John Salza - The Biblical Basis For Purgatory

THE BIBLICAL
BASIS FOR
PURGATORY

Copyright 2009 by John Salza.

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ISBN 978-1-935302-17-9

Cover design by Christopher J. Pelicano

L ast year, I was driving to work one rainy and foggy weekday morning. Traffic was moving along fairly well when, suddenly, cars began to stop. The stoppage was so abrupt that I had to brake quickly to avoid hitting the car in front of me. There was an accident up ahead.

And it wouldnt be the only accident that morning. As I stopped my car and glanced in the rear view mirror, I noticed the car directly behind me. It was going very fast. Too fast. Based on its speed and distance from my car, I knew that that car couldnt stop before hitting me. I was stuck. So I called out to God to protect us as I braced myself to be struck. And boom! Thats what happened.

Fortunately, God answered my prayer and no one was injured. The driver got out of her car and ran over to my side window, apologizing profusely. She confessed that it was entirely her fault and asked me if I was hurt. She told me how guilty she felt and humbly begged for my forgiveness. Realizing that I had sustained no injuries, I assured her that I was fine. I also forgave her on the spot.

There was one minor problem, however. The impact dented the back bumper of my car. As we surveyed the damage caused by the accident, the driver quickly agreed to pay for the repairs. I asked for her drivers license and wrote down her contact information. Of course, if shed refused to pay for the damage, I could have taken her to court and

the judge would have ordered her to do so. Fortunately, this would be unnecessary. She paid for the repair and the issue completely resolved.

What does this story have to do with purgatory? Keep reading.

In this story, we see the following: Someone commits an offense, confesses her offense, and is forgiven. However, after she is forgiven, the damage caused by her actions remains. Furthermore, she feels guilty about her infraction and will think about the accident for some time to come. She may even have a new fear of driving a car in bad weather. She must also make satisfaction, as a matter of justice, for the damage she caused, while it is in her power to do so. If she doesnt, she will be handed over to the judge who will compel her to pay for the damage. In that case, because she refused to satisfy her obligations while she had the chance, the judge would also punish her (perhaps by giving her a fine or suspending her license).

It should not be difficult for Christians to see in this story an analogy to our spiritual lives. We commit a sin, confess our sins to God, and God forgives us. Yet, even after we are forgiven, the sin has ongoing effects. For ourselves, we feel shame and remorse of conscience. We feel small and weakened. Sometimes we may even feel more disposed to sin. We dont feel the same as we did before committing the sin. And we know that these feelings are manifestations of Gods justice.

Regarding the effects on others, we may have injured someones reputation through the sin of calumny. We may have harmed someones financial condition through greed. We may have hurt those we love through selfishness. In each case we know we have altered the balance of equity between us and those we have offended. Most importantly, our sins and their effects impede our union with our Lord Jesus Christ, who commands us to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.1

Although Jesus requires us to be perfect, most people even those who die in Gods favornever reach this state of perfection prior to their death. They died loving and fearing God but did not overcome the imperfections of their fallen human natures. These imperfections often include attachments to created goods, inordinate desires for earthly pleasures, and small but habitual sins. They also include the satisfactions still owed to God, to restore the equality of justice for the many sins that they committed during their lives.

If, as Scripture says, nothing unclean shall enter heaven,2 how can these imperfect souls ever enter into eternal paradise? If Scripture teaches that without holiness no one shall see the Lord,3 how can these souls hope to behold the face of the all-perfect and holy God? The answer: purgatory. In purgatory, God purifies the soul of its imperfections through the fire of His divine justice. During this finite but painful process, the soul is purged of its evil inclinations and makes final satisfaction to God for its sins. After the purification is complete, God admits the soul into heaven where it enjoys the Beatific Vision for all eternity.

Before Jesus exhorted the crowd in His Sermon on the Mount to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, He told them to make friends with their accusers while they were still able to do so. Jesus warned them that if they didnt, the Judge would put them into prison and they would not be released until they paid the last penny.4 In this parable, Jesus is warning His followers about the rigors of purgatory and the debt of sin. If in this life we fail to pay our spiritual debt to God, the debt for our sins, we will be detained by the Judge in the next life until we have made full satisfaction for it.

* * * *

Purgatory is one of the most divisive doctrines between Catholics and Protestants. It is also one of the most misunderstood. That is because the doctrine covers the most theological territory. To believe in purgatory is to believe in the Catholic understanding of sin, redemption, grace, and judgment. This means that purgatory is a dogma of the Catholic faith.

Unfortunately, many Catholics dont believe in or understand purgatory. There are many reasons for this. Certainly, simple ignoranceof Scripture and of Church teachingis one reason. Another reason is the influence of our culture, which ignores and even denies the reality of sin in our world. This error has even trickled into corners of Catholic education, where there has been a de-emphasis on Gods justice and an over-emphasis on His mercy and benevolence. We see examples of this at many Catholic funerals, where a white-vested priest assures us that the deceased is in heaven, where we will all someday be reunited. We rarely hear about the reality of purgatory and the need to pray for these departed souls. This becomes a grave injustice to those deceased who are suffering in purgatory and need our prayers for their deliverance.

Although it may sometimes be ignored by those who are more comfortable preaching about Gods mercy rather than His justice, the doctrine of purgatory is in fact one of the most merciful and consoling doctrines that Scripture teaches. God purifies us from our defects precisely because of His mercy. God refines His children in the fire of His love so that they can fully attain to the joys of heaven. God perfects us for our own benefit, not His. As they say, no pain, no gain. Through the pain of purgatory, we gain the bliss of heaven. Without purgatory, not only would those of us with unfinished spiritual business be unable to enjoy heaven, we wouldnt make it there in the first place.