The Catholic Church teaches that after death some people go to a place called purgatory to be further "purified" before going to heaven.
Does this fundamental doctrine come from God, or is it another tradition invented by men? We find the answer precisely in a verse of the Catholic catechism:
"The [Catholic] Church formulated her own doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent" (Catholic Catechism, pp. 268-269, # 1031).
It is not unreasonable to ask where a group of men got such information about life after death in order to formulate such a doctrine.
Catholic friends, if you are praying for your beloved departed believing that they are in purgatory, know that it was not God who said they are in purgatory, but a group of religious leaders:
"But at the present moment some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory ..." (Catholic catechism, p. 249, # 954).
What is most disturbing about this doctrine is that the Bible has never mentioned the existence of such a place. Nor does the Bible teach that further purification is required after death to gain entry into the heavens. On the contrary, God's Word declares that salvation is a free gift for anyone who accepts it:
"Because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"... with a single act of justice (that of Jesus) grace is extended to all men in justification of life." (Romans 5:18)
Could a loving and truthful God offer you eternal life as a free gift - and then make you suffer to gain it - and then lie in His Word?
"In fact, you were saved by grace, by faith, and this does not come from you, it is God's gift." (Ephesians 2: 8)
If you believe what the Bible says, then no further purification is needed for those who die in Christ. They have already been purified by Jesus:
"All the more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from anger by him." (Romans 5: 9)
"... are freely justified by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
"I will remember their sins and iniquities no more" (Hebrews 10:17)
The apostle Paul emphasizes this same point:
"And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11)
True Christians have already been purified because Jesus took all their sins to the cross:
"... only once, at the end of the centuries, was it manifested to nullify sin with its sacrifice." (Hebrews 9:26)
God's children are not asked to suffer in order to be saved, because they have already been bought and paid for at a high price:
"In fact, you were bought at a high price; therefore glorify God in your body and spirit, which belong to God." (1 Corinthians 6:20)
The price paid was the blood of Jesus Christ:
"... the church of God, which he (Jesus) bought with his own blood." (Acts 20:28)
CONCLUSION
If the Bible is so clear on this subject, why did the Catholic Church institute a doctrine that persuaded faithful members to give money to this church in exchange for prayers and masses for the deceased? Answer this yourself.
Now at least you know that the doctrine of purgatory is a doctrine born of the minds of men and did not come from God:
"Now therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8: 1)
Notes:
The Book of Maccabees, which the Catholic Church uses to justify the doctrine of purgatory, is an apocryphal book, that is, it is not part of the Holy Scriptures inspired by God. On the history of the Book of Maccabees (which, as demonstrated here, contradicts the Bible) the following must be said: during a battle, idols were discovered under the clothes of some Jewish soldiers. Their general, Judah the Maccabee, had money sent to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices for them. In this, Judas Maccabeus was not following the teaching of the Scriptures. Among the many precepts of the Mosaic law, there was none that recommended sacrifice for the dead, but only for the living. There are no examples in the Holy Scriptures of Jews or Christians offering sacrifices for the dead, nor did Jesus ever introduce such a doctrine. The Catholic Church does not accept these facts because it would mean acknowledging that she is guilty of teaching and practicing the sin of idolatry.
The book of Maccabees is not part of the God-inspired canon of the Old Testament nor of the Jewish community that produced them. Jesus and the Apostles never quoted from the Maccabees. They were rejected by the canon inspired by many "church fathers", first of all Girolamo, the translator who produced the Latin version of the Bible called "Vulgate", on which all Catholic Bibles are based.
Moreover, the Maccabees were added to the Catholic Bible only after the Reformation (after 1546, hence the name of "deuterocanonical" or "became canonical after"), as an "alibi" was needed to maintain indulgences and so on, after Biblical knowledge was expanding by the Protestant reformers,
It should be borne in mind that in Luther's time the Catholic clergy had imposed on those who wanted to read the Bible, naturally in Latin (therefore only for the educated, the rich or the clergy) to have a particular ecclesiastical authorization that was not granted to everyone; just think that the Bible was one of the books "put on the index" by the Catholic Church.
DOES THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY COME FROM THE BIBLE?
The New Testament knows only two classes of people: the saved and the unsaved. It speaks of the immediate happiness of the dead in Christ (Luke 16:22; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5: 6,8), and furthermore, it recognizes an unlimited efficacy to the blood of Christ, which purifies us "from all sin". Each one's destiny is determined in this lifetime, which is the only period of opportunity mentioned. Death closes the period of opportunity, then follows judgment according to works done in the body (Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
The idea of purgatory comes from paganism. Virgil placed the souls of the dead in three different places: Tartarus for the damned; Elysian fields for the good and a place of expiation for the less evil (Aeneid 6, 1100-1105).
Explanation of Paul's Words to the Corinthians
Paul said to the Corinthians: "I, according to the grace of God that has been given to me, as a wise architect, have laid the foundation; others build upon it. But each one should see how he builds upon it. ; for no one can lay any other foundation than the one already laid, namely Christ Jesus. Now, if anyone builds gold, silver, valuable stones, wood, hay, straw on this foundation, the work of each will be manifested, because the day of Christ will make it known; for that day it will appear as a fire; and the fire will prove what each man's work is. he will have the damage, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire " (1 Corinthians 3: 10-15).
According to Catholic theologians, the phrase "will be saved, however, as through fire" means that the righteous after having suffered in purgatory for a certain time, will be saved in heaven, because the fire will have purified him from any residue of sin. In support of this interpretation they cite the ideas of Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great (the latter believed that purgatory was on earth). These words of Paul do not refer at all to a purifying fire existing in some visible or invisible place where the souls of men go to be cleansed of their sins, but to the "fire" of the day of Christ, which is another thing.
We give the explanation of Paul's words. The apostle had preached Christ in Corinth and many as a result of his preaching believed in the Lord, after which they were baptized. It was he who then laid the foundation (Christ Jesus) of that spiritual house (the church) of Corinth. But after him others had come to Corinth who had built more "material" on the foundation he laid. And in this regard he tells each one to take care of how he builds upon the foundation, because no one can take away the foundation which is Christ Jesus to put another; and because in the day of Christ only the effort employed to build "gold, silver and precious stones" (that is, things that have value) will be rewarded because they will remain in the test of fire; while the effort employed to build "wood,
Reflections on other examples used to justify the idea of purgatory
An extra-biblical example cited by some is the diary of Perpetua. In this diary, a woman named Perpetua talks about her vision and finally writes: "I woke up and understood that the penalty had been remitted to him ...". These words can in no way justify the doctrine of purgatory; furthermore, it is evident that it is inadmissible to rely on visions to substantiate a doctrine which has no scriptural foundation, and which in the first century church was neither taught nor believed by anyone.
Several Catholics to justify purgatory cite Augustine, who was convinced that "it cannot be denied that the souls of the dead can be helped by the mercy of their loved ones". Once again it is a doctrine without biblical foundation. And above all, Catholics should remember that Augustine himself said: "What do the words 'I will build my church on this rock mean?' On this faith, on what is said: You are the Christ, the son of the living God "; and also: "On this stone that you confessed, I will build my church, for Christ was the stone." The Catholic Church, on the other hand, says that Peter is the "stone", and on their interpretation, they base the idea that the Catholic Church belongs to Peter and is the only true Christian Church.
Let us now look at the biblical passages that Catholics cite to justify the idea of purgatory. One of these is 2 Samuel 12: 1-19. They "see" purgatory in it as "here a remitted guilt is evident and yet a punishment to be extinguished". In reality, it is clear that the passage speaks of a punishment IN LIFE, not after deaths.
Another passage often quoted by Catholics is Matthew 5: 25-26. But here the words of Jesus refer to quarrels between brothers, because before saying those words he said, "So if you are going to offer your offering on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go first to be reconciled with your brother; and then come and offer your offering "(Matthew 5: 23,24).
If a brother has something against us because we have wronged him, before offering our spiritual sacrifices to God we must go to the offended brother and ask for forgiveness to reconcile with him. If we do not do this, God will punish us for the wrong we have committed against him (Jesus emphasized this again in Matthew 6: 14,15) and will make us pay the debt we have committed with our brother, on earth and not in some imaginary place called purgatory.
Still others mention the fact that Jesus went to announce salvation to the spirits (1 Peter 3,19). These "captive souls" would be, according to Catholics, souls in purgatory.
In fact, Jesus after his resurrection went to that part of the dead place that the Old Testament figuratively calls "the bosom of Abraham", where before the coming of Christ there were also believers who died in faith (such as Abraham).
Before ascending to the Father (John 20:17), Jesus went to announce to those souls the salvation by grace which was now possible through the atoning sacrifice that Jesus had just performed on the cross: "This is why it is said: Ascended in high, he led captive a great number of prisoners and gave gifts to men. Now what does this "ascend" mean but that he also descended to the lowest parts of the earth? the same one who ascended above all the heavens to fill all things "(Ephesians 4: 8-10).
Another passage is that of the parable of the owner of the harvest and the hourly workers. This parable simply speaks of those who labored the most for the Lord of the harvest (the first apostles, martyrs, etc. who were commissioned to spread the Gospel to the world) and so on up to us, the workers of the last Now. The Lord gives a different and just reward to each one, there are last who are first and vice versa, but the pay, eternal life, is the same for everyone: "Friend, I am not doing you any wrong; you have not agreed with me for a denarius? "
Finally, the last passage we want to consider is the one in which Paul mentions the spirits of the righteous "brought to perfection".
This passage in no way implies an alleged purgatory. The explanation is simple, if the passage is understood in the context of other Christian doctrines.
First, it must be remembered that even the most righteous of men, with the sole exception of the Son of God, is a sinner and "falls seven times" (Proverbs 24:16).
"There is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but they are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3: 23,24).
Believers are made perfect through the undeserved imputation of Christ's perfect righteousness, the perfect righteousness of the One who has fulfilled ALL of God's holy law, and is counted to us by faith. "But also for us, to whom it will also be reckoned; for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was given for our offenses and was raised for our justification." (Romans 4: 24.25)
We have been sanctified "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all." (Hebrews 10:10)
And it is always and only thanks to him that we are cleansed of all sin, if we abide in him: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from ALL sin. " (1 John 1: 7).
As Christians we therefore recognize that it is Christ Jesus who is the only one who for us is "wisdom, justice, sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30), and not a hypothetical purgatory.
What is today, in our traditionally Catholic country, the common opinion on the afterlife in general and on purgatory in particular?
Unfortunately, many Italian Catholics not only hardly know how to explain what purgatory is anymore but, even, they have very little faith in the future life, post-mortem, of which - they say - nothing is known.
This means, in practice, that those Italians are atheists, faithful only by tradition or family and national complacency to the Catholic religion. It is clear that in the mass of people there is no faith in God (the true one, based on the Word of God) and that the current situation in this regard is dramatic because it almost always relies on human traditions.
True Christianity, however, shuns any kind of human tradition, be it atheist or Catholic or Protestant; and there is no true Christianity without practice and perseverance of the commandments of Jesus, and without faith and hope in eternal life.
The New Testament teaches that, in God and through Christ, man can receive salvation but, mind you, only during his earthly existence . After death the soul can no longer work for its own salvation, nor can the living do anything for it.
But, then, why purgatory?
Purgatory would not exist without the Catholic concept of venial and mortal sin (of which the Bible does not speak at all, since there is only one sin: it is "the violation of the Law of God" , as taught by the first Letter of John 3,4 ).
As with other formulations, even in the case of purgatory, theologians have recourse to Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, since nothing is said in the Bible about purgatory (and in fact it is a false doctrine that was first invented by the philosopher Plato, 400 years before Christ), its existence was questioned by many.
Well, purgatory, like other Catholic doctrines, was born only between 1100 and 1250 AD, that is to say in that century. XII in which Latin Catholicism explodes (monastic renewal, scholasticism) together with the feudal system; and the Catholic conception of the afterlife is fully realized with Dante Alighieri who, in his famous literary work "The Divine Comedy", describes the triple division of Hell, Purgatory (place of punishment) and Paradise (place of reward). In this work, written just over 100 years after the birth of purgatory (ie between 1302 and 1321 AD), Dante's imagination contributes to spreading the completely unfounded idea of the triple division.
The hope, therefore, that sin does not tragically decide the destiny of the soul pushes to vivify the faith in the "second kingdom, where the human spirit is purged and to ascend to heaven becomes worthy". To speak, however, of purgatory as a necessary place for heavenly ascent according to the verses of Dante just quoted, is equivalent to believing in the human word instead of the Word of God!
No middle ground in the Afterlife
In conclusion, purgatory does not exist. Instead, there is the Hereafter (as clearly teaches the Gospel of Luke 16: 19-31), where we will all have to appear before the court of God to give an account of how we have operated in our earthly life: some will go to eternal life, but "to those who contend and do not obey the truth, but obey injustice, it is up to indignation and anger" (Letter to Romans 2,7-8).
In the Hereafter, therefore, there will be no middle ground: either heaven or hell. And purgatory is somewhere in between.
Jacques Le Goff, a well-known French medievalist, in 1982 published the book "La Naissance Du Purgatoire" (The Birth of Purgatory) in France. It explains how at the dawn of the thirteenth century the Catholic Church "took possession" of a "place" that seemed beyond the influences of any human structure, of a "space" that had always been thought of as being essences transcendent of humanity: Divinity, Fate, Death. A conquest of such importance took place thanks to an invention, that of Purgatory. That is, that of a "third place" where one "repairs", a place where there is still hope living among the sufferings.
Those who have been raised in Catholicism consider Purgatory as a "place" beyond time, on a par with Heaven and Hell. But to support these claims, it is not just anyone but none other than Jacques Le Goff, the great French medievalist, heir to Marc Bloch, "lord" of the Nouvelle Histoire, co-director of those "Annals" that have revolutionized the way of doing historical research .
Le Goff explains: Before the 13th century, neither the word Purgatory nor its representation existed. As he declared to the Parisian weekly "L'Express", the invention of Purgatory played a role in the great transformation of the West in the 12th-13th century. To arrive at the invention of Purgatory, in fact, it took some time: the Bible does not mention it at all (as the Protestants will reiterate in the Reformation era) but the concept developed slowly within the Catholic Church. The concept of a third intermediate place between Hell and Heaven where there was neither salvation nor damnation was also an idea foreign to medieval man.
With Purgatory - a powerful imagination that enjoyed an exceptional advertiser, Dante Alighieri - the Catholic Church "takes possession" of the Afterlife and, through it, also of the Aldiqua. With it, death ended up being the crucial moment in which everything is played out, a borderline moment between life and eternity. "We can speak - states Le Goff - of a real expansion of the opportunities for salvation".
From that moment an active exchange begins between the living and the dead. On this side the masses to help the penitent's soul to free itself more quickly from Purgatory, on the other the individual relationship with the Underworld. And in this grotesque and anti-biblical situation it is the Catholic Church, observes Le Goff, which manages the "politics" of Purgatory. Thus the ecclesiastical jurisdiction extends to the Hereafter which belonged to God. The crowd of souls awaiting Purgatory is linked to the world of the living. And the faithful are gradually accustomed (almost tied) to a new repertoire of gestures, prayers, offerings.
"Indulgences - says Le Goff - these keys of Paradise are the famous and profitable example". The Catholic Church establishes a vast spiritual, but also economic, power on earth. The operation, the book argues, is theological, but the theological operation only sanctions an idea that was already deeply rooted in the collective unconscious, in the popular imagination. In a confused era like the Middle Ages, in which spirits traveled in "strange universes" and returned to worry the living, the Catholic Church knew how to make the best of a bad situation: by appropriating Purgatory, it was able to channel an offensive that it could not contain. "If you want - says the historian - it is the great enclosure of the dead. To do this, to bring Imagination and Power to coincide, the Catholic Church needed to make Purgatory "visible", to describe it, to give it a real image. And the visual triumph of Purgatory takes place thanks to the work of a great propagandist, Dante Alighieri and his second Cantica. Basically, before Le Goff bringing demonstrations and proofs, two poets had perceived Dante's brilliant effort: both Chateaubriand ("le purgatoire surpasse en poesie le ciel et l'enfer"), and Ezra Pound had an absolute predilection for Purgatory . " Dante Alighieri and his second Canticle. Basically, before Le Goff bringing demonstrations and proofs, two poets had perceived Dante's brilliant effort: both Chateaubriand ("le purgatoire surpasse en poesie le ciel et l'enfer"), and Ezra Pound had an absolute predilection for Purgatory . " Dante Alighieri and his second Canticle. Basically, before Le Goff bringing demonstrations and proofs, two poets had perceived Dante's brilliant effort: both Chateaubriand ("le purgatoire surpasse en poesie le ciel et l'enfer"), and Ezra Pound had an absolute predilection for Purgatory . "
With all this (perhaps precisely because of this mysterious, dreamy and new character) the idea of Purgatory did not assert itself so easily. The theological invention itself was, albeit badly adverse, rather cautious: Purgatory became dogma only in the sixteenth century.
Are we aware of the tragedy?
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