[Soothesayer9]

I think I’d like the idea of purgatory...if it was scriptural. It isn’t. I do not see the Almighty as being a very nice person in that regard anyway. At least not the one I see in the OT.

[Salvation]

Oh, but it is scriptural. Even yesterday's Gospel refers to Purgatory. You can't enter heaven until you are totally paid up for all your sins and how they affected other people.

Gospel Lk 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds,
"When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain--and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot--and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

"Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny."

[Mad Dawg]

There's a good article in the November First Things about Purgatory. Among the things it looks at are David's life after Bathsheba and the repentance of NebuchadnezzarDavid clearly was forgiven. Nathan speaks plainly. Yet so much of his life thereafter was about learning to acquiesce to the Will of the God he had so heinously defied.

[JakeS]

I think I’d like the idea of purgatory...if it was scriptural.

Me too. But then again, I guess I pretty much like the choice that Jesus gave in John 3:3, be Born Again or go to hell.

Ya, I'd rather have heaven than purgatory any day. Especially since being Born Again is so easy.

[Secret Agent Man]

If you don’t think God is nice in the OT, look at the people themselves. Think about what kind of hell it was right before the flood. What is described is total anarchy, people doing whatever they thought was right (relativism to the extreme evil). The weaker living or dying at the whim of the slightly more powerful.

Whatever you think of God, look at the people He’s had to deal with. He could have just condemned all of us and not even had to go through with His plan to save those that would desire to be saved.

And the OT God is the same God in the NT. All unbelievers are still under the condemnation of the Law as described in the OT. That hasn’t changed.

[RobbyS]

In a sense the whole of sacred history is a purgation. God winnows out mankind, and even his chosen are put to the test, and as often as not found wanting. Even the Crucifixion is a test of the disciples, and most fall short. It is the women who are most steadfast, and it is only through God's grace that they are made strong again. They realized that they had seen God's face and lived, when Jesus showed himself to them after the Resurrection. The paradox that only by the death of their master, which seamed to confirm the power of evil, could they see the truth of it.That behind apparent weakness is infinite, but not as the world understands power. Evil never seems to strong as when it falls on its face.