Purgatory: 1 + 1 = 2

 From where do we get purgatory?

    There are many today that like to argue about purgatory. Since they cannot see the word, “purgatory” in the Bible, it cannot exist. This is often heard from vocal, fundamentalist Protestants, aka, “Bible-only” Christians. They handily ignore that the words, “Bible,” “Incarnation,” and “Trinity,” among others, are likewise nowhere found in the Bible,... but they eagerly pounce upon purgatory for not seeing it there!
    Like the other examples given here, the word, “purgatory, may not have made it into the writings that form the Bible - but the reality of it certainly did! 

Note:

    “On the next day [after the battle with Gorgias]...Judas [Maccabee] and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kindred in the sepulchers of their ancestors.
Then under the tunic of each one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was the reason these men had fallen.
    So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; and they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out.
    The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened as a result of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this, he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.
    But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore, he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.”
- (2 Macc. 12:39-46, NRSV).

    The Jewish feast of Chanukah is, in fact, a commemoration of this battle and the cleansing of the temple that followed this event. This is a passage that would have been keenly familiar and in the hearts and minds of all the Apostles.
    In this passage we see Judas Maccabee learning that the dead on the battlefield have sinned by wearing amulets associated with a false god. Next, Judas does some critically important things:

A. He prays for the forgiveness of their sins
B. He makes a collection for an expiatory sacrifice
C. He seeks atonement so that those who died in sin during the battle might be freed from their sin.

    This passage is the most powerful corroboration for purgatory in all of the Scriptures. But, it is complex, so let's explain for those who may not understand.
    First, just grasp the following concept:

    If one dies, one either goes to (1) Heaven, (2) Hell, or (3) an intermediate level which we call purgatory.

    Don't immediately lock up at seeing the word, “purgatory...,” just relax, and sit still for the moment.
    Now, here is the next step to figuring this out....

• If one goes heaven (1), one has no need for one’s sins to be blotted out, since one is enjoying eternal paradise. 
  
  

• If one is in hell (2), then all the prayers in the  world cannot release one from hell since hell is eternal.
  (Mt. 25:41; 2 Thess. 1:9).

    BUT, if one allows that sin can be blotted out after death, then reason dictates there MUST be a third state of being for purification of the soul. And that place is called purgatory.
    Unfortunately for Protestants, they have to have this explained.
    Why?  

    Because Martin Luther removed the books of Maccabees to a section of the Bible outside the canonical works. He did that because, in his personal opinion, those works weren't inspired enough. Thereafter, Bible versions that followed his translations left everyone missing this point, since it doesn't appear in the parts of the Bible they most focus on.
    Therefore, Protestants may not much examine these works, or, if they do, they don't consider them of sufficient value to warrant their faith. Thanks, Martin Luther, for 500 years of confounding people.

    But Luther could not blot out the many other writings in Scripture that clearly indicate a state of cleansing for the soul exists. 
    The Bible, indeed, makes reference quite often to a, “cleansing fire” (i.e., cf. 1 Pet. 1:7; Wis. 3:1-6).
    We would call this cleansing fire, purgatory, where God’s fiery love “burns” away the soul’s impurities, where one is, “saved, but only through fire” - (1 Cor. 3:1-16). 
    The Bible also testifies to the reality of paying debts, as in the case of the Judge who reminds us that we, “will not be released until [we] have paid the last penny” (Mt. 5:21-26; also 18:21-35; Lk. 12:58; 16:19-31; 1 Pet. 3:19; 4:6).
    The Bible, in fact, is filled with comments of this sort as regards God's Justice. It is just that people tend to self-interpret Scripture to glean from it more pleasant, "soothing" concepts.

    But if we take all this in contest, we must accept that we will not be released until every sin, every word, is accounted for (Mt. 12:36).

    St. Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604 AD) in reflecting on Matthew 12:31-32, explains with great insight the following in regards to purgatory:

    “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come.
From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, and certain others in the age to come” 
(Dial. 4:39: PL 77, 396).

Praying for the Dead is Christian
    Historically, prayers for the dead have always been part of Hebrew, and then, Christian tradition. In the Jewish Orthodox culture, prayers for the dead were common. At the time of Jesus, prayers for the dead in the Jewish faith were said in temples and synagogues on feasts such as Passover, Booths, and Weeks.
    Jews to this very day still utter the, “Mourner’s Kaddesh” after the death of a person for the purification of his or her soul.

    As for early Christtians, graffiti in the catacombs of Rome from the first three centuries of Christianity, show those faithful men and women believed in saving prayers for the dead. This was a time when the Church was under persecution, and these wall writings attest to this common practice. For example, in the first century catacombs we read: 

    “Sweet Faustina, may you live in God.”

    “Peter and Paul, pray for Victor.”
    
    Get it?...here we see exhibited a firm belief in prayers for those who have died, those prayers to have a beneficial effect – and WAY BEFORE the Bible was ever conceived.

    St. Basil the Great, in 370 AD illustrates that the very nature of the Christian life, as a struggle and battle, makes the reality of purgatory an absolute necessity:

    “A man who is under sentence of death, knowing that there is One who saves, One who delivers, says: ‘In You I have hoped, save me from my inability ‘and deliver me’ from captivity.'
I think that the noble athletes of God, who have wrestled all their lives with the invisible enemies, after they have escaped all of their persecutions and have come to the end of life, are examined by the prince of this world; and if they are found to have any wounds from their wrestling, any stains or effects of sin, they are detained.
    If, however, they are found unwounded and without stain, they are, as unconquered, brought by Christ into their rest”
(Ps. 7, n. 2).

    Again, this was an established part of Christian life and belief well before the Bible appeared.
    St. Augustine of Hippo in 387 AD, likewise records in his masterpiece, “Confessions.” the words of his mother, Monica:

    “All I ask of you is that wherever you may be you will remember me at the altar of the Lord.”

    In other words, she asked that prayers be said for her - at the altar of the Mass.

    In St. Augustine’s, "De fide, spe, caritate liber unus" (“One Book on Faith, Hope, and Charity” 39, 109) we read:

    “The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh.
    Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief [in purgatory] through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered for them, or when alms are given in the church.
    But these things are of profit to those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterwards be able to be helped by these things.
    For there is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no avail after death.
    There is, indeed, a manner of living so good that these helps are not needed [in heaven], and again a manner so evil that these helps are of no avail [in hell], once a man has passed from this life.”

What Changed?
    It is not until the Protestant Reformation, 1500 years down the line, that prayers for the dead were questioned. It was a period when self-revelation and individual interpretation of the Bible was encouraged and even run rampant. This led many to derive their own theologies, their own, "denominations." We have hundreds, if not thousands, of differing demoninations, today, for that reason.
    And purgatory was rejected on the single claim that, since they don't see it specifically written in the Bible - which they consider the only source of religious guidance - then it can't be recognized. 
    Interestingly, Martin Luther initially held belief in purgatory, but later, "adjusted" that view.
    So the Protestant rejection of purgatory is strictly a function of literalism in writing. And because of that blindered view, they won't entertain any logic on the matter..., despite that it is easy to find in the Bible!

    There are two main reasons for this:
    1. The Catholic Church promotes purgatory as a needed part of salvation. It always has as we've seen...since its origins. For that reason, and no other, they will throw it out. “If the Catholic Church believes it, then it is wrong,” is basically their motto.
    2. That happens because they aren't equipped to apply reason to such biblical matters...their training leaves no room for it. If they don't see the exact printed word, “purgatory” in whatever Bible version they have – they reject it out of hand.

Applying Logic
    But pure reason attests to the need of a place called purgatory. We are reminded to be, “perfect as [the] heavenly Father is perfect”
(Mt. 5:48).
    We are called to..., “strive for that holiness without which one cannot see God”
(Heb. 12:14).
    And in Revelation 21:27 we are told that ,...,“nothing unclean shall enter heaven.”

    So lets just add it up, like a mathematical formula.

    - If Heaven is a place of perfection where “nothing impure” can enter (Rv. 21:27), then it follows that...
    - One who dies in sin (impure) must be purified before entering.
    
    1+1 = 2 – it is that simple.

    In Hebrews 12:33 we are reminded that the..., “spirit of the just are made perfect;” that is, made perfect to enter into heaven.
    If anything impure were to enter into heaven, then heaven would no longer be a place of purity - for it would have been tainted with impurity. Pure water, for example, if it is contaminated with a chemical, is no longer pure water.
    Likewise, heaven, if it is contaminated with imperfection, is no longer a place of perfection. Again..., 1+1 = 2.

    Another interesting clue to this intermediate state of being for the soul, aka, purgatory, is seen in (1 Corinthian 15:29-30) where people were baptizing themselves on behalf of their dead loved ones.
    This was a known practice -- albeit a wrong practice -- by some within the Christian community. But it points out early Christianity’s recognition that there must be something "in between" heaven or hell. In other words, there must be a place for the souls of the departed to "be," where the efforts of the living on earth could have an impact on them in the afterlife.
    We call this place purgatory.

    Another fascinating example is that of Jesus preaching to the “dead” after the crucifixion:
“...in the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and in the spirit he went to preach even to the spirits in prison,... and because he is their judge too, the dead had to be told the Good News as well, so that though, in their life on earth they had been through the judgement that comes to all humanity, they might come to Gods life in the spirit." 
(1 Pet. 3:18-20: 4:6)

    Clearly, since they weren't already in heaven, and not forever lost in hell, Jesus was cleansing - purging - them through his preaching in order that they might enter into heaven!

    Hence from both a Scriptural point of view and a practical philosophical perspective, itself derived from the Scriptural understanding of heaven, purgatory has always been a reality of Christianity. Just because one chooses to ignore it does not change that.
    Flatly put, purgatory is not something to fear, to be conflicted over, or to argue about. It is an assurance of heaven, where one is purified to enter the realm of perfection, aka, heaven.
    In purgatory a man gains, as Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 379 AD) states, “knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice, and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire” (Sermones, 1).
    
    How sad it must be for those who have convinced themselves – or have been convinced by others - that they are forbidden to pray for their deceased loved ones.
    There is no greater sense of psychological closure than to pray for one that has passed away. That is why Paul asked for mercy on the soul of his dead friend Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy 1:16-18.
    He knew the prayers of others would release him from that place of purification that has become known as purgatory. (REMEMBER - if Onesiphorus was in heaven he would be in no need of prayer, … and if he was in hell, no amount of prayer could release him).
    Therefore, Paul knew Onesiphorus was in purgatory, where Paul’s prayers could be effective.
    Once more: 1 + 1 = 2