The Existence of Purgatory

Introduction

Purgatory is a necessary but painful condition of purification through which the soul passes of the deceased people, who despite being dead in the Grace of God, are not fully purified. It is a process of spiritual transformation of man that enables him to be close to Christ and God, and join in the Communion of Saints. The Church's teaching on purgatory is based primarily on the doctrine of immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead, both of which are integral to the faith of the Church since ancient times. The paper has to evaluate the foundation of the existence of purgatory and the consequences of it in a holistic context. In this paper, we will discuss the biblical basis of existence of purgatory, the existence of purgatory in the Christian history, and the contemporary approaches to existence of purgatory.

The biblical basis of existence of purgatory

The New Testament leaves open the question yet to be specified and the intermediate state between death and resurrection on the last day, the clarification would come only gradually, with the development of Christian anthropology and its relationship with the Christology. Although, the word purgatory is absent in the Bible, some passages of Scripture suggest the existence of a purifying fire occurring after bodily death (John, 96). For example:

The Maccabees (admitted into the canon of all the churches are not from the Protestant Reformation) also speaks of a sacrifice made ??for the deceased (who died fighting for the people of God, and who were therefore, friends of God), which suggests the existence of a separate place of purification of Hell and Paradise:

"Then, having made ??a collection of about 2,000 drachmas, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for sin, acting nobly and well after the concept of resurrection. For, if he had not expected the fallen soldiers resurrect, it was superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, and if he would consider that a great reward is reserved for those who fall asleep in godliness, this was a holy and pious thought."

- Maccabees, 2, 12: 43-45

This is Paul of Tarsus which alludes to the first "fire", interpreted by some as Purgatory, in the Epistle to the Corinthians:

"Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, the work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and fire will test what each man has worked. If the work built by someone survives on the foundation, he will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, he will suffer loss; for him, he will be saved, but only as through fire."

- Matt. 5, 25-26

"Hurry, you agree with your opponent, as you're still with him on the way, lest the adversary delivers thee to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown in jail. Verily, I say unto thee: thou shalt not ...