I recently had a comment under an old blog article on releasing
souls from Purgatory. Here is an excerpt:
“The word purgatory isn't even in Scripture.
We need to abide by God's Word and not live by man-made ideas. We know there
are two options after death…. I am not Catholic and although there are many
things about the Catholic faith that I greatly admire, there are others that
greatly concern me. This is one of them. We must never develop our own ideas as
truth. I can't imagine where this Catholic teaching comes from. It concerns me
greatly.”
As I began to respond, I realized a reply in a comment box was not
adequate. So, I will invite my commenter to this new article, just for her.
Purgatory is a matter of justice as it is explained in Scripture. Protestants believe a person of faith goes
straight to heaven because he is saved.
You are either saved or not.
According to them, sins are no impediment to heaven because Jesus covers
our soul with His precious blood and makes it acceptable for heaven. Catholics believe we are responsible for the
state of our own soul, and we must repent of our sins. The only time the Bible mentions covering
sins refers to one man forgiving another.
Between us, we can overlook sins, but only God can forgive them.
I’ve been to non-Catholic funerals where speakers convey their assurance that
the deceased has reached heaven. “We
know he is in heaven with god right now, and you can have this assurance too,”
were the words of one minister at a funeral service. Since Catholics believe that those in the
state of grace but who have not made reparation for venial sins, are not pure
enough to enter heaven, we pray for our dead--just in case.
Catholics pray for the souls in purgatory to help speed their way to
heaven. Since the writings on the
catacombs (tombs of the very early Christians) give evidence that the dead were
being prayed for by their Christian friends, we have historical confirmation
for our beliefs and practices of today.
The Old Testament book of Maccabees contains reference to the Jews praying
for souls after their dead. We can cite
the same Scripture from which Jesus read and taught to defend our practice of
praying for the souls in purgatory: “It is therefore a holy and wholesome
thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Mach.
12:46).
Maccabees is one of the Old Testament books removed from the Protestant
Bible, even though it was part of the Scripture used by Jews during the time
Jesus walked the earth. The book of Maccabees
has always been a part of the Bible accepted by the Catholic Church as divinely
inspired.
Even without agreeing whether Maccabees belongs in the Bible or not, the
book gives historical evidence that this was a practice among the Hebrew people
during the second century B.C. and is still done among Jews today. Since Protestants do not have the book of Maccabees
in their Bible, I will use some books we share in common.
“Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this
age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:32).
This statement of Jesus refers to forgiveness in this age and
forgiveness in the age to come. There
are two different times of forgiveness given in His statement.
“May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day” (2 Tim.
1:18). St. Paul is praying for his
departed friend, Onesiphorus.
“You will never get out till you have paid the last penny” (Matt. 5:26).
“Though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).
The above two passages support the existence of
purgatory, a place of purification, where we are purged from our sins, where we
pay our debt--every last penny.
“For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the
unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits
in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days
of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all
were saved through water” (1 Pet. 3:18-20).
“For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead that, though
condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in
the estimation of God” (1 Pet. 4:6).
These two passages talk of disobedient spirits in prison. It cannot mean hell or heaven. Neither could it be the waiting place for
righteous souls. St. Peter is writing
about souls that were disobedient, but eventually saved. (The word purgatory is not used in Scripture,
just as the Trinity and Incarnation are not.
But a third place, the prison, referred to above, has been called
Purgatory--a place for purging of our debts.)
Nothing unclean can enter heaven.
Believing in Christ does not protect us from ever sinning again. Neither would “covering” our sins cleanse us
of them. Covering a dirty wall with
wallpaper does not clean the wall.
Therefore, if we are not completely pure upon our death, we need to be
cleansed of our sin:
“But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who does abominable things
or tells lies” (Rev. 21:27).
Our family often prays for the souls of departed Protestants we have
known. Sometimes we were just barely
acquainted with them, but we realize that it is possible they are in purgatory
with no one to pray for them. It’s a
great way to show love for our neighbor.
No comments:
Post a Comment
You comment is awaiting moderation. Thanks for visiting. God bless you.