Posted on 10/30/2008 1:09:05 PM PDT by Gamecock
According to the Handbook for Today's Catholic, page 47, "If you die in the love of God but possess any stains of sin, such stains are cleansed away in a purifying process called purgatory. These stains of sin are primarily the temporal punishment due to venial or mortal sins already forgiven but for which sufficient penance was not done during your lifetime."
The Catholic Catechism, paragraph 1030, says that purgatory is for "All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven."
Among the many doctrines that Catholicism claims to be derived through Sacred Tradition, purgatory is one of the most interesting and puzzling, particularly to a Protestant. In light of the Pauline doctrine of justification by grace through faith, how is it possible that an afterlife cleansing through punishment is necessary for a Christian who has trusted in Jesus to cleanse him from all His sins? Wasn't Jesus' punishment for our transgressions sufficient? Didn't He take our place in that He suffered our death? It would seem that the words of Christ, "It is finished," (John 19:30) do not mean that the cleansing of our souls was completed on the cross.
Of course, Roman Catholic doctrine states that eternal life is bestowed upon the one who receives baptism (Catechism, par. 1265 - 1266, 1992). It is the stains of the sins committed after baptism and not removed through penance, good works, prayers, the Mass, etc., that are removed in the fires of purgatory (Handbook for Today's Catholic, page 47).
In light of the doctrine of justification by faith (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 4:5; Rom. 9:30; Acts 13:39; Gal. 2:16), where Jesus bore all of our sins, purgatory would seem to have no theologically justifiable right to exist. But the Bible alone is not appealed to by Catholic theologians in support of Purgatory. By far, the main support for Purgatory is found in the Catholic doctrine of Sacred Tradition. Nevertheless, what does the Bible say about justification, punishment, and our sins?
To justify means acquit, declare righteous, the opposite of condemn. It means to not be guilty of breaking the Law and to be deemed as righteous by the standard of the Law.
God gave the Law, i.e, the 10 commandments. The Law is a reflection of Gods character and it is a perfect standard of righteousness which no one can keep. Since no one is able to keep Gods Law, no one can be justified by the Law (Rom. 3:20). There is, therefore, none righteous (Rom. 3:10-12). This is the problem of all people. We have all broken Gods Law and are in need of justification, of being declared righteous in Gods sight. This can only be done through the Messiah, our sin bearer.
Jesus is the one who took our place on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), became sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21), and turned away the wrath of God from us (Rom. 5:9) by being a propitiation (1 John 2:2) that turned away the wrath of God. He was punished in our place. Therefore, Jesus was our substitution. The righteous work of Christ is imputed to the believer by grace (Titus 3:7) and through faith (Rom. 5:1). This justification is a legal action on the part of God reckoning the believer as having satisfied the Law all of the Law.
It necessarily follows that to be justified in Gods eyes, is to be fully justified. It is not part of the Law that must be satisfied, but all of it. Perfection is the standard. Likewise, it is not part of our sins that were born by Christ, but all of them. This justification includes all of the sins of the believer (past, present, and future) or else we could not be justified.
The Catholic Catechism (paragraphs 1990-1992) says, "Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon Gods merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals"...."Justification is at the same time the acceptance of Gods righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ..." and "...justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy."
Of particular interest is the reference that "justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith." There are many verses in the Bible that deal with baptism and putting on Christ (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:1-11). This paper is not intended to discuss the nature of baptism. Nevertheless, I strongly affirm that baptism is a covenant sign for the believer who is already justified by faith and for the children of believers who are under the covenant headship of the family. Baptism is not what justifies a person. Rather,
Jesus said, "It is finished," (John 19:30)
Jesus bore our sins in His body, paid the penalty for them, and died. He said, "It is finished." In Greek, the phrase, "It is finished" is one word, tetelestai. In ancient Greek papyri texts that were receipts for taxes, when a debt was paid in full, the word tetelestai, was written on the document. This meant that the debt had been paid in full. In other words, Jesus had finished the work of atonement. But not only atonement (to make amends, to make right), but also of propitiation (turning away Gods wrath). He had fully paid the debt invoked by the sinner. There was nothing more to be done... It was finished.
Yet, the doctrine of Purgatory, in effect, is saying that we must suffer in purgatory for sins not covered by baptism and not covered by the cross. It is to say that the work of Christ is not finished and that there are things we must do to complete the sacrificial, cleansing work of Christ. This amounts to earning heaven by our good works, albeit, a work of suffering. Additionally, the doctrine of Purgatory implies that a person must atone for his own sins. It implies that the person must do more than what the Law of God requires of him. This is called supererogation.
When Jesus said, "It is finished," all that was necessary in the atonement was concluded and all in Christ were justified. We cannot complete or add to Christ's work through our suffering. Purgatory is not only unnecessary, but it contradicts Gods word.
To provide a place or state in which unrepented venial sins of those who die in a state of grace can be forgiven, and any remaining "temporal punishment" they may have due to already-forgiven sins may be removed. (Baltimore Catechism, question 1381)
Unrepented venial sins are forgiven by the same mechanism by which they are forgiven on earth: "an act of contrition moved by grace," according to St. Thomas.
"Temporal punishment" requires some explanation. Every sin has consequences; damage which is done to the soul, just like disease damages the body. One consequence of grave sin is "eternal punishment," which is the punishment of hell which is taken away by our salvation.
"Temporal punishment" is everything else. God is free to remit all or some of this gratis (and does remit all of it at baptism for sins committed before baptism), but he is not required to do so. (Remember, God is sovereign.)
The removal of this punishment, if not undertaken on earth, must happen after death and before one enters heaven. This process happens by the merits of Christ through his Body, the Church.
Scripture speaks of this in 1 Cor 3. The Protestant argument that any sort of chastisement for sin somehow impugns the sacrifice of Christ is nonsense in view of Hebrews 12:5-11. Nor does it follow that the poor souls in purgatory "earn their salvation" (they're already saved) or "earn their way into heaven" any more than any of the rest of us (who are chastised also, remember Hebrews 12) do.
There's your explanation. That's what I believe as a Catholic. You're free not to believe it. If you want to convince me that it's not what the Catholic church teaches and that I'm a bad Catholic for believing it, be prepared to present evidence for your claim. A lot of evidence.
I explain. If you cannot process the explanation, this is not my problem.
But it is so much easier to mock a misrepresentation of it.
I know you meant that rather tongue in cheek, but that is rather an interesting statement. Wouldn’t purgatory be a sign of degrees in the salvation process? Isn’t it in some indirect way limited atonement. Hmmmm.....
I suppose I had sort of an epiphany, so I was trying to be provocative. :) It finally occurred to me that "our term" ..................... "limited atonement" ................. really applies to Catholics and others of the same ilk at least as much if not more than it applies to us. The atonement they believe in is very wide, but paper-thin, such that it is of little to zero value to any person UNLESS he jumps through the hoops for his Church. The power for them isn't in the one-time Atonement, it is in what the Church (and the person) does later to add to Christ's atonement. Here I would say their view of Christ's work is extremely limited.
It is interesting that we see Christ's work as narrow but complete, and they see it as wide but indeterminate. Strong, sovereign God vs. weak, subservient God to man's will. Both sides believe in limited atonement, it's just a question of WHO is being limited. :)
And yes, purgatory, IMO, is a direct admission that Christ's atonement was insufficient for Heavenly salvation according to their beliefs. I see no way around that. :)
To provide a place or state in which unrepented venial sins of those who die in a state of grace can be forgiven, and any remaining "temporal punishment" they may have due to already-forgiven sins may be removed. (Baltimore Catechism, question 1381).
That is NOT what the Baltimore Catechism, question 1381 states. It states the following:
A. Purgatory is the state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins.
That clearly means that Christ died only for mortal sins, not venial sins.
It neither says nor means any such thing. It says what it says, not what you claim it "clearly means."
Everyone in purgatory has already been saved by Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross.
THANKS FOR THE PING.
Amen! When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” He meant,
“It IS finished.” The plan of salvation is complete. It was made complete at Calvary. There’s no need to add to it.
Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t teach purgatory. Nor does it teach prayers for the dead. The soul goes to either Heaven or Hell, and there is no chance for lost people to be saved after they have died. The best time for lost people to be saved is now, while they are still living and breathing and able to think and reason clearly. After they are dead, it’s too late. Yes, Catholics and all you Armstrongites, too, today IS the day of salvation.
I believe I stated that. According to the Catechism you are saved from your "mortal" sin. But if one were to take the time to read just a few lines down it also states that you must pay a price for your venial sins. It's all in the Catechism. You undoubtedly will not wish to give an explanation on the Catechism either; simply saying that it doesn't mean what is written.
False!
According to the Catechism you are saved from your sin.
Purgatory is the state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins.
What are venial sins and why are they not satisfied?
It does not say they are not satisfied. Purgatory is to satisfy for the punishment of those sins.
It's a question of absolution.
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