Question on purgatory
The following email came in recently:
I always understood that when you die, your soul is immediately judged by God and are sent to hell or heaven. Some would be sent to purgatory for purification before entering eternal life.
However, Jesus did say that He would return to judge the living and the dead. Does this mean that those who have died must also wait for the return of Christ for the final judgment? Where does Purgatory come into this?
A few nuances are in order: the soul upon death is not so much judged by God as it experiences judgment. The two are not quite the same, as it is possible that it is the soul that judges itself.
Also, the souls are not “sent” anywhere so much as they begin to *experience* heaven, purgatory or hell.
Yes, Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, but the word judgment is being used differently in this context. It refers first and foremost to a “rescue operation” by Jesus in which the dead are restored to bodily existence in the resurrection. However, since both evil and good people rise, a second stage of the process is the separation of the blessed and the damned, akin to the separation they had previously when they didn’t yet have bodies again.
As for purgatory, there is a general consensus that it will no longer exist at the general resurrection from the dead. Whether this is because it will be “empty” by that point, or simply that it won’t be necessary anymore, is a debated point.
For an audio lecture of mine on these questions, check out my page on Adventus.org on the Creed, and scroll down to the April 9 lecture.
Finally, for a distinctly Canadian look at the “why” of purgatory, see my post on purgatory and hockey.
December 13th, 2009 at 2:16 am
HEY YOU SPIRITAL KNUCKLEHEAD. DON’T YOU READ YOUR BIBLE? AND AS IT IS APPOINTED FOR MEN TO DIE ONCE, AND THEN THE JUDGEMENT. HEBREWS 9:27. BY THE WAY WHAT JUDGEMENT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?
THE PURPOSE CHRIST JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS, IS TO GIVE MANKIND ONE LAST CHANCE TO ACCEPT GOD IN THE FLESH. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 In easy to understand language: a soul only has one chance on earth. If that soul doesn’t accept Christ Jesus as God and man in his heart: here comes the big word are you ready, he or she burns in hell separated from God for eternity. By the way a soul is only a child of God if he accepts Jesus Christ as God and man. That goes for both Catholics and Protestants.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Hello Mike, thank you for dropping by.
I agree with (almost) everything you wrote. The problem is, nothing of what you wrote contradicts what I wrote.
Yes, I read my Bible. You are correct, it is appointed for men to die once, and then the judgment. But the Bible does not describe the particular judgment (that experienced by the soul after death, and after Jesus’ ascension). So nothing I wrote is unbiblical.
My main problem with what you wrote (apart from its tone, of course) is your understanding of HOW we are saved. You wrote, for example, that “If that soul doesn’t accept Christ Jesus as God and man in his heart…he or she burns in hell separated from God for eternity”.
So, in other words, little babies who die young, as well as the mentally handicapped, as well as those to whom the Gospel has never been preached, as all going to hell because they have no ability to accept Jesus in their heart.
That’s pretty harsh.
It also isn’t a necessary conclusion from the Biblical evidence. It is just *your* interpretation.
December 26th, 2009 at 2:30 am
Mike is so disturbed.
We should pray for him Fr. Tom