Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The place and state in which souls suffer for a while and are purged after death, before they go to heaven, on account of their sins.
Mat. 5:25 – Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
Lk. 12:57-59 – And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper.
This principle extends beyond this life and has to do with our relationship with God our judge.
1 Cor. 3:12-15 – Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—13 each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
The Latin Fathers take the passage to mean a transient purification punishment in the other world. They interpret the words ‘as by fire’ all too literally in the sense of a physical fire. There is a fire to be endured by those who are saved, but whose works don’t pass muster. This well describes purgatory.
In order to clarify the Church’s position on Purgatory, it must be stated that purgatory is not, so to speak, considered to be a second chance of salvation. Scripture is replete with passages that can be cited that attest to the fact that nothing profane will come into contact with the Almighty, for example:
2 Sam. 6:7 – And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark…
Exod. 28:35 – And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, lest he die.
Rev. 21:27 – But nothing unclean shall enter it, (the City of the Lamb, i.e., Heaven) nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
This passage refers primarily to unrepented mortal sin. Yet even venial sins (“There is sin which is mortal” 1 John 5:17) is a defilement. It must be cleansed before the soul enters heaven. The place of cleansing is purgatory.
Christ calls us to be perfect in our love for him:
Mat. 5:48 – You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Nothing less is acceptable in order for a person to enter heaven. Simply put, all sin is the result of pride and selfishness. In order to sin, a person must know that the thought or action is against the will of God. In other words, it is saying to God, “Not your will be done, but my will be done”. This is fundamentally the sin of idolatry. If when we die our love of God and also our love for others are total and complete, then and only then, will we be brought immediately into His presence. If there are vestiges of this destructive self-love that caused the sin it must be purged from the soul before it can enter the beatific vision of heaven. Only those that have been saved through baptism and yet die with stain of sin on their soul enter purgatory. Rather than view purgatory as a punishment, it is proper to understand it as one more example of God’s infinite mercy.
1 Pet. 3:19 – in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison…
1 Pet. 4:6 – For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.
Christ before His resurrection went to preach to the dead. These were not in heaven, which wasn’t open yet, nor in hell, where preaching would not benefit them. So there is a third intermediate state of imprisonment, a temporary state. This may have been purgatory. No other explanation has been given which really satisfies.
Matt. 12:32 – And whoever says 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.
Here Our Lord implies that there is forgiveness both in this world and in the world to come. The souls in heaven are in no need of forgiveness–they have it already. But purgatory is a state in the world to come, where satisfaction for sins committed is made.
Col. 1:24 – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…
Paul fills up what is wanting in Christ’s sufferings on behalf of the Church. There is no demeaning here of the sufficiency of Christ’s redemption. Christ has done his part, but we are not dolls or robots–we are responsible cooperators in our own and others’ salvation through suffering. Empowered by Christ’s redemptive grace, we suffer in expiation of our sins. If the job isn’t finished by the time we die, it is completed in purgatory.
2 Macc. 12:43-46 – He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. 44 For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45 But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.
The Second Book of Maccabees provides the primary scriptural foundation for the Catholic belief in purgatory. (See also: Matt. 5:25f; 12:32; Lk. 12:58f; 1 Cor. 3:15; 1 Pet. 3:18-20; 1 Jn. 5:16; Rev. 5:3, 13.)
The belief in the dogma of purgatory is an article of faith for Catholics, in other words, a required belief.
The reality of purgatory was denied by Martin Luther (cf. The Schmalcaldic Article, Pars. II. Art. II, Sec. 12-15), and by Calvin (Instit. III 5, 6-10). As such the Second Book of Maccabees directly contradicted his personal theology. There was no legitimate defense for Luther to remove the this book alone, so he simply excluded the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament as the Jews of old had done fourteen centuries before, albeit, for entirely different reasons. He wrote: “I am so great an enemy to the second book of the Maccabees, and to Esther, that I wish they had not come to us at all, for they have too many heathen unnaturalities”.[1] In his German edition of the Bible, published in 1534, the deuterocanonical books are grouped together at the end of the Old Testament under the title: “Apocrypha”, adding that they are “books not to be regarded as equal to Holy Writ, but which are useful and good to read”.[2] In simple terms, because these books which had been accepted by Jesus Christ, his Apostles, and his Church for fifteen centuries did not support his personal theology, he removed them.
If anyone does not accept the book of 2 Macc. as Scripture, it is at least of value as a testimonial to Jewish belief and practice before, during, and after the time of Christ. Jews today pray for the repose of the dead. This practice implies that the dead are thereby helped, which in turn implies a state after death and before entry into heaven.
If a soul is in heaven it has no need of prayer; if a soul is in hell, prayer will be of no avail. Belief in prayer for the dead indicates a belief in a state of existence for the soul after death, where prayer would be efficacious.
The doctrine is found in the writings of a number of the Church Fathers, the following are but a few excerpts:
Turtullian [AD 160-after 220] “We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries” (The Crown, 3,2, AD 211).
St. Basil the Great [AD 329-379] “A man who is under sentence of death, knowing that there is One who saves, One who delivers, says: ‘In you I have hoped, save me’ from my inability ‘and deliver me’ from captivity. I think that the noble athletes of God, who have wrestled all their lives with the invisible enemies, after they have escaped all of their persecutions and have come to the end of life, are examined by the prince of this world; and if they are found to have any wounds from their wrestling, any stains or effects of sin, they are detained. If, however, they are found unwounded and without stain, they are, as unconquered brought by Christ into their rest” (Homilies on the Psalms, 7, no. 2., ante AD 370).
St. John Chrysostom [AD 349-407] “Not in vain did the Apostles order that remembrance should be made of the dead in the dreadful mysteries. They know that great gain results to them, great benefit; for when the whole people stands with uplifted hands, a priestly assembly, and that awful Sacrifice lies displayed, how shall we not prevail with God by our entreaties for them. And this we do for those who have departed in faith” (Homilies on Philippians, 3:4, inter AD 398-404).
St. Augustine [AD 421] “In the books of the Maccabees we read of sacrifice offered for the dead. Even if it were nowhere at all read in the Old Scriptures, not small is the authority, which in this usage is clear, of the whole Church, namely, that in the prayers of the priest which are offered to the Lord God at His altar, the commemoration of the dead has also its place”. (On the care to be had for the dead, Ch. 1:3).
St. Augustine [AD 354-430] ‘Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure’ (Ps. 37:2)… so that you may cleanse me in this life, and make me such, that I may after that stand in no need of the cleansing fire, for those ‘who are to be saved, yet so as by fire’ (1 Cor. 3:15). And because it is said, ‘he shall be saved,’ that fire is thought lightly of. For all that, though we should be ‘saved by fire,’ yet will that fire be more grievous that anything that man can suffer in this life whatsoever (Expositions on the Psalms, 37:3, inter AD 392-418).[3]
St. Gregory the Great [AD 540-604] “Each one will be presented to the judge exactly as he was when he departed this life. Yet, there must be a cleansing fire before judgement, because of some minor faults that may remain to be purged away. Does not Christ, the Truth, say that if anyone blasphemes against the Holy Spirit he shall not be forgiven ‘either in this world or in the world to come’ (Matt. 12:32)? From this statement we learn that some sins can be forgiven in this world and some in the world to come. For, if forgiveness is refused for a particular sin, we conclude logically that it is granted for others. This must apply, as I said, to slight transgressions” (Dialogues, 4:39, AD 593).[4]
[1] Hazlitt, The Table Talk of Martin Luther, p. 11.
[2] Grisar, Luther, Vol. 5, pp. 521f.
[3] Willis, The Teachings of the Church Fathers, p. 499.
[4] Ibid, p. 496.