Explaning Purgatory

The question often come up from non-Catholics. What's up with that Purgatory thing? How do we explain it?
The Catholic Church has always taught that purgatory is where one is cleansed of venial sins, imperfections, and the temporal punishment due to mortal sin that has been forgiven in the sacrament of confession. This fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith is unfortunately denied and ridiculed by Protestant sects, who proclaim that the word purgatory along with the concept of this dogma is no where to be found in the Bible. Protestants also assert that the early Christians never mentioned let alone believed in this transitional place of purification. It is true that the word purgatory does not appear in Holy Scripture, but if this reasoning is used to dispel purgatory, one would have to deny two pillars of the Christian faith, the Trinity and the Incarnation, because neither one of these words is present in the Bible. What about this doctrine being revealed in the Word of God? On this matter, Protestants are sadly mistaken. The Old and New Testaments unequivocally refer to purgatory. Here are two examples, "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." (2 Mac 12: 46) and "For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."(1 Cor 3:13 -15) Finally, is there evidence that the early Christians believed in purgatory? One needs to look no further than the prayers offered for the dead that were etched into the walls of the catacombs and the supplications found in the early Masses. Also a multitude of writings exist from the early Church Fathers such as Augustine, Tertullian, Origen, Jerome, and Ambrose that describe an intermediate state after death; a way station on the path to heaven. Tertullian stated, "A woman, after the death of her husband ... prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice." [A.D. 216]). The early Christians obviously stressed the importance of issuing prayers for the dead and such prayers only make sense if they believed in a third place, one other than heaven or hell.

So if purgatory is taught in the Bible and the early Christians believed in it, why do Protestants deny it’s existence? The answer is that Protestant theology does not accept the idea that sins are truly forgiven, but maintains that once a person believes and accepts Jesus as savior their sins will be covered by Christ's righteousness and God only seeing the perfection of His Son will declare the sinner to be justified or saved even though in reality their soul remains in a state of mortal sin. The problem with this fabricated theology is people are given a false assurance of salvation which has no need of Christ’s sanctifying grace bestowed through His seven sacraments, prayers of intercession, works of charity and love, or the purification of purgatory. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation, summed it up best when he said," Sin boldly but believe more boldly. Let your faith be greater than your sin. . . Sin will not destroy us in the reign of the Lamb, although we were to commit fornication a thousand times in one day." (Letter to Melanchton, August 1, 1521)

Catholicism on the other hand containing the fullness of the truth places the emphasis on Christ’s sanctifying or saving grace working within man. Sin is truly forgiven through Christ’s sacraments leaving only concupiscence and weakness. Sanctifying grace within the believer makes good works acceptable to God. Sanctifying grace within the believer makes him acceptable to God. Catholicism understands it is inconceivable to suggest that the perfect justice and truth of God would be compromised by declaring a person to be saved, if in fact their soul remained in a corrupted state. The Bible tells us that nothing defiled can come into heaven. "But nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]"(Rev 21:27) Catholicism unlike the Protestant sects is not a religion of self salvation but one of redemption through the cross. The Church proclaims that Christ paid the price for our sins by His crucifixion, and correctly teaches that through the grace of God, Christians are given the strength to pick up their cross daily and follow Jesus and in doing so complete what is lacking in His afflictions to aid the Church militant on earth and those suffering in purgatory. "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" (Col 1:24) The idea that Christ would stand in ones place and judge Himself is not only absurd but contrary to the Bible. Everyone like it or not will stand alone before Christ and be judged. "All of us have a scrutiny to undergo before Christ's judgement-seat, for each to reap what his mortal life has earned, good or ill, according to his deeds" (2 Cor 5:10) Finally, God’s Word proclaims that sins are truly forgiven through the sacraments of confession, baptism, and the anointing of the sick. "... If we confess our sins: He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity." (1 Jn 1:8) "Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins..."(Acts 22:16) "Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil ... and if he is in sin, they shall be forgiven him."(Jm 5:14)

Purgatory makes sense because a soul can not just be declared clean, but actually be clean. After all, if a guilty soul is merely “covered,” if its sinful state still exists but is officially ignored, it is still unclean. Likewise, "covering" a soul won't purify it; its dirty state remains and is not eligible to enter heaven until it is cleansed by fire in PURGATORY.