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Charlie Traffas
Charlie Traffas has been involved in marketing, media, publishing and insurance for more than 40 years. In addition to being a fully-licensed life, health, property and casualty agent, he is also President and Owner of Chart Marketing, Inc. (CMI). CMI operates and markets several different products and services that help B2B and B2C businesses throughout the country create customers...profitably. You may contact Charlie by phone at (316) 721-9200, by e-mail at ctraffas@chartmarketing.com, or you may visit at www.chartmarketing.com.
Religion
2008-10-01 08:48:00
What about Purgatory?
Question: Often you hear of Purgatory, particularly from Catholics. Many say it is never mentioned in the Bible. What is meant in First Corinthians 3:15? Is this verse describing Purgatory?
Answer: The word “Purgatory” is not found in the Bible! But the idea is there. The word is derived from the Latin word “purgare,” meaning: to cleanse, to purge, to purify. The idea of Purgatory is that: all persons who died in God’s grace and friendship, but still are not completely cleansed from sin, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they must undergo some kind of purification in order to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. Sometime in the 11th century the Church gave the name Purgatory to this final purification of the souls of those chosen by God for heaven. This purification is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The church formulated her doctrine of faith about Purgatory on Tradition, as well as on the Bible. The Tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire, as Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604) wrote: “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He Who is Truth (Jesus) says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be pardoned either in this world nor in the age to come (cf: Mt. 12:31). From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this world, but certain others in the age to come” (cf: Dialogues 4:39, PL77). This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in the Old Testament: “Therefore Judas Maccabeus made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Macc: 12:46). From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead, and offered prayers for their souls, above all the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist (the Mass): so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific Vision of God. 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 (cf Job 1:5), 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” (St. John Chrysostom in the year 415). The questioner asks about the text in 1 Cor 3:15: “If anyone’s work is burnt up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, but only as one fleeing through fire.” From early centuries many Christians have interpreted this obscure statement of St. Paul as describing the purification of those who die without being fully cleansed from sin. However the Church’s teaching authority has never determined that this text specifically applies to the doctrine about Purgatory. From the Book of Revelation we know that nothing defiled can enter heaven. And from various biblical texts we learn that all justice must be satisfied before a person can enter heaven. St. Paul is quite explicit in 1 Cor: 6:9-10: “Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God’s Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves: people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or perverts or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves – none of these will possess God’s Kingdom. Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God . . . through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Indeed, many persons are included in that list of those excluded from God’s Kingdom, if they have not repented and repaired the wrongs they have done. We know that to be saved, all that is necessary is for a person to be sorry for their sins before they die, and to do what is possible to repair the damages of their sins. But often death intervenes before they have opportunity to repent and to repair. Those who are hardened in sin and unrepentant are definitely excluded from God’s Kingdom. But those who are sorry for their sins are saved. This does not mean that repentant sinners enter heaven immediately with angelic trumpets welcoming them. Before they can get into heaven, God’s justice requires that they undergo some form of punishment commensurate with their unrepented and unrepaired sins. We call this punishment Purgatory. But such former sinners have the consolation of knowing that eventually they will get into heaven through the merits of Jesus and the mercy of God his Father. Such persons, undergoing the sufferings of Purgatory, can be helped by our prayers and sacrifices and works of charity performed for them. We believe God recognizes the good actions of friends praying for them, and applies to the souls detained in Purgatory the merits of Jesus and his Saints: to diminish the remaining punishment so that they can take their place in heaven earlier than the sentence received at their first judgment immediately after death. The doctrine of Purgatory is based on our belief in the infinite mercy and justice of God. God is all-merciful, but he is also all-just. Justice requires that sins be repented and repaired before a soul can enter heaven. Some people deny the idea of Purgatory as a Catholic superstition. They assert that, after death, the soul goes immediately to heaven or to hell. They acknowledge that nothing defiled can enter heaven. Accordingly, if there is no Purgatory, those who believe this had better take care in this life: to cleanse their souls from all sins and attachment to evil, lest they die and go to hell. Of course, they are hoping that at death God will cover over their unrepented sins and unrepaired injustices with the Blood of Jesus. That notion was taught by mortals, 1400 years after the time of Christ, and not by any of the Apostles or Saints of the Church. The Church condemned this heresy.
 
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