Posted on 03/13/2019 6:40:19 AM PDT by Antoninus
In part one of this post, I looked at the vision of Perpetuaone of the earliest authentic Christian documents to describe directly a Purgatory-like state and to highlight the efficacy of prayer petitions for the dead.
Others writing during the patristic age also expounded upon this idea in more or less detail, among them St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Caesarius of Arles. One of the most clear references to Purgatory appears in a late 4th century work by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, entitled: On the Soul and the Resurrection. St. Gregory writes:
For [God], the one goal is this: the perfection of the universe through each man individually, the fulfillment of our nature. Some of us are purged of evil in this life, and some are cured of it through fire in the after-life, some have not had the experience of good and evil in life here .The different degrees of virtue or vice in our life will be revealed in our participating more quickly or more slowly in the blessedness we hope for. The extent of the healing with depend on the amount of evil present in each person. The healing of the soul will be purification from evil and this cannot be accomplished without suffering Building upon this notion about 200 years later, another GregoryPope Saint Gregory the Greatwas the first to set forth the notion of Purgatory as Catholics now understand it. As part of his famous Dialogues, he wrote:
It is plain that in such state as a man departs out of this life, in the same he is presented in judgment before God. But yet we must believe that before the day of judgment there is a Purgatory fire for certain small sins: because our Savior says, That he which speaketh blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, that it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come [Matthew 12:32].Here we see Gregory offering a scriptural proof for Purgatory, out of the mouth of Jesus Himself. He elaborates on this point, citing Saint Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 3:
Out of which sentence we learn, that some sins are forgiven in this world, and some other may be pardoned in the next: for that which is denied concerning one sin, is consequently understood to be granted touching some other. But yet this, as I said, we have not to believe but only concerning little and very small sins, as, for example, daily idle talk, immoderate laughter, negligence in the care of our family (which kind of offenses scarce can they avoid, that know in what sort sin is to be shunned), ignorant errors in matters of no great weight: all which sins be punished after death, if men procured not pardon and remission for them in their lifetime: for when St. Paul said, that Christ is the foundation: and by and by added: And if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: the work of every one, of what kind it is, the fire shall try. If any man's work abide which he built thereupon, he shall receive reward; if any mans work burn, he shall suffer detriment, but himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.Gregory then goes on to explain St. Pauls meaning, drawing a distinction between what we would later call mortal and venial sins:
For although these words may be understood of the fire of tribulation, which men suffer in this world: yet if any will interpret them of the fire of Purgatory, which shall be in the next life: then must he carefully consider, that the Apostle said not that he may be saved by fire, that buildeth upon this foundation iron, brass, or lead, that is, the greater sort of sins, and therefore more hard, and consequently not remissible in that place: but wood, hay, stubble, that is, little and very light sins, which the fire doth easily consume. Yet we have here further to consider, that none can be there purged, no, not for the least sins that be, unless in his lifetime he deserved by virtuous works to find such favor in that place. [Dialogues, Book 4:39]
Strong's Concordance béma: a step, raised place, by impl. a tribunal Original Word: βῆμα, ατος, τό Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: béma Phonetic Spelling: (bay'-ma) Definition: a step, raised place, by implication a tribunal Usage: an elevated place ascended by steps, a throne, tribunal.
Strong's Greek: 968. βῆμα (béma) 12 Occurrences Matthew 27:19 N-GNS GRK: ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς NAS: While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife KJV: on the judgment seat, his INT: on the judgment seat sent to John 19:13 N-GNS GRK: ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ βήματος εἰς τόπον NAS: out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place KJV: in the judgment seat in INT: sat down upon [the] judgment seat at a place Acts 7:5 N-ANS GRK: αὐτῇ οὐδὲ βῆμα ποδός καὶ NAS: a foot of ground, and [yet], even when he had no KJV: his foot on: yet INT: it not even a length [of] a foot but Acts 12:21 N-GNS GRK: ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐδημηγόρει πρὸς NAS: took his seat on the rostrum and [began] delivering an address KJV: upon his throne, and INT: on the throne was making an address to Acts 18:12 N-ANS GRK: ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα NAS: him before the judgment seat, KJV: him to the judgment seat, INT: to the judgment seat Acts 18:16 N-GNS GRK: ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος NAS: And he drove them away from the judgment seat. KJV: them from the judgment seat. INT: from the judgment seat Acts 18:17 N-GNS GRK: ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος καὶ οὐδὲν NAS: him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio KJV: [him] before the judgment seat. And INT: before the judgment seat And nothing Acts 25:6 N-GNS GRK: ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐκέλευσεν τὸν NAS: he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered KJV: on the judgment seat commanded INT: on the judgment seat he commanded Acts 25:10 N-GNS GRK: ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος Καίσαρός εἰμι NAS: Caesar's tribunal, where KJV: at Caesar's judgment seat, where I INT: before the judgment seat of Ceasar I am Acts 25:17 N-GNS GRK: ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐκέλευσα ἀχθῆναι NAS: day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered KJV: on the judgment seat, and commanded INT: on the judgment seat I commanded to be brought Romans 14:10 N-DNS GRK: παραστησόμεθα τῷ βήματι τοῦ θεοῦ NAS: stand before the judgment seat of God. KJV: stand before the judgment seat of Christ. INT: we will stand before the judgment seat of God 2 Corinthians 5:10 N-GNS GRK: ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ χριστοῦ NAS: before the judgment seat of Christ, KJV: before the judgment seat of Christ; INT: before the judgment seat of Christ
Let's take your "analogy" a bit further, shall we? Just as the REAL Christians proceeded from and exceeded the Jews before them in recognizing and accepting the promised Messiah while acknowledging the Divinely-inspired Scriptures that proved the divinity of Jesus Christ, so the Christians of the Reformation did from Roman Catholicism. The religious Jewish leaders rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah and therefore forfeited their role. Roman Catholicism perverted the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ as was exposed by those who led the Reformation intent on restoring the true faith and the Biblical tenets that were held always, everywhere and by all.
It is indeed the Messiah's will that there be one body, one holy UNIVERSAL and apostolic Church. The Catholics thought they were the only ones right, but they were/are not. God's will WILL be done. There IS only one body, one called-out assembly, one bride of Jesus Christ and that exists as a spiritual temple of which all believers are living stones that make up that body. Of course, there even are Roman Catholics found in that one body, but the RC church itself is NOT the "one, true church" - no matter how long, forcefully and wrongly that have asserted it.
You responded: " False; I listed the occurrences of the word and none of them have anything to do with sports.
You posted scripture but did not answer the questions I posed to you regarding the mythical purgatory. If the following is obtuse to you, I cannot help you further:
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
And in context ...
1 Cor 9:22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. 26 Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. 27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each mans work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
And you still did not answer the questions regarding buying your way out of the judgment and purgatory time. Ever learning never coming to a saving Grace.
And you still did not answer the questions regarding buying your way out of the judgment and purgatory time.
LOL
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2, AD 107.
Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist, which is celebrated by the bishop or by one whom he ordains [i.e., a presbyter]. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.
Here we see the bishop and an illustration of apostolic succession. “let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the Bishop”. Note the reference to “the Church”. It’s described as an actual entity, not a conglomeration of people fractured inventing their own beliefs.
Note the specific Eucharist reference. Do you believe Christ’s direct words in Scripture regarding the Eucharist? Or are we cherry picking verses to believe, as is custom of our brothers not in communion with Christ’s Church.
Christ, The Cross and our response of love.
Thank you for taking time to post.
Comments below
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St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2, AD 107.
Most scholars, however, accept at least the *two Ignatian epistles* which were referenced by Origen,[20][obsolete source] and believe that *by the 5th century, this collection had been enlarged by spurious letters*.
The original text of six of the seven authentic letters are found in the Codex Mediceo Laurentianus written in Greek *in the 11th century* (which also contains the pseudepigraphical letters of the Long Recension, except that to the Philippians),[21] while the letter to the Romans is found in the Codex Colbertinus.[7]
*Some of the original letters were, at one point, believed to have been changed with interpolations*. The oldest is known as the “Long Recension” which dates from the latter part of the fourth century.[7]
*These were created to posthumously enlist Ignatius as an unwitting witness in theological disputes of that age*, but that position was vigorously combated by several British and German critics, including the Catholics Denzinger and Hefele, who defended the genuineness of the entire seven epistles.[7]
*The purported eye-witness account of his martyrdom is also thought to be a forgery* from around the same time. A detailed but spurious account of Ignatius’ arrest and his travails and martyrdom is the material of the Martyrium Ignatii which is presented as being an eyewitness account for the church of Antioch, and attributed to Ignatius’ companions, Philo of Cilicia, deacon at Tarsus, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian.
(Wiki)
Much of the material attributed to Ignatius *has been altered in later centuries - much later.*
As such, we have no idea if he wrote what you quoted, nor which materials were added... it is interesting, but not verifiable, nor inspired, nor authoritative.
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Do you believe Christs direct words in Scripture regarding the Eucharist? Or are we cherry picking verses to believe, as is custom of our brothers not in communion with Christs Church.
I believe in Christs Words about the last supper.
I believe all His Words.
Many times, what they say in context or in the original language is not what Rome claimed.
And of course, His Gathering is not a physical church, but souls who have entrusted themselves to Him alone for salvation, apart from their own sorry attempts to be worthy.
Have you entrusted yourself alone to He who saves souls?
Salvation is only in Him and no church.
As such, where two or more are gathered is a physical, local expression of His gathering.
I see little evidence in teaching, actions, or character that Rome is His. It has been such for thousands of years.
Christ continues to save souls daily and Gather them to Himself as bride and body and church.
Best
If you can, please:
Show a NT priest?
Show a church building (even one).
Show a “pope”.
Show the worldly robes worn by priests.
Show the use of holy water.
Show an alter used in worship by a church.
Show wafers used for communion instead of matza bread.
Show someone who believes they are transforming a wafer into Christ and adoring it.
Show adoration of saints.
Show prayers to anyone but God alone.
Show statues, surrounded by candles, with people praying and bowing before them.
Show a belief in a sacramental system, with a treasury of merit.
I'm not buying that what was present in Apostolic days of the church looks like what Rome does today in its teaching or belief.
Much of NT Scripture is a snapshot of the early church.
None of that is referenced, alluded to, taught on, or given instructions about.
It cannot be supported from Scripture.
Most anything is grasped at, from texts which refer to the lost or to this life, to 1 Cor. 3 which, among other things, awaits the return of Christ, to prayers for lost idolators, to Jewish salvation by works fantasies that await the last judgment day, etc. None of which teach purifying punishments commencing at death in order to atone for sins and become good enough to enter Heaven.
Yet the real basis for the veracity of Catholic doctrines is not any weight of purported textual supports, but that of the novel and unScriptural premise of ensured perpetual magisterial veracity. Meaning that since Rome says something is truth then it cannot be false. And therefore the faithful must contend for it, no matter how many times they are refuted, and their intellectual dishonest exposed.
And while all of this is done in service to Rome, such compelled specious defenses of her distinctive Catholic teachings that are not manifest in the only wholly inspired substantive authoritative record of what the NT church believed are actually a negative argument for being a RC. Cults do likewise.
And those posters who continually evidence they are compelled to do so after being refuted time and again do warrant being ignored.
Yet since when was the weight of Scriptural substantiation the basis for the veracity of Catholic doctrine?
Catholics may appeal to Scripture in condescension to evangelical-types, yet in Catholic theology it is disallowed that we can even discover the contents of Scripture or assuredly rightly understand apart from submission to her.
Thus rather proving the church by the Scriptures (the circularity of claiming that The Church® is infallible because the Scriptures teaches this, and Scriptures are infallible because The Church teaches this), RCs are supposed to appeal to them as simply reliable historical sources, by which (it is imagined) we will see that Rome is the one true church and submit to it, and what Scripture consists of and means.
And thereby attain to their goal of convincing us to abandon the weight of Scriptural substantiation the basis for the veracity of Catholic doctrine, and instead rest on the novel and unScriptural premise of ensured perpetual magisterial veracity as per Rome (and basically in primary cults). Thus the recourse to the argument, "we gave you the Bible=therefore submit to us," but which reasoning is disallowed for the Scribes and Pharisees).
...when we appeal to the Scriptures for proof of the Church's infallible authority we appeal to them merely as reliable historical sources, and abstract altogether from their inspiration" - Catholic Encyclopedia > Infallibility)
...the believer cannot believe in the Bible nor find in it the object of his faith until he has previously made an act of faith in the intermediary authorities..." - Catholic Encyclopedia>Tradition and Living Magisterium
People cannot discover the contents of revelation by their unaided powers of reason and observation. They have to be told by people who have received in from on high. - Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ, "Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith, p. 72;
"The use of private judgment, on the other hand, in the sense of an inquiry into the 'motives of credibility,' and a study of the evidences for the Faith, to enable you to find out which is the one Church founded by Jesus Christ -- this is permissible, and not only permissible, but strictly necessary for all outside the Fold who wish to save their souls. But mark well: having once found the true Church, private judgment of this kind ceases; having discovered the authority established by God, you must submit to it at once. There is no need of further search for the doctrines contained in the Christian Gospel, for the Church brings them all with her and will teach you them all. You have sought for the Teacher sent by God, and you have secured him; what need of further speculation?
All that we do [as must be patent enough now] is to submit our judgment and conform our beliefs to the authority Almighty God has set up on earth to teach us; this, and nothing else.
He is as sure of a truth when declared by the Catholic Church as he would be if he saw Jesus Christ standing before him and heard Him declaring it with His Own Divine lips.
So if God [via Rome] declares that the Blessed Virgin was conceived Immaculate, or that there is a Purgatory, or that the Holy Eucharist is the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, shall we say, "I am not sure about that. I must examine it for myself; I must see whether it is true, whether it is Scriptural?" Henry G. Graham, "What Faith Really Means", (Nihil Obstat:C. SCHUT, S. T.D., Censor Deputatus, Imprimatur: EDM. CANONICUS SURMONT, D.D.,Vicarius Generalis. WESTMONASTERII, Die 30 Septembris, 1914 )]
Once he does so [enters the Roman church], he has no further use for his reason [as regards warrant for obedience/submission to teaching]. He enters the Church, an edifice illumined by the superior light of revelation and faith. He can leave reason, like a lantern, at the door.
The reason of this stand of his is that, for him, there can be no two sides to a question which for him is settled; for him, there is no seeking after the truth: he possesses it in its fulness, as far as God and religion are concerned. His Church gives him all there is to be had; all else is counterfeit...
Holding to Catholic principles how can he do otherwise? How can he consistently seek after truth when he is convinced that he holds it? Who else can teach him religious truth when he believes that an infallible Church gives him God's word and interprets it in the true and only sense? (John H. Stapleton, Explanation of Catholic Morals, Chapters XIX, XXIII. the consistent believer (1904); Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor Librorum. Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York )
12 bucks is a mere pittance!
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