Some questions :)

Imma answer you, but la, if I had a dime for every time we were asked this...

anyway, purgatory is in the bible, in verses like, "you will not be released till the last penny is paid..."

and no, the Church is not above God. The Church is who Jesus gave earthy authority "to teach" to, to teach us the faith He left. The Church has no power to make stuff up.

Its teaching authority they have. Like you think you have authrty to teach yourself from the bible, the Church is who was given the authrty to teach us what Jesus taght his 12 which is the faith that was written down. It was the Church who approved the books of the bible, who said this is what really happened and is inspired.

The Church (which are bishops and that is all a pope is) are the sucessors of the 12 and they have the chrism to protect the faith and to pass it down, prseving it from error. Outside of the Church, you open yourself up to much error, like dismissing purgatory as unbbilcal.

Jayangel81 said:

Have some questions about what catholics believe in. I'm actually not coming for myself but rather to a few members in my family and I am trying to understand somethings.

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Jayangel81 said:

Do catholics to this day believe in purgatory and where does this teaching come from?

Do Catholics still believe in veniel and mortal sins, and likewise where did this teaching come from?

Does the roman catholic church have higher authority than God? Sounds like a crazy question, the way my mom was brought up by the nuns I honestly believe she was brainwashed in believing the whole mentality that we (the roman catholic church) are the supreme authority.

Before anyone answers this is not up for debate, if it gets that way I will make sure a mod closes this thread, this is just a friendly chat, please keep it that way thanks

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Jayangel -
The doctrine of Purgatory is one of the most misunderstood teachings of the Catholic faith.
First of all, Purgatory isn’t necessarily a place, but a state. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s a “final purification of the elect” (1030-1032). Another misconception is that Purgatory is a “second chance”. This is not the case, as those Christians who die in a state of mortal sin are not eligible because mortal sin severs our relationship with God.

Since Revelation 21:27 tells us that nothing unclean can enter heaven, a final purification or purgation is necessary for some before entering heaven. Those in Purgatory will indeed make it into heaven. As the great Protestant author, C.S. Lewis once stated, “The mercy of God demands purgatory.”

Regardless of what some may say, the belief in Purgatory is scripturally-based.
In 2 Macc. 42-46, we see that Judas Maccabeus prays for the men of his army, killed in battle. Verse 44 says, “… for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.” Matt. 5:25-26 tells us that unless we have settled our matters, we will be “handed over to the prison guard and will not be released until we have paid the last penny.”

We are told in 1 Cor. 3:12-15 that the day (judgment) will disclose the foundation that a person builds upon and how it will be revealed: “If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Additionally, Matt. 12:32 states, “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”, which indicates that there is purification after death for some. Matt. 18:32-35 and Luke 12:58-59 are additional verses that support this doctrine.

All of these verses point to the fact that those in Purgatory will suffer loss but will eventually be released (purified, purged from iniquity, saved). Purgatory is for the believer who dies in God’s favor (without the stain of mortal sin) but is in need of final purification before entering heaven.

As for mortal (deadly) and venial (damaging, but not deadly) sin - it's based in Scripture.
Whereas venial sin damages our relationship with God, mortal sin severs it. It takes us from being in a state of God’s grace to being voluntarily cut off from that grace. To die in this state is to suffer eternal separation from God. This is why St. John refers to it as “deadly sin” (1 John 5:16).

Jayangel81 said:

Have some questions about what catholics believe in. I'm actually not coming for myself but rather to a few members in my family and I am trying to understand somethings.

Do catholics to this day believe in purgatory and where does this teaching come from?

Do Catholics still believe in veniel and mortal sins, and likewise where did this teaching come from?

Does the roman catholic church have higher authority than God? Sounds like a crazy question, the way my mom was brought up by the nuns I honestly believe she was brainwashed in believing the whole mentality that we (the roman catholic church) are the supreme authority.

Before anyone answers this is not up for debate, if it gets that way I will make sure a mod closes this thread, this is just a friendly chat, please keep it that way thanks

Click to expand...

Purgatory just makes sense, like if I entered Heaven right now how would I feel? You could see God, God is totally Holy, He is totaly loving, He has perfect Justice and perfect Mercy
and here I am, I try to be a nice guy and my friends and coworkers like me, but I can be selfish, I suffer from envy and lust and sloth. and I would just be standing there infront of a being who is Perfect
I would feel like an embarassment
the Bible says no unclean thing can enter heaven
so all of that baggage has to be gotten rid of
sometime after death but before heaven God will take away all that stuff from us
because we could not bear to have any of that in heaven, it would crush us to be infront of God with those things on our souls, if I still had any resentment in me, any envy, any grudge, it would crush me to have that before God