Common Objections

Catholic Outlook

Catholic Outlook

Catholic Outlook

Catholic Outlook

__________ Purgatory __________

“There is no biblical basis for Purgatory.”

Gary Hoge

Actually, there is biblical support for the doctrine of Purgatory, but it requires some deduction. All the pieces of the doctrine are present in Scripture, but they are not spelled out explicitly. This should not be troubling, because the same thing is true of the doctrine of the Trinity, for example. Nowhere is that doctrine spelled out in Scripture, but all the pieces are there.

Now let’s turn to the Bible and see what it teaches about this subject. First, the Bible teaches that all of us are sinners (Romans 3:23). I’m sure we can all agree on that. But the Bible also teaches that “nothing impure will ever enter it” (Revelation 21:27). So, it’s necessary that we be completely sanctified (made holy) before we can enter heaven. That’s why the Bible exhorts us to “pursue ... the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). 

A Christian must be perfectly pure before he can see the Lord. This is a problem, because most of us are unlikely to achieve a state of moral perfection and sinlessness before we die. But we know that God saves sinners. Therefore, we can deduce that if we impure sinners are to enter heaven, there must be some sort of final purification, some sort of final cleansing that takes place after death and before we enter Heaven. That is the entire doctrine of Purgatory, in a nutshell.

The strongest biblical teaching on the subject is found in the Old Testament book of 2 Maccabees, which was part of the Christian Bible for over a thousand years before the Protestant Reformers tossed it out (See my paper, “Tampering with the Word of God”). In chapter 12 of that book, we read that Judas Maccabeus and his men were recovering the bodies of some men who had fallen in battle. Under their tunics they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia.

“[Judas and his men] turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin ... he also took up a collection, man by man, ... and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore, he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.” (2 Maccabees 12:42-45).

In the New Testament, the strongest teaching is found in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15:

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 should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

In this passage, we see a believer suffering temporal punishment because his deeds did not withstand the judgment of God. Many of the early Christians (e.g., Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Origen, and Augustine) believed this passage was a reference to Purgatory. St. Augustine wrote,

In this life may You cleanse me and make me such that I have no need of the corrective fire, which is for those who are saved, but as if by fire... For it is said: He shall be saved, but as if by fire.¹

Here are some other Bible verses that have traditionally been understood to refer to Purgatory: Daniel 12:10; Micah 7:9; Zechariah 9:11; Matthew 5:26; 12:32; 12:36; Luke 12:47-48; Philippians 2:10; James 3:1; 1 Pet. 3:19; 4:18, Hebrews 12:23; Jude 23.

Putting all the pieces together, the doctrine of Purgatory is really very simple. This comes as a surprise because many people have the idea that the Catholic Church has concocted some vast, complex, convoluted doctrine, but it really hasn’t. 

Purgatory is simply the final stage of the sanctification of the elect. It is the purification that makes us fit to enter the place that “nothing impure will ever enter” (Revelation 21:27). The Church’s whole teaching on the subject is stated in two sentences in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1030 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.

 

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.²

The name “Purgatory” primarily refers to the purification process itself, not to the place where it occurs. We don’t even know for sure if there is some separate place in the afterlife where this purification occurs. We also don’t know how long it takes, or whether “time” even has any meaning in the afterlife.

Also, as was stated above, Purgatory is the final sanctification of the elect. Only the saved experience Purgatory. It is not a second chance for salvation after death.