Purgatory (questions)

[isshinwhat]

Have you ever been convicted of some sin, possibly one that you have been committing for quite a long time? Did you not feel extremely sorry for committing that offense against God, maybe even driven to tears? If so, was that empty feeling of sorrow not suddenly replaced with a great joy which comes from the Holy Spirit at being forgiven? This is our sanctification. This is us growing as "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

Now, fast forward to your death. All of the things that you still have on your soul, those things which you weren't convicted of during your earthly life, you WILL be convicted of at death during your Particular Judgment. For those things you were convicted of but were unable to successfully turn fully from (which is what penance is), you will be cleansed of those things, too. Then, as in the Earthly Purgations we undergo, you will be cleansed of your sins, only this time the filling of the Holy Spirit will be complete and you will possess the Beatific Vision.

As I hope can be seen, Purgatory is not us working our salvation out alone, it is Christ's Holy Blood's final work of perfection in our souls. It is the Final Theosis, the last step in our Sanctification.

God Bless,

Neal

 

[isshinwhat]

http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=1211823&postcount=147

Here is a very intersting post that stillsmallvoice posted regarding the Jewish roots of the Catholic belief in Purgatory.

God Bless,

Neal

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

That's a great post by SSV, thanks for the link Neal.

 

[feo]

2. The Christian age had not yet begun, thus Christian baptism was not yet required.

3. In any event the thief clearly had baptism of desire. He was willing to do whatever it took to align himself with Jesus and be saved; it was simply physical impossibility that prevented him from doing anything while on the cross.

Any one of these reasons, and especially the last two, are sufficient to show how the thief could have been saved.

It is somewhat amazing that people ever throw his up as an objection to Jesus' teaching on the necessity of baptism. The Catholic Church has never considered this a problem since the answers are so obvious. Those anti-Catholics who try to use this to undermine Christ's teachings on baptism reveal by citing this example that they have not thought through the issue sufficiently.

First of all, Dont Label me as "anti catholic" because i'm Probing For Questions.

Secondly... according to Catholic Doctrine- if Baptism is received, or if There is no Need of Baptism: Purgatory Can be Avoided?

 

[ps139]

First of all, Dont Label me as "anti catholic" because i'm Probing For Questions.

Secondly... according to Catholic Doctrine- if Baptism is received, or if There is no Need of Baptism: Purgatory Can be Avoided?

Well there is a need for everyone to be baptized. And baptism is not a "get out of purgatory free" card. I am baptized and I have a feeling I will be spending a long while in purgatory.

 

[Breetai]

1 Cor. 15:29-30 - Paul mentions people being baptized on behalf of the dead, to atone for their sins. These people cannot be in heaven because they are still with sin, but they also cannot be in hell because their sins can no longer be atoned for. They are in purgatory.

I'm not sure if that is the best interpretation of that verse.

I've always taken that verse to mean that the dead were the 'dead in sin'. Not literally dead. I'm getting that idea from passages like Colossians 2:

Col. 2:12-13- "...having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins..."

It's a confusing passage (1 Corinthians 15:29) for sure.

 

[ps139]

I'm not sure if that is the best interpretation of that verse.

I've always taken that verse to mean that the dead were the 'dead in sin'. Not literally dead. I'm getting that idea from passages like Colossians 2:

Col. 2:12-13- "...having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins..."

It's a confusing passage (1 Corinthians 15:29) for sure.

I won't comment on the interpretation of the verse in relation to purgatory, but I am sure that "dead" in that passage, (1 Cor 15) is literal death, the death that Christ suffered and was raised from. Paul talks a lot in that chapter about the Resurrection, and people in Corinth who deny resurrection of the dead. It seems pretty literal to me.