Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The theology of Purgatory begins, as all genuinely Christian theology must, from sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. Yet, it must be understood that doctrine is not always clearly defined in Scripture. Some begin with a premise and then search the Scriptures to find supporting evidence to substantiate their beliefs, others study seeking an understanding of the true sense of Sacred Scripture. Even the Ethiopian Eunuch recognized the need for proper interpretation of Scripture (Acts 8:27-31). That the Scriptures do not interpret themselves is evidenced by the 20,000+ Christian denominations in existence today. Each denomination has the same basic Bible as their foundation, yet there is little or no agreement concerning substantive doctrinal issues.
Argument can become vicious if the beliefs and presuppositions do violence to the given reality or if we expect a specific meaning to be clearly defined in the pages of a text, neat and self-explanatory. And as we are to deal with Purgatory, the search is made more difficult by centuries of bitter controversy often along denominational lines. It soon becomes evident that Purgatory is a test case for revealing and linking other beliefs, practices, and ideologies. It could be said, with only slight exaggeration, that to ask a Christian what he understands by Purgatory is the quickest way to discover what he believes concerning Eschatology and life after death, the relationship of Scripture to Tradition, the nature of the Church, sin and its forgiveness, prayer, etc.
I will endeavor to present the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory in its most important aspects and provide a brief historical development. The doctrine of Purgatory is (1) supported by sacred Scripture, (2) supported by history, and (3) is logical. The Scriptures will be examined not to provide a handful of isolated proof-texts, but to disclose the themes that were to be found in later reflection and practice. I will take into account both Testaments. My hope is that by providing a wider context than is usual in discussions on Purgatory some of the limitations of past apologetic and controversy can be eliminated. From this biblical foundation I will proceed to the historical origins and demonstrate the foundations of Purgatory in Jewish belief. Finally, I will cite just a few of the numerous patristic writings, which support the Catholic position. No attempt will be made to provide a complete history of the doctrinal development but instead the most important historical points will be highlighted.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Purgatory as “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 (p. 896):
“The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. 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.”[1]
“As for 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 offences can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”[2]
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 Macc. 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.’[3] 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”[4] (§1031-1032).
Let’s begin with the passage in 2 Maccabees 12:43-46. Seleucid oppression of the Jews reached a climax under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (BC 175-164) and provoked the Maccabaean revolt. Jewish freedom fighters took up arms and succeeded in regaining possession of the Temple and purifying it in BC 164. Long before the coming of Christ, the people of God prayed and offered sacrifices for the dead. Now I realize that non-Catholics reject the Maccabean books as not being divinely inspired. Putting that objection aside the book does show the historical belief in the efficacy of prayers for the dead. Even Martin Luther, while denying the divine inspiration of the deuterocanonical books, believed that the books were worthy of study because of their historical content. Of theological importance are the author’s teachings on the resurrection of the just on the last day, the intercession of the saints in heaven for people living on earth, and the power of the living to offer prayers and sacrifices for the dead.
Simplified, the story is this: Judas and his men went into battle against Gorgias’ men. After the battle, when they went to bury their slain soldiers, they found that they were wearing amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbade Jews to wear. Judas then praised God for revealing the reason why these men had been slain. The passage does not state that these men were worshiping the pagan idols, only that they were wearing a forbidden amulet. Amulets were worn to ward off evil spirits. This was superstition, not a rejection of God’s sovereignty; it would be more like someone carrying a good luck charm. This is evident in that these men had given their lives for God’s cause. Judas believed that they deserved to be resurrected, and took up a collection of money which was sent to the Temple in Jerusalem for the offering of prayers and sacrifices for the souls of the dead. Prayer for the dead goes so far back into pre-Christian/Jewish antiquity that there is no way to trace it to its origin. If a soul is in heaven, it has no need of prayer. If a soul is in Gehenna, prayer will do no good. Prayer for the dead indicates a belief in an intermediate state between heaven and hell where prayer would do some good. We Catholics call this state Purgatory. The Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is a legitimate outgrowth of Jewish belief. Catholicism is simply Judaism perfected.
Jews, in Jesus’ time, believed in seven levels of heaven. Each level was created to serve a specific purpose.
“The first one visible to man, has no function except that of covering up the light during the night time; therefore, it disappears every morning. The planets are fastened to the second of the heavens; in the third the manna is made for the pious in the hereafter; the fourth contains the celestial Jerusalem together with the Temple, in which Michael ministers as high priest, and offers the souls of the pious as sacrifices. In the fifth heaven, the angel hosts reside, and sing the praise of God, through only during the night, for by day it is the task of Israel on earth to give glory to God on high. The sixth heaven is an uncanny spot; there originate most of the trials and visitations ordained for the earth and its inhabitants. Snow lies heaped up there and hail; there are lofts full of noxious dew, magazines stocked with storms, and cellars holding reserves of smoke. Doors of fire separate these celestial chambers, which are under the supervision of the archangel Metatron. Their pernicious elements defiled the heavens until David’s time. The pious king prayed to God to purge His exalted dwelling of whatever was pregnant with evil; it was not becoming that such things should exist near the Merciful One. Only then were they removed to the earth.
“The seventh heaven on the other hand, contains naught but what is good and beautiful; right and justice, and mercy, the storehouses of life, peace, and blessing, the souls of the pious, the souls and spirits of unborn generations, the dew with God will revive the dead on the day of resurrection day, and above all, the Divine Throne, surrounded by the seraphim [winged creatures of angelic character], the ofanim [angels], the holy Hayyot [highest angelic beings], and the ministering angels.”[5]
St. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12:2 of the “third heaven.” There are numerous Scripture passages that refer to heaven in the plural beginning with Gen. 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” From the belief that the throne of God was located in the seventh, or highest, level of Heaven came the expression “He’s in seventh heaven” indicating someone who was joyously happy.
Jewish belief was there were also seven levels of hell.[6] Popular belief was that the souls of evildoers and sinners were condemned to live in the everlasting darkness and terror of Gehenna, a place lit only by the infernal fires that raged there. Gehenna reeked with the stench of burning sulfur or brimstone. Suffocating, acrid smoke arose from the “Fiery Pit” or “Pool of Fire” in which the wicked, expiating their sins in life, agonized. It was too late for those who wished to escape their fiery torments – too late for remorse when remorse could no longer avail them! Their punishment was clearly written down in the Talmud: “The Holy One, blessed be He, judges the wicked in Gehenna for twelve months. At first, he afflicts them with itching. After that [He roasts them] with fire. At this they cry out’ Oh! Oh! And then he torments them with snow. Thereupon they cry out “Woe is me! Woe is me!” Jewish belief was that a soul consigned to Gehenna would be annihilated after twelve months. The correction of this erroneous belief, by Jesus, is found in Mt. 25:31-46 where he stated that the punishment for the wicked would be “eternal.”
Nathan Ausubel describes the classification of souls:
“In Talmudic times there were two differing opinions as to which category of souls would be flung into the Fiery Pit. The School of Shammai (first century BC) held that three classes of souls were judged after death: Those who had been perfectly righteous, those who had been completely wicked, and those who were merely “so-so” – namely a “little” righteous and a “little wicked”. The names of the righteous were instantly entered into the Book of Judgment; they were considered worthy of eternal life without any prior examination. The souls of the wicked were cast down into the dark caverns of Gehenna to be tormented and finally consumed in the Fiery Pit. As for the “mediocre” sinners, namely run-of-the-mill men and women–they were obliged to go down into the netherworld for a period of fiery purgation, before being deemed sufficiently worthy of ascending and entering heaven. The disciples of Shammai based these constructions on this prophecy: “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).
“But the School of Hillel, which was contemporary with that of Shammai was always at loggerheads with it, had a more humane conception of the fate of evildoers in Gehenna. Because the Hillites considered God to be compassionate and just, they were sure that after the process of purification by suffering and remorse had been completed for the whole human race, “Gehenna will cease!” They consoled the backsliding, the confused, and the straying with the assurance that, in the fires of retributive justice, all their impurities would be consumed. In this way there would be fulfilled the promise that the Prophet Zechariah had given Israel: that God “will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as Gold is tried” (Zech. 13:9).
“This moral principle, with its implication that the human race is perfectible – a belief fought for so valiantly by Hillel and his devoted adherents – assumed, finally, a central position in the ethics of Talmudic Judaism. “Every man a share in the World-to-Come,” became one of the most beloved of the moral dicta of the Sages of the Mishnah.”[7]
Regardless of the validity of either of these propositions, the point is that both schools believed and taught that a state of purgation would be necessary before a soul could enter heaven.
Since the seventh level of heaven was a place of perfect love and happiness in the presence of God, it stands to reason that the seventh level of hell would be in direct opposition in degree, i.e., a place of hate and pain. For the sake of this discussion, I will call the seventh level of hell Gehenna, in order to differentiate it from the first six levels of hell.
The New Testament is so clear on the subject of death and its aftermath that the Gospels are almost thematic on the need for serving God faithfully in this life, because after death there is no chance of repentance.
Luke 23:43 speaks of Paradise as the place where Jesus and the repentant thief went after their deaths; this is the paradise of the righteous, also called the “Bosom of Abraham” ( Luke 16:22). Paradise was the abode of the souls of the just and identified with part of Hades or hell. Here the souls of the just awaited the Messiah to lead them to heaven. Keep in mind that the gates of heaven were not opened until Jesus ascended to the Father. The Bosom of Abraham was the first level of hell.[8]
Christ’s parable about Lazarus and the rich man is unmistakable. When the rich man begged Father Abraham for some relief from his sufferings, the man was told, “My son, remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours” (Luke 16:22-31). Further, the rich man asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers and warn them. Where was the rich man who had compassion and love for his brothers? It is generally understood that there is no love in Gehenna and please note that he was able to converse with Abraham. This would indicate that he was in a place adjacent to Paradise or in the second level of hell.
To sum up: The first level of hell was the “Bosom of Abraham” the abode of the souls awaiting heaven’s gate to open. When Jesus ascended to the Father after His resurrection, He emptied paradise.
Level seven, Gehenna, is a place of defilement and hatred, the direct opposite of level seven in heaven, filled with the souls who have rejected God. Levels 2 through 6 were the state of purgation. Assignment there would depend upon the severity of the sin. As a soul’s sins were expiated it would graduate from one level to another until it reached perfection and be worthy of heaven.
Catholics did not “invent” the doctrine of Purgatory, or even coin the phrase “State of Purgation.” The Catholic Church and all her teachings is simply Judaism perfected
We must take the Bible as an organic whole, not simply selecting certain verses on which to build theologies. Jesus corrected the Jews concerning divorce in Matt 19:3-6. He also taught that the fires of Gehenna would be everlasting in contrast to the belief that would be a time limitation of 12 months. Jesus did not come to change the law, but He did clarify certain aspects. It stands to reason that if the Jews were wrong about their belief in a state of purgation. Jesus would have had a moral responsibility to correct them; this He did not do.
When NT passages, such as those that follow, are examined in the light of Jewish belief and Church teaching their meaning becomes clear. Souls must be purified before they can enter heaven’s gate.
1 Cor 3: 13-15: “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. If the work which any man has built on the foundation 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.
Rev. (also Apoc.) 21:27: “But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Matt 5:25-26: ” 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; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.”
Mt. 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.”
1 Pet 3: 18-20: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.”
1 John 5:16: “If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that.”
Luke 12:58-59: “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. I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper.”
How did the early Fathers of the Church understand these various verses, which the Church understands as referring to Purgatory? There is literally an avalanche of evidence to support the Catholic Church’s position. The writings of the Fathers of both the eastern and western church clearly prove, from the dawn of Christianity, that the belief of Purgatory was part of the Church.
Tertullian:: “To sum up, since that ‘prison’ which the Gospel indicates we understand to mean the place of the departed [inferos, not the hell of damnation, but a place of expectation, as in the Apostles’ Creed], and the ‘last penny’ we interpret to mean even a small fault which must be expiated there before the resurrection, no one shall doubt that the soul will pay something in the place of the departed spirits before the fullness of the resurrection in the flesh.” (On the Soul, 58; AD 208)
Lactantius: “When God judges the just, he will also try them with fire. Then those who surpass the others in the weight or number of their sins will be detained by fire . . . those however whom the fullness of justice and the maturity of virtue have already ‘baked’ will not feel that fire.” (The Divine Institutes, 7,21, AD 305)
St. Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church[9] (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., before AD 370).[10]
St. Augustine, Bishop, theologian and Doctor of the Church (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)[11]
St. Gregory (the Great), Pope, Doctor of the Church (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 judgment, 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’ (Mt.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)[12]
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 Fathers clearly expound that the prayers of the living can help the souls of the dead detained in purgatory:
Tertullian: “We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries.” (The Crown, 3,2, AD 211)[13]
St. John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church (c. 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).[14]
St. Augustine: “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, AD 421).[15]
St. Augustine: “Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for them, or when alms are given in the church.” (Enchiridion of Faith, Hope, and Love, 29, 109).
See also: St. Cyprian of Carthage: Letter 55; AD 251; Augustine: The City of God, XXI; AD 426. St. Caesarius of Arles: Sermon 104, 2; AD 535. There are too many citations to mention in this brief section.
Finally, I believe that the doctrine of Purgatory is logical. Our God is not a God of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). Everything God revealed, as truth must make sense. The greatest part of humanity; all who believe in revelation, except those who follow the Protestant Reformers, and those who are guided by reason alone, agreed in the belief in a place of temporal punishment, and in the practice of praying for the dead. If a soul dies before attaining a state of perfection, then Divine Justice, will, after death, be compelled to exact the last penny of what could have been paid in this world. If one continues to assert that he cannot find either Purgatory or the practice of praying for the dead in Scripture, the Catholic Church answers that we find both doctrine and practice clearly expounded there.
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, i.e., 2 Sam. 6:7; Exod. 28:35; Rev. (also Apoc.) 21:27 “But nothing unclean may enter it [heaven], nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Christ calls us to perfection: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). Christ calls us to be perfect in our love for him. 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 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 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 who have been saved through baptism yet die with the 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] 1 Cor. 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.
[2] St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39, PL 77, 396; cf. Mt 12:31.
[3] Cf. Council of Lyons II {1274}: DS 856.
[4] St. John Chrysostom, Hom. In 1 Cor. 41, 5: PG 61, 361; cf. Job 1:5.
[5] Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Vol. 1, pp. 9-10.
[6] Ibid. p.15.
[7] Ausubel, Nathan, The Book of Jewish Knowledge (New York: Crown Publishers, 1964), p. 174.
[8] Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 2, p. 165.
[9] Doctor of the Church is a title conferred on eminent ecclesiastical writers because of their learning and holiness of life; they are always canonized as saints.
[10] Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 2, 20.
[11] Willis, The Teachings of the Church Fathers, 499.
[12] Ibid. 496.
[13] Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 1, 151.
[14] Ibid. p. 433.
[15] Ibid. pp. 500-501.