purgation.

2) Why would you go to purgatory and not straight to Heaven?

Are you perfect now? No.

Will you be perfect in heaven? Yes.

Purgatory (or purgation) is the process of God's love changing our imperfect selves into perfect beings.

3) What exactly happens in purgatory?

See 2.

4) How do you get out of purgatory?

See 2.

5) Can you be trapped in purgatory forever?

No, 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.

"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)

For more information see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1030: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art12.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

At the General Audience of Wednesday, 4 August 1999, following his catecheses on heaven and hell, Pope John Paul II reflected on Purgatory. He explained that physical integrity is necessary to enter into perfect communion with God therefore "the term purgatory does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence", where Christ "removes ... the remnants of imperfection".

1.) Everyone (Christians or non-christians) goes to purgatory.
2.) Before we enter into full communion with God, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated and every imperfection in our soul must be corrected.
3.) In Purgatory, people will be purified from (venial) sins. And the rest is a mystery.
4.) A person can get out of purgatory if the people on earth will pray for him and if he are totally purified.
5.) No one will be trapped in purgatory forever.

"If the work which any man has built on the foundation [which is Christ] survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor 3: 14-15).

Answer 3

I'll try to answer this as I was once a Catholic:

1) All "saved" people generally Christians, but also those who didn't know Jesus in this life. Purgatory isn't a second chance.
2)Sin leaves a stain on your soul, even though "Jesus" has pardoned your sin, you still have to pay for the consequence.
3)You get purified
4)By prayer by those on earth or just when god decides you have been purified
5) No, it's a temporal state.

Here's a star, now stop asking questions or you'll become on of them.

Answer 4

You are asking the wrong questions. In the context of the bible and christian doctrine Purgatory does not exist (nowhere, never and in no form whatsoever! - I dare you to read the bible and try and find it!)and so your questions from a christian and biblical point of view are irrelevant. The type of convoluted dilemmas that you are facing are typical of man made religions. True christian doctrine would resolve all your concerns and we all know that "the truth will set you free". Try apuritansmind.com for another point of view, (that's if your Catholic mindset will allow you to break the shackles that bind you.) I hope I'm not being to harsh or insensitive but the problem with the truth is that it tends to be quite dogmatic and demanding. The fact that you are having problems with the "logic" of fundamental catholic thinking tells me you are aware something is amiss and is not consistent with the teachings in the bible. You say you don't want a laundry list of verses but your "faith" comes from those very verses! If you base your faith on the verses in the bible you better take note of them otherwise what is your faith based on? Hearsay? Catholic add ons? Get off your rusty dusty and find out for yourself otherwise you will be tossed to and fro by every wind and doctrine that comes your way. Purgatory is a figment of religious imagination. It is a sentimental lie foisted upon people to lazy to check it out for themselves.

-Sorry didn't read your question correctly. Why bother in trying to understand issues like purgatory (unless it's for apologetic reasons), you are wasting time on heresy. However it does put Catholic doctrine under the spotlight because all the answers to your questions will not be found in the bible and so one wonders who came up with the fairy tale of purgatory.

Answer 5

1) Who goes to purgatory? Is it only Christians? Or is it a second chance for non-Christians?

Those who die in the love of Christ, but are not perfectly holy go to Purgatory. I would like to think that tehre are many non-Christians who because of their love of their fellow man leave this life in the love of Christ.

2) Why would you go to purgatory and not straight to Heaven?

Nothing imperfect can enter Heaven. No one leaves this life in a state of perfect holiness. Purgatory is where we become completely holy.

3) What exactly happens in purgatory?

You are purged of any unrighteousness and are made perfectly holy.

4) How do you get out of purgatory?

Jesus Christ purges any unrighteousness from you. He starts this work in your life in this life and finishes it in Purgatory. We pray for the souls in Purgatory that tehy may have strength and comfort though this purification.

5) Can you be trapped in purgatory forever?

No. All who go to Purgatory are assured of Heaven. The amount of time a person spends in Purgatory depend on how holy and close to God they are when they leave this life.

Answer 6

There is no such thing as purgatory. Catholics made it up so they could charge people $$ to pray their dead relatives out of it. They also needed to invent this guilt trip to give people a reason to need to confess things to the priests.....the Bible says we can go straight to God with our prayers of repentance and the only intercessor we need is the Holy Spirit that lives in the hearts of believers.

There is nothing in the Bible about purgatory, unless it's part of the Catholic Bible (see 1st part of answer)

There are two places people go when they die. Heaven or hell. Period--end of story. No second chances. But unlike Catholics, most fundamental Christians believe that if you are truly saved, you can't get unsaved, which eliminates the need for purgatory in most cases. Believing that you can be saved and then lost again diminishes the power of Christ to save us--it's like saying He can only partially save us and we have to earn the rest. That's works not grace and that's not what the Bible teaches. We do good works because of our salvation, not the other way around.

I know you will get completely different answers from the Catholics, but like I said they are the only ones I know of who believe and teach this--it is not a Christian teaching.

Answer 7

1) People who are on their way to heaven go to Purgatory for a final and complete cleansing of their souls via the Blood of the Lamb. It probably is not only Christians because God can save whomever He wishes to save.

2) People who die for Christ (martyrs) get to go straight to heaven. God has also taken some people straight to heaven without dying (Elijah, Enoch and, as we Catholic believe, Mary). But most of the rest of us die in some state of sin, so we need to be purified before we go to heaven because as the Bible says, "Nothing unclean shall enter heaven." (Rev. 21)

3) In purgatory, any and all attachment to sin is removed from your soul. You see, we all know the big sins like murder, adultery, theft, etc. are wrong and confess them readily, but a lot of us have habitual "little" sins like gossip, fudging on income taxes, overly aggressive driving, or not sharing our excesses with the hungry/homeless. Some of us don't even define some of these issues as "sinful" and that's where purgatory comes in. They still need to be purged from our soul so that we can be wholly pure upon entering heaven.

4) When your soul is completely purified, you go to heaven. Jesus does this work, but other Christians (those on earth & those in heaven) can pray for you so that it happens more quickly. Before death, you can also do things to help purify your soul and reduce any attachment to sin by, say, adopting a merciful attitude, attending confession more regularly so that you can overcome habitual sins, praying more, volunteering to help others, etc.

5) Nobody knows how long anybody remains in purgatory, and indeed, it might be outside linear time altogether. But I do think it's safe to assume that since everybody in purgatory is on their way to heaven, nobody would stay in there forever.

Answer 8

Purgatory is not a Biblical concept. Even Pope has addressed that recently.

Answer 9

Purgatory has nothing to do with the word of God. It is the description of man regarding cleansing of sins. God sent his son and by his shedding of blood we are cleansed from sin. We are sealed by the spirit of God.

Christians are chosen by God and cleansed by the word of God. Jesus is that word. This must be only a Catholic thing. A ritual and tradition of men.

Answer 10

Think of purgatory as a shower, you need to be completly cleaned of your sins before going to God's house- so He offers shower for all!

Anyone that doesnt go to hell can go to purgatory :) no, you cannot be trapped there forever.