Purgatory - class notes | Essential Apologetics

Class date: 18 Mar 2018

Purgatory & Prayer for the Dead

Open with prayer

How are purgatory and praying for the dead related? (Praying for the dead only makes sense if there is a Purgatory, i.e. a place where the dead can be helped by our prayers.)
What does the Church teach about purgatory? Key points:
1. Second chance?? NO – only the saved but not yet perfected (i.e. “imperfect saints”) go to Purgatory
2. Purpose?? Purification and reparation (story of King David from 2 Sam 12 shows that there can still be atonement / punishment after a sin is forgiven)
3. How long?? Temporary – only until everyone in it has been purified and goes to heaven.
Why is it needed?
1. God is perfectly holy
2. We too are called to be holy ... indeed, to be “perfect, as [our] heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48)
3. Without that perfected holiness, we cannot see God in heaven: Heb 12:14, Rev 21:27
Scriptural basis, using Tim Staples's article Is Purgatory a Catholic Invention? No Way

Questions About Purgatory & Prayer for the Dead

Purgatory is an unchristian belief because it claims that people who don't die in God's friendship can still have a second chance at heaven after they die. How can you believe this when the Bible says: “it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27)?
1. This is a misunderstanding – Purgatory is only for those who are already saved but not completely purified (i.e. for “imperfect saints”).
“Purgatory is an unscriptural doctrine.”
1. Ask: What do you mean by that? (A: It is never mentioned in the Bible – i.e. by name)
2. Variation: The Bible nowhere mentions Purgatory or praying for the dead.
3. The Bible does not mention the Trinity or the Incarnation either – but we still believe them. Even though these doctrines are not named in the Bible, they are present in their substance, i.e. one God in three Persons, and Jesus is both God and man. Similarly, the Bible teaches that an intermediate place of purification exists – Purgatory is just the name by which we call it. In all 3 cases, the important part is the doctrine, not the name.
My Baptist friend says that 2 Cor. 5:8 and Phil. 1:23, which say, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," disproves the doctrine of purgatory. What should I say?
1. Begin by finding the Bible verses and reading them in context.
2. Click here for response: why St Paul does not refute Purgatory.
The Catholic Church invented this doctrine so that it could get rich off indulgences and people paying to have masses offered for the dead.
1. Response: How is this supposed to work? [Selling indulgences is a common complaint. Technically, this never happened, but indulgences were sometimes obtained by giving alms to a charitable fund, which is perhaps too close for comfort. This practice was completely forbidden in the mid 16th c. As for Mass stipends, first of all, they are paid to the priest (not the Church), and secondly, they don't amount to much. Anyone here had a mass said for someone?]
2. When did the Church invent the doctrine? [Be aware that by the time of St Monica asking her son Augustine to pray for the repose of her soul in the late 4th c. the practice was already old. In fact, the practice of praying for the dead so that “they might be loosed from their sin” dates back to Jewish practice before the time of Christ (2 Mac. 12), continues through the NT period, and keeps on through the Christian era, as attested by many extant writings.]
Only heaven and hell are our eternal destinations – Purgatory is a human invention.
1. You are right that only heaven and hell are eternal destinies. But Hebrews 12:22-23 tells us that in the “Heavenly Jerusalem” are God, angels, the “first-born who are enrolled in heaven”, and “spirits of just men made perfect”. This process of perfecting the just begins on earth, and for those for whom it is not complete at death, it continues in Purgatory.
2. So Purgatory is a temporary state for those who have died in God's friendship to complete their purification before entering heaven itself (since “nothing unclean can enter it” Rev. 21:27). After everyone in it is purified, it will cease to exist.
The Bible does not support the idea of praying for the dead.
1. Remember? 2 Mac. 12:39-46 – Judas Maccabeus and his men pray for the dead.
2. 2 Tim. 1:16-18 – St Paul prays for his deceased friend Onesiphorus: “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me – may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day ….”
3. (Protestants will say he was not dead.) But St. Paul implies that he was dead: "The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus "—as to a family in need of consolation. Then comes the prayer for Onesiphorus himself, "The Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord in that day" (of judgment); finally, in the salutation, "the household of Onesiphorus" is mentioned, without mention of the man himself. Question: what had become of him? Was he dead, as one would naturally infer from what St. Paul writes? Or had he for any other cause become separated permanently from his family, so that prayer for them should take account of present needs while prayers for him looked forward to the day of judgment? Or could it be that he was still at Rome when the Apostle wrote, or gone elsewhere for a prolonged absence from home? Noting the past tense, the references to his "household," and the plea for mercy on him at the Judgment, the first is by far the easiest and most natural hypothesis. - Source: Catholic Encyclopedia
4. 1 Cor. 15:29 is one of the oddest texts in the NT, but points to the idea that the dead can benefit from what the living do for them. NB: Prots have no way to refute the Mormon practice without recourse to the Fathers and Church Tradition.
5. In addition, see the texts pointing to the existence of Purgatory.
The Biblical story of the Good Thief at Calvary shows that Purgatory is not true. He was clearly a criminal, yet Jesus told him, “this day you will be with Me in Paradise.”
1. Read the info we have from the Bible (Lk 23:32-43).
2. What does this tell us? (1) He is a criminal, and believes his punishment is just. (2) He is contrite. (3) He believes in Jesus. (4) Jesus affirms his salvation, saying the above words.
3. Does this mean that there cannot be any Purgatory, since Jesus's words seem to imply that he will be in heaven the same day? (1) What if Dismas didn't need any further purification, i.e. crucifixion as atonement? (2) Because the Greek does not have punctuation, Jesus's words might have been, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.” (3) Jesus had not yet opened the gates of heaven, so the word “paradise” likely refers to the place of the blessed dead before Christ. (4) Purgatory is outside of time, so the cleansing of purgatory might happen “in the twinkling of an eye.” - Source
Jesus died to pay the penalty for all of our sins (Romans 5:8). Isaiah 53:5 declares, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Jesus suffered for our sins so that we could be delivered from suffering. To say that we must also suffer for our sins is to say that Jesus’ suffering was insufficient. To say that we must atone for our sins by cleansing in Purgatory is to deny the sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (1 John 2:2). The idea that we have to suffer for our sins after death is contrary to everything the Bible says about salvation. [from an anti-Catholic site]
1. Affirm what is true in this: “Amen! I believe fully that Jesus died to pay the penalty for all our sins. I also completely accept the truth of Scripture!”
2. But, I do not necessarily accept your interpretation of those verses. Everything that you say about atonement and suffering applies not only to Purgatory but to Christians on earth as well. If what you say were true, i.e. that “Jesus suffered … so that we could be delivered from suffering,” then why do people, why do Christians in particular, still suffer? Why did Jesus tell us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Mt 16:24)? Why did He assure His disciples that they would have to bear trials (Jn 16:33), and be persecuted (Mt 5:10-12)? Why did St. Paul pray to be relieved of the “thorn in the flesh” that he was given (2 Cor. 12:7-8)? If a man attempts suicide by jumping off a building and survives but breaks many bones, isn't his suffering caused by his sin?
3. Scripture does say we can atone for our sins, e.g. Prov. 16:6, “By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.” This makes sense, for to atone means to make amends or reparations. e.g. If your child were mean to his sibling, would you expect him to “make up” or simply say, “Jesus has atoned for all my sins”?
4. The Bible gives examples of suffering in atonement for forgiven sins. For example, 2 Sam. 12:12-14 (looked at earlier) lists several temporal punishments that King David suffered over the years after God forgave him. (“the sword shall never depart from your house; I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; I will take your wives, and give them to your neighbor; the child that is born to you shall die.” – fulfilled in 2 Sam 12-19) Biblical principle
5. St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 1:5-6 that, “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (v. 5) and even says that, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, …” (v. 6) Is he then denying the sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Christ? (By no means!) But he does est. some Biblical principles: (1) we can share in Christ's sufferings, (2) this can benefit ourselves and others, and (3) it can somehow contribute even to salvation. In short, suffering in union with Christ has redemptive value for ourselves and others.
6. Summary: Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin and the eternal separation from God that sin causes. He did not remove all temporal punishments or sufferings due to sin: a clear example is bodily death due to Adam's sin. Suffering can be because of the temporal punishment due for sin, and can also have redemptive value. Purgatory is simply a chance for souls to complete this process after death.
The very idea of Purgatory and the doctrines that are often attached to it (prayer for the dead, indulgences, meritorious works on behalf of the dead, etc.) all fail to recognize that Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay the penalty for ALL of our sins. Jesus, who was God incarnate (John 1:1,14), paid an infinite price for our sin. Jesus died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2). To limit Jesus’ sacrifice to atoning for original sin, or sins committed before salvation, is an attack on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. If we must in any sense pay for, atone for, or suffer because of our sins – that indicates Jesus’ death was not a perfect, complete, and sufficient sacrifice. [from an anti-Catholic site]
1. Notice the mixture of facts and misunderstandings here. What he calls an “attack on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ” is a strawman. Catholics don't believe this (read).
2. I, as a Catholic, fully agree with you that Jesus's sacrifice atoned for all our sins – original sin and all our personal sins. Not only that, but according to Scripture, He has paid the penalty so that all men might be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). This is what the Church has always believed and taught.
3. Yet, St. Paul says something astounding in Col. 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Also 2 Cor. 1:5-6) “what is lacking”?? What does he mean?
4. He is teaching that the all-sufficient sacrifice has to be “completed” by our cooperation and that our suffering plays a mysterious part in this action. In that way the Redemption of Christ is applied and brought alive in the present moment by our own cooperation in that one, full, final sacrifice. No one says we are equal to Christ; instead, by grace, by our union with Christ in His Mystical Body, our sufferings become a participation or sharing in Christ’s all sufficient sacrifice – so they can have redemptive value for ourselves and others. (based on Fr. Dwight Longenecker's exegesis)
5. As with the previous objection, the problem is that this objector has a faulty understanding of salvation.

Some great quotes on Purgatory from non-Catholics:

Most people “are neither so obstinately wicked as to deserve everlasting punishment, nor so good as to merit being admitted into the society of blessed spirits; and therefore that God is graciously pleased to allow a middle state, where they may be purified by certain degrees of suffering.” ~ Samuel Johnson (18th century Anglican scholar)

Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, “It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy”? Should we not reply, “With submission, Sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleaned first.” “It may hurt, you know.” – “Even so, Sir.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Also see:

Resources on Purgatory and Class handout