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My name is William H. Sanford; I am a devout
Messianic Christian and truth seeker.
I have a question for the team:
Why does the Church teach doctrines like
Purgatory or Limbo when the Bible makes
absolutely no mention of either word, at
all?
When God says:
16 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.
The Bible says plainly, that there is a great
gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell. Those
in Heaven cannot visit, nor even see, those
in Hell; and those in Hell can, in no way,
leave their eternal punishment of death.
William
{
Why does the Church teach doctrines like
Purgatory or Limbo when they are not in the Bible? }
Mike
replied:
Hi William,
Thanks for the question.
It's true that the
word Purgatory doesn't appear in the
Bible (neither do the words Trinity, Incarnation or even Bible). Purgatory is a Latin word and, up until the beginning of the fifth century, Greek was the spoken language among the people. That said, Greeks weren't going to give us a Latin word. Nevertheless, you'll see the sentiments of the teachings on Purgatory from the Early Church Fathers and the Scriptures. What's important is not the word, but the doctrine.
That said, the doctrine of the final
purification of the elect, apart from Heaven or Hell, is clearly taught in both
the Old Testament and the New Testament as attested to in the following Scripture passages:
39 Next day, they came to find Judas (since the necessity was by now urgent) to have the bodies of the fallen taken up and laid to rest among their relatives in their ancestral tombs. 40 But when they found on each of the dead men, under their tunics, objects dedicated to the idols of Jamnia, which the Law prohibits to Jews, it became clear to everyone that this was why these men had lost their lives. 41 All then blessed the ways of the Lord, the upright judge who brings hidden things to light, 42 and gave themselves to prayer, begging that the sin committed might be completely forgiven. Next, the valiant Judas urged the soldiers to keep themselves free from all sin, having seen with their own eyes the effects of the sin of those who had fallen; 43 after this he took a collection from them individually, amounting to nearly two thousand drachmas, and sent it to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice for sin offered, an action altogether fine and noble, prompted by his belief in the resurrection. 44 For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, 45 whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. Hence, he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin."
Note: Though this book was rejected by the Protestant reformers and therefore is not in Protestant Bibles, one cannot ignore the historical reality of this event and the reality of the words which were said.
If one makes the argument that the
word has to be in the Scriptures
in order to be believed, then our
separated brethren would have to
deny the following Protestant words
and teachings which are not in the
Bible:
Bible
Trinity
Incarnation
Sola Scriptura
Sola Fide
Altar Call
Accepting Jesus as your personal
Lord and Savior
Our Blessed Lord tells us in Luke's
Gospel:
10 16He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.
Because Our Lord's Church believes
in both the Written and Oral Tradition passed down to us,
we know that, although the word Purgatory
is not in the Bible, it does exist.
15 So then, brethren, stand firm
and hold to the traditions which
you were taught by us, either by
word of mouth or by letter.
This word
of mouth has been transmitted
through the teaching authority
or Magisterium of the Church,
part of which, can be found in
the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The Catechism tells us:
III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory
.
.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. (cf. Council of Florence (1439):DS 1304; Council Of Trent (1563):DS 1820; (1547):1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336):DS 1000) The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Peter 1:7):
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe
that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying
fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned
neither in this age nor in the age to come. From
this sentence we understand that certain offenses
can be forgiven in this age, but certain others
in the age to come.
St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39:PL
77,396; cf. Matthew 12:31-32.
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore (Judas Maccabeus) made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." (2 Maccabees 12:46) From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. (cf. Second Council of Lyons (1274):DS 856) The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.
Purgatory can also be easily understood
based on basic Christian doctrines
and common sense.
Purgatory exists because:
of original sin which all men
and women inherited from Adam
at our birth, and because
God created men and women with
free will to make:
holy choices, or
un-holy choices
Note: This is the problem with
the eternal security view of salvation.
It assumes man doesn't have any
free will to make sinful choices.
The important thing to remember about
Purgatory is it has nothing to do
with ones salvation, but has to do with ones personal
holiness. Those in Purgatory have
been saved by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus! and the Church has
always believed in Purgatory from
Apostolic times.
Think of sin as a self-inflicted wound in your life.
When we physically hurt ourselves, many times we have to be brought to the hospital and the doctor or nurse will put an alcoholic disinfectant in our cut or wound. It will hurt ... a lot!!! but it's a good hurt; it's a holy hurt, that is needed to make us physically better.
We also have to distinguish between less severe physical injuries where we cut ourselves and require stitches and more severe injuries, like a NASCAR racing driver who gets into a major collision and ends up with third or fourth-degree burns over 90 percent of their body. There are varying degrees of damage that we do to our bodies, not only physically, but spiritually too!
Because Revelation tells us that nothing impure can enter Heaven (Revelation 21:27) and because God Himself is all Holy, we too, have to be all Holy to enter Heaven. To achieve this, any remaining self-inflicted spiritual wounds (meaning self-love) from our pilgrimage on earth has to be burned off, healed, and purified.
If our spiritual injuries are along the line of just needing stitches, that healing period where our self-love has to be burned off will be short;
but if our self-inflicted injuries are along the line of third or fourth-degree burns, the healing process will take longer.
Saints in the past have had private revelations from the souls in Purgatory. They, (the Holy Souls in Purgatory), have shared that, while the (healing|burning) fires of God's Love in Purgatory are painful (Hebrews 12:29, Exodus 3:1-6), at the same time they had an internal, burning joy because they knew they were being conformed to the image of God and their final destiny would be Total Union with Him.
Instead of the alcoholic disinfectant that the doctor gave us to heal our physical injuries so we can re-enter the Earthly world again, in Purgatory, we experience a holy, healing pain under Jesus' Care which purifies our souls and prepares us to enter Eternal Life with God who is all Holy. Our prayers and good works can also help the Holy Souls currently in Purgatory by 1.) purifying their souls and 2.) preparing them to enter Eternal Life with God, who is all Holy.
Interested in helping the Saved, Holy Souls in Purgatory?
Think of the number of saved Faithful Departed who have passed from this life to the next since 33 A.D.: many with major spiritual injuries. There's a lot! This is why praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is very important — and they can't wait to be purified for Heaven! (Revelation 21:27) If there are any Catholics (who live in the United States) reading this answer, who have a strong devotion to praying for the Holy Souls, check out my other website at:
I work with another colleague, Brian Bagley on this. Together we are trying to re-kindle this devotion among the lay faithful and Catholic clergy in praying for the Holy Souls and for those interested. We will send out a FREE Purgatory Prayer Program for you to get started.
This is in contrast to Limbo which
was never an official teaching of
the Church but a theological speculation
when saints and theologians discussed
the topic of the salvation of
unbaptized babies.
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say:
allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
I hope this answers your question.
Mike Humphrey
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