What are the Orthodox views on purgatory?

[NHB_MMA]

What are the Orthodox views on purgatory and how does it differ from the Catholic view? Sorry, but I couldn't find it in Becoming Orthodox thusfar and I don't have time for an exhaustive forum search today.

 

[InnerPhyre]

We do not believe in purgatory.

 

[Ilian]

I think in Eastern theology there has been a tendency to define less in regards to the state of the soul after death. We certainly believe in the necessity and possibility of purification of the soul during the particular judgment and preceding the final. We, in our private and liturgical prayers, often offer up petitions for the state of the souls of the reposed and there are specific services (Parastas and Panachida) for this.

Traditionally the difference has been over the nature of purification, and whether it is a process of cleansing due to the experience of the uncreated energies of God or of created grace (i.e. fire). Most of what is in the CCC now is probably essentially compatible with the Orthodox view though.

 

[MariaRegina]

Read Life After Death by Metropolitan Hierotheos.

He details the debate between the Latins and the Orthodox at the Council of Florence.

Basically, at that time, the Latins held that purgatory was a place of created purifying fire, but that after being purified, a soul would be able to see God in His Essence.

Yet, the Orthodox believe that God is a consuming fire. St. Mark taught that we will experience God's uncreated Energies as a Consuming Fire, but we will never see God in His Essence. At the Final Resurrection of the Dead, we will experience either the uncreated purifying fire of Hell, which will be an eternal death to the damned, or the uncreated illuminating light of Heaven, which will be a joy to the Saints.

 

[MariaRegina]

According to St. Mark of Ephesus, God's love which shines in the righteous souls will purify those souls of any small evils which they have done. Thus, God's love and the prayers of the living will positively affect all those who fall asleep in the Lord.

Again, according to St. Mark of Ephesus, the Latins teach that all souls with any unconfessed sins or tendencies to sin (attachments to sin) will undergo a purifying fire before they can enter heaven.

With the publication of the CCC, I wonder what the Catholic Church teaches about purgatory? Do they still teach that there is the presence of a created purifying fire, or is it uncreated? Do the righteous see the Essence of God or do they behold only His uncreated Energies?

 

[eoe]

If you consider that our salvation is a process of growing in the likeness of Christ and you also consider that God is infinite then you could say that heaven is a never ending process of becoming more Christ like. In that sense you could reasonably say that the entire experience of heaven is an eternal, blissful purgatory.

That would be quite the stretch tho.

My take is...
There is no purgatory. Heaven is a mystery that no eye has seen and no mouth has been able to speak of.

Let's just focus on getting to the other side of that narrow gate. When and if we get there none of this will matter and that is the only time that it possibly could matter.

 

[hungrytiger]

Read Life After Death by Metropolitan Hierotheos.

He details the debate between the Latins and the Orthodox at the Council of Florence.

Basically, at that time, the Latins held that purgatory was a place of created purifying fire, but that after being purified, a soul would be able to see God in His Essence.

Yet, the Orthodox believe that God is a consuming fire. St. Mark taught that we will experience God's uncreated Energies as a Consuming Fire, but we will never see God in His Essence. At the Final Resurrection of the Dead, we will experience either the uncreated purifying fire of Hell, which will be an eternal death to the damned, or the uncreated illuminating light of Heaven, which will be a joy to the Saints.

Much of Life After Death by Metropolitan Hierotheos has been made available to read online.

 

[lionroar0]

According to St. Mark of Ephesus, God's love which shines in the righteous souls will purify those souls of any small evils which they have done. Thus, God's love and the prayers of the living will positively affect all those who fall asleep in the Lord.

Again, according to St. Mark of Ephesus, the Latins teach that all souls with any unconfessed sins or tendencies to sin (attachments to sin) will undergo a purifying fire before they can enter heaven.

With the publication of the CCC, I wonder what the Catholic Church teaches about purgatory? Do they still teach that there is the presence of a created purifying fire, or is it uncreated? Do the righteous see the Essence of God or do they behold only His uncreated Energies?

With the publication of the CCC, I wonder what the Catholic Church teaches about purgatory? Do they still teach that there is the presence of a created purifying fire, or is it uncreated? Do the righteous see the Essence of God or do they behold only His uncreated Energies?

I have looked and looked and looked. For the answer to this question.

I have not found anything whether purgatory is created or uncreated fire.

I can tell you that purgaorty is where the Holy Spirit purifies souls.

This is what I can found in the online Catechism and the the Council of Florence from the EWTN library.
This is the cited text from the footnotes in the CCC. I'm only going to postthe web addy, because it's pretty long.

http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/getreftext.cfm?PartNum=1&SecNum=2&ChapNum=3&FParnum=1065&FnoteNum=606&NoteText=606%20Cf%2E%20Council%20of%20Florence%20%281439%29%3A%20DS%201304%3B%20Council%20of%20Trent%20%281563%29%3A%20DS%201820%3B%20%281547%29%3A%201580%3B%20see%20also%20Benedict%20XII%2C%20Benedictus%20Deus%20%281336%29%3A%20DS%201000%2E


This are my search result for purgatory.

http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/search.cfm


This is the one that used, because it deal directly with purgatory.

http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/getsection.cfm?partnum=1&SecNum=2&ChapNum=3&articlenum=12&ParSecNum=0&subSecNum=3&headernum=0&ParNum=1031&ParType=a


Even the web addys are long

This is the Council of Florence.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM#3

Peace

 

[H1nduHaxor]

Ha! you Christians don't even follow your own commandments! who do you think you are to try to force your dogma on other?

You are all going to all 26 hells! And you will stay there for thounsands of years! And come back as slugs!

You are all doomed!

 

[Paisie]

How can a merciful and human loving God such as ours endure to see his creation suffer the eternal cycles of purification in purgatory? Why do I say eternal and not a few, or jus one cycle, because perfection does not apply to this life, but to eternity - in the afterlife. No man can be perfect in this life, because we all have our sins - serious sins or small sins. But yes, man can taste perfection - only as much as God permits - in order for him to get close to God and know Him better.

 

[NHB_MMA]

Any sources on where the idea of purgatory stems from? Apparently, it is not an apostolic teaching, with the OC rejecting the idea. I was expecting to find the OC did believe in purgatory, so my curiosity is increased.

 

[MariaRegina]

Metropolitan Hierotheos teaches in his book
LIFE AFTER DEATH that St. Paul's epistle to the Corinthians was misinterpreted by the Latins sometime before the Council of Florence.

[bible]1 Corinthians 3:10-15[/bible]

The Day = the Day of Judgment when Christ comes as Judge

The fire = uncreated Energy of God, the consuming fire of God. This is experienced at eternal death (fire of hell) or eternal enlightenment and bliss of Heaven.

The wicked in Hell will not be totally destroyed, but his life will be saved, and he will endure an eternal death.


However, the Latin misinterpretation involved the word "saved." They interpreted this as meaning that the righteous with a little evil within them who barely passed scrutiny will pass through purgatory before going to Heaven. Therefore, the righteous who weren't saints on earth, will be saved but through the purifying fires of purgatory.


On the contrary, the Orthodox position is that the love of God within one's soul will purify the little evil that the righteous may have committed before falling asleep in the Lord.

Instead, the fire refers to the Last Judgment, where everyman's work will be tried by fire. Those righteous will go to heaven with their works intact, and the Presence of God will give them eternal joy and holy light. The damned will go to Hell, with their good works destroyed, yet, the damned will not be annihilated but will live an eternal death (be saved for their punishment). They may wish they could die, but the Presence of God becomes Hell and an eternal burning.