How can Purgatory save anyone from hell?

Question

The Word of God reads:

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Colossians 2:8

Salvation is only between the individual and Christ, so say the Word of God. So, how can purgatory save someone from hell? Therefore, where is the need for purgatory?

rebecca v d liep, so Hebrews 7:25 is a lie? That God can not save anyone to the "uttermost"?

by jiahua44... "its when the sin is not bad enough to go to hell..."

Really? God told Moses to stone a man to death in the OT for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. He went to hell. Would you show me where in the Bible God considers one sin OK, verses the next?

jiahua44..., read this:

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10

spiritro... , how can the Apocrypha be part of the Word of God, when it states that land vs. water is 50-50?

Find one that was written during the day's of Christopher Columbus.

The Bible read that, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17 Therefore, the Word of God is not a lie.

Remember in 2 Peter 1:20-21 were it reads "...no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." Therefore, Apocrypha has nothing to do with the God's Word. It belongs solely to the catholic church.

It also reads:

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Revelation 22:18-19

Catherine V, if "Purgatory is simply a temporary state of purification", would you please tell me why the Bible reads this:

"...to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

How can this and purgatory be true?

"let God be true, but every man a liar;" Romans 3:4

spiritro..., either you are 100% saved or you are 100% lost. Refer to Hebrews 7:25.

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17

How can 1 Thessalonians 4 be true if we have to go through purgatory first?

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,..." 1 Corinthians 15:52-54

The Bible say in a "twinkling of an eye" we shall be changed. Therefore proving that purgatory is nothing but a lie.

Answer 1

Where is the word purgatory in the bible ??? It's a man made up idea to please people

Answer 2

Catholics believe that it is through Jesus Christ's passion, death, and resurrection that we may hope to be saved.

Jesus saves. Purgatory does not save. The Bible does not save. The Church does not save. Jesus saves.

Yet most Christians will agree that the Church and the Bible are necessary if we hope to meet Jesus one day.

Purgatory is simply a temporary state of purification that God has mercifully arranged for those who have been saved by Christ, but who are not yet sufficiently purified for the glory of Heaven.

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shjOlds asked, "Catherine V, if "Purgatory is simply a temporary state of purification", would you please tell me why the Bible reads this:

"...to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

How can this and purgatory be true?"


My version of the Holy Bible reads: "we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.

Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil." (Cor 5:6-10)

I see no contradiction between that scripture and the concept of a place of Purgatory.

It's like if on Thanksgiving morning the whole family is ready to pile into the car to drive to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, and Ma says, "Honey, let's stop by the carwash on the way. You remember what Pop said the last time we showed up with a dirty car? Plus that left rear looks a little low to me."

So you're still going, you're just making a stop-off to fill the tires and wash off the dirt.

What would you tell one of the children in the car who says, "We're going to the service station!? Does that mean we're not going to Grandma's at all?"

Answer 3

Purgatory can't save anyone from hell. Purgatory is (for the Catholics) where those who are saved but not yet perfect (be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect) can undergo their purification from any remaining marks of sin before entering into the presence of God almighty. All by His grace.

Answer 4

purgatory is like a half way house...with the prayers of the family, and special masses said on behalf of the deceased,..their sins can be lifted and ...walla..heaven bound...the catholic churches also have candles that can be lit in hopes that jesus will cleanse the soul of the person(s) in purgatory and lead te way to heaven...

Answer 5

Purgatory is "a state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in God's friendship, but were only imperfectly purified; a final cleansing of human imperfection before one is able to enter the joy of heaven
Purgatory, derived from the Latin “Purgatore”, is defined as the “final purification of the elect, which is different from the punishment of the damned”
with reference to certain scriptural texts, speaking of a cleansing fire (1Cor. 3:15; 1Pt.1: 7). It is the purification, which occurs at the end of life. Because we still sin in this life, but will not be sinning when we are in glory, between death and glorification must come purification. Purgatory is therefore the final rush of our sanctification. It is our transition into glory.

That temporal punishment is due to sin, even after God has pardoned the sin itself, is a clear teaching of Scripture. For instance, God indeed brought man out of his first disobedience and gave him power over all things, but still condemned him “to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, until he returned to dust.” God forgave the incredulity of Moses and Aaron, but in punishment kept them from the “land of promise” (Num.20: 12). The Lord took away the sin of David, but the life of the child was forfeited because David made the enemies blaspheme God’s holy name. God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off from God.

The Church also teaches that all sins are not equal before God, and that whosoever comes into God’s presence must be perfectly pure, for in the strictest sense, God’s “eyes are too pure to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13). So deep is this belief that right from the early times, the Jews and even the pagans, long before the advent of Christianity, accepted it.

Purgatory can be summarized in three points: that there is a purification after death, that this purification involves some kind of pain or discomfort and that God assists those in this purification in response to the actions of the living.


Purgatory is the final stage of sanctification, which can be painful or non-painful. The purpose is to bring you up the level of spiritual excellence to experience the full-force presence of God. It does not matter where you start from, there will be no sinning in heaven, and you have to be brought up to that level during final sanctification, before you are glorified with God in heaven.
Scripture states that “The Lord disciplines him whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives... and for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant (Heb. 12:6; 11). The fact is that the suffering we experience in sanctification in this life is something we receive because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. His suffering paid the price for us to be sanctified, and His sufferings paid the price for the whole of our sanctification--both the initial and final parts. It is because of Christ’s sacrifice that we receive the final sanctification in the first place. If He had not suffered, we would not be given the final sanctification (or the glorification to which it leads), but would go straight to hell.

Thus purgatory does not imply Christ’s sufferings were insufficient. Rather it is because of Christ’s suffering that we are given the final sanctification of purgatory in the first place.

Answer 6

Purgaratory is not saving people from hell, its when the sin is not bad enough to go to hell for, yet not good enough for heaven, so they spend their time there for their sins, so they may enter heaven.

Answer 7

There is no Purgatory. There is Heaven and Hell and nothing else.

Answer 8

Fail-safe gates in Purgatory which do not melt from the flames of hell?

Answer 9

there is no purgatory, God will judge people for their doings on earth, and a final judgement will be placed upon them either they will be awarded with eternal heaven, or eternal hell

Answer 10

The most obvious Scriptural reference comes from that body of books that Catholics call "duetero-canonical" and Protestants name "Apocrypha." Since most people who claim purgatory is not Biblical have conveniently removed the books that deal with purgatory from their Bibles, it becomes harder to argue with them. Before we can quote anything from these books as authoritative (which they are, since they are inspired Scripture), we must first convince the Protestant that these books should be in the Biblical canon. As to why the Protestants removed these books from their Old Testament, please see my article on the History of the Bible.

The passage in question here comes from 2 Maccabees 12:44-46, which reads, " . . . 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 sin.." What are we to make of this passage, that tells us that it is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead? Well, if we assume that all of these souls are in heaven, then they have no need of our prayers to aid them. Indeed, we should ask for their prayers for us. On the other hand, if these souls are in hell, then they also have no need of our prayers, since they have no hope at all. Our prayers would be ineffectual. This means that there must be some other state that exists after death where our prayers can be of benefit, where atonement for sin can be made. This is purgatory.

2 Maccabees is one of the best proof texts from the Bible. But since the Reformers threw that book out, and modern day Protestants do not recognize it as inspired, it is important to point out other Biblical references to purgatory. The fact that the word "purgatory" cannot be found in the Bible cannot be used as proof by the anti-Catholic. The words "trinity" and "incarnation" are not found in the Bible, yet the concepts that they embody certainly are. The same is true of purgatory, as an intermediate state of purification.

Look at Matthew 12:32. Jesus tells us, "And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." By saying this, Jesus implies that some sins will be forgiven in the next world. Since no sin can be forgiven in Hell, and there is no sin in Heaven, this remission of sin must take place in Purgatory. These words are the words spoken by Christ, in contrast to our friend Hank, who would tell us that Jesus knew nothing about Purgatory.

There is more evidence to be found in the epistles. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:15. "But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire." Like the verse quoted above, this cannot refer to Hell, where no one is saved. Nor can it refer to Heaven, where no one suffers. It refers to some other state where the soul will suffer in order to gain heaven. This is Purgatory, the purification.

More evidence comes from Peter's letters. In 1 Peter 3:18-20 he speaks of Christ being put to death in the flesh and rising in the spirit. He tells us that Christ "went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient . . ." Then later in 1 Peter 4:6, he writes, "For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead that, though condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of God." What is the prison for dead spirits who were disobedient, yet were saved by Christ? It is not Hell, for no one is saved from Hell. It isn't the "limbo of the Fathers" that some people believe that righteous souls of the Old Testament waited until Christ opened the gates of heaven. This prison was for disobedient spirits, not righteous ones. Peter is telling us that there exists a temporary state where disobedient souls can be saved. At the very least, this proves that there exists a third state after death that is neither heaven nor hell. This is the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.

Apart from these texts, there also is evidence from the New Testament that the Apostles themselves prayed for the dead, like in 2 Maccabees. In 2 Timothy 1:16-18, it says, "May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often gave me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains . . . May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day." St. Paul is here praying for his dead friend, which only makes sense if he can be aided by prayer. The same can be said of 1 Corinthians 15:29-30, where Paul is arguing for the resurrection of the body. He mentioned the practice of being baptized for the dead (without approving or condemning it). "If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they having themselves baptized for them?" Again, being baptized for the benefit of the dead can do them no good unless there is an intermediate state of purification.

Our friend Hank may not agree with the Catholic interpretation of these passages of Scripture, but neither can he claim, as he does, that it has no Biblical foundation, and was unknown to any in the Old or New Testament. At the very least, these passages prove that there exists a state or place after death that is neither heaven nor hell. Some third state must exist.

Like anything else that we study from Scripture, this cannot be taken in isolation. We must carefully examine the implications, and their relation to other parts of Scripture. In this case, it is very important for us to examine what the Scripture teaches us about sin. Scripture is very explicit in distinguishing between mortal sin (that is, a deadly sin, that brings death to the soul) and venial sin (that which only wounds, but does not kill, the soul). This is spelled out for us in 1 John 5:16-17. James 1:14-15 also tells us that "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death." St. James here is also making a distinction between beginning sin and mature sin, which brings death.

If you die in a state of unforgiven deadly sin, then the death of your soul (that is, the separation from God) is eternal. But what if you die with only venial sins against you? What if your soul is wounded, but not dead? This must be an important question, or else John and James would not have made this distinction. We know that nothing unclean will enter heaven (Rev. 21:27). We know that unless we are holy we will not see the Lord (Heb 12:14). So if we are not damned, then something must occur to purify and cleanse us. Taken together with our knowledge regarding this middle state after death, we have Purgatory.

Purgatory does not refute the Lord's forgiveness. Only forgiven souls make it to Purgatory. Purgatory does not refute the salvific work of Christ. Only those destined for heaven, the "saved" souls, enter Purgatory. Purgatory is Biblical. Purgatory is a shining example of God's ultimate mercy. It is a chance for those of us who so often fall short of the holiness of God to make final reparation for our sins, to prepare ourselves for the Beatific vision that we hope will be ours one day in Heaven.