"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire." 1 Cor 3:11-15
Purgatory is a very difficult and controversial subject. I have no idea why the Holy Spirit has been pushing me to talk about this topic. I guess because I've been thinking about it too much in these past couple of years so it's time to take the bull by the horn. I will start by saying that the thought of purgatory used to terrify me because I am scared of fire. I used to think of purgatory as a place, similar to hell, where we had to stay for an undetermined amount of time, while we underwent burning purification. I did not like this idea because I once splattered my finger with hot oil and I have never forgotten the pain. Therefore, I always thought of purgatory as a very painful place.
Purgatory is a controversial subject because the Catholic Church is the only one that believes in it and it's a difficult subject because no one has returned after dying to confirm that there is indeed a purgatory. I have been reading a lot about this topic and I can tell you that there are a multitude of opinions out there. Even the doctors of the Catholic Church differ in their beliefs. So what I intend to do on this post is simply share some of the answers I have found and my personal conclusion after all this research. I don't mean to change anyone's mind because after all, we won't know the whole truth until God comes knocking at our door to take us home.
The topic of purgatory has been around for a long time. St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians already mentions that "we will be saved but only as through fire" 1 Cor 3:15. Even though he doesn't call this purification purgatory it hints that in order to be saved we must go through the fire. In the second century, the Catholic theologian Tertullian wrote his "Treatise on the Soul (de anima)" where he proposed that souls are aware and subject to punishment. Tertullian believed that a soul destined for resurrection still had to undergo some sort of punishment: "the soul undergoes in Hades some compensatory discipline, without prejudice to the full process of the resurrection" Treatise on the Soul, LVIII.
The doctors of the Church differed in their beliefs about purgatory. St. Thomas Aquinas believed that there is no purgatory after this life. He based his belief in Revelation 14:13 which states that "Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord. 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'" St. Thomas claimed that "after this life no cleansing labor awaits those who die in the Lord, nor those who do not die in the Lord, since they cannot be cleansed" St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae. St. Augustine said, in "The City of God," that "temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment" (21:13). It is between the particular and general judgments, then, that the soul is purified of the remaining consequences of sin according to St. Augustine.
Much more recent, St. John Paul II spoke about heaven, hell and purgatory during three of his Wednesday General Audiences in the summer of 1999. He said that "the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places." He also said that "Before we enter into full communion with God (heaven), every trace of sin within us must be eliminated and every imperfection in our soul must be corrected." St. John Paul II believed that "we cannot approach God without undergoing some kind of purification." He backed up his belief in scripture. "According to Old Testament religious law, what is destined for God must be perfect...Total dedication to the God of the Covenant, along the lines of the great teachings found in Deuteronomy (cf. 6: 5), and which must correspond to this physical integrity, is required of individuals and society as a whole (cf. 1 Kgs 8: 61). It is a matter of loving God with all one's being, with purity of heart and the witness of deeds (cf. ibid., 10: 12f.) The need for integrity obviously becomes necessary after death, for entering into perfect and complete communion with God. Those who do not possess this integrity must undergo purification... We are invited to 'cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit' (2 Cor 7: 1; cf. 1 Jn 3: 3), because the encounter with God requires absolute purity. Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected. Purification must be complete, and indeed this is precisely what is meant by the Church's teaching on purgatory. The term does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence." L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, Heaven: 28 July 1999, Hell: 4 August 1999, Purgatory: 11/18 August 1999.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing impure will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27).
In Part two, I will share my conclusion on this topic. Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear your opinions and beliefs regarding Purgatory.
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