BlackOmen said:
Also do you think that Hard Rock and Heavy Metel are acceptable to listen to. Because I listen to AC/DC, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourn, Mettalica, some of Nirvanna, Black Sabbath, Black Label Society, Disturbed, System of a Down, Godsmack, Kiss, and lots of others. Do you think that any of the ones that I listed are unacceptable to listen to? Also does anyone here think that the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Vampire Chronicles, or Harry Potter books are bad/evil? And if so why? I love them all. LOTR and Star Wars are my favorite though.
The music in and of itself is not and cannot be evil unless the artist makes it evil. Very few of them do that. If you are convicted about some of those bands, follow the conviction.
I do not believe that "Lord of the Rings" is evil because Tolkien was a Catholic, and the wizards are more like angels than actual wizards. As in Gandalf would represent a low level angel from God to help His people. Sauron is the understudy to the devil's equivalent in that universe. Elves and good wizards get their power from the Valar (the equivalent to archangels) who are loyal to Illvutar (the God equivalent). It's obviously not a direct comparison, it really happened by accident, but the "magic" here is not at all like real magic, which comes from the real devil. When I watch the movies, I look for Christian themes in them, as the series has a lot of Christian symbolism.
What of Purgetory? Can anyone tell me about it? I don't know much about it. Sorry for all the questions.
According to the Catholics, Purgatory is a place a lot like Hell only it is a temporary holding cell. Instead of eternal punishment, it is temporary cleansing which is probably just as painful in its execution. They believe that Christians who are not fully sanctified at the time of their death need to go there for an undisclosed amount of time so they can become perfect and enter Heaven.
Purgatory comes from a verse in the Old Testament Apocrypha. Catholics and Orthodox Christians have these in their Old Testaments, but Protestants don't. But the doctrine of Purgatory is a stretch even for the verse they use and even if it was true there is no need for it, as it flies in the face of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Here's what the Catholics use to justify Purgatory (Orthodox Christians do not have this doctrine):
"On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them with their kinsmen in their ancestral tombs.
But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain.
They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden.
Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.
He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view;
for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.
But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin." 2 Maccabes 12:40-46
First of all, the Jews had a very different concept of death before Jesus came. They had neither Heaven nor Hell, only Sheol, a holding cell for the dead. They did have the concept of a last day of ressurection and judgement.
Second, these verses in no way indicate that there is such a place as Purgatory. He prayed on their behalf so they would not be judged on the last day. There is no evidence of torment here.
Third, even if there was a Purgatory, Jesus rendered it useless: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:4-9
If God has made us alive with Christ and already seated us with Him in the heavenly realms WITH HIM, then there is no need for Purgatory. Also, the doctrine of Purgatory indicates that we must work our way to God. The Jews had to do this under their old covenant. God said "this doesn't work" and created a new covenant, where there is one sacrifice for all sin of all time and this is applied to us by grace rather than merit (Hebrews 8:6-13). Under this covenant, we are saved by grace, our works do not bridge the sin gap between us and God. Jesus didn't redeem us 90%. He redeemed us 100%, we just have to recieve His gift to us and not throw it away.
Fourth, the Apostle Paul himself shows in his letter to the Phillipians that there is no Purgatory:
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." - Phillipians 1:20-24
He is convinced that he is going to be with Christ when he dies. Now Christ cannot be in Purgatory, since He is perfect and risen. Remember, Purgatory is the place you go to so that you can be perfect so that you CAN be with Christ. Now, if Paul was a perfect man at about this time, this wouldn't be an issue, but this is telling:
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." - Phillipians 3:12-16
Paul flat out says that he is not perfect, and he doesn't even say he's close to perfect. He is simply straining on as he always has to become more like Jesus. And he says this with joy. This is a far cry from the fear of death that Purgatory would warrent. Remember, Purgatory is not a nice place. You do not want to be there. You want to get out of it as soon as possible. Paul does not have any fear that he is going to be scrubbed hard with a wire brush until he can be with Christ. Remember, he said if he dies, he will be with Christ, without anything between them. One would certainly believe that if there was a Purgatory, these were the prime conditions for expressing it in the Bible, because Paul was waiting to see if he would be martyred or not.
If you are convicted to give it up, then do, otherwise dont worry about it. Just seek God and let Him make you who He wants you to be, not who "Christianity" thinks you should be. God bless 
