Is There A Purgatory?

In Plain Site ^ | 02/26/2015 | Jason Engwer

[Dick Vomer]

lol, thinking the same thing.

Next will come the "do dogs go to heaven" debate.

Then the If you are divorced will you go to heaven debate.

If you never had access to baptism will you go to heaven debate.

Is it possible for a homosexual to go to heaven debate.

Can a priest forgive sins or can you confess in your mind debate.

and on and on...

I read this post because I was wondering what the debate about "purgatory" is all about. I guess I believe in it because I was taught that way since I was a kid. As far as the "little sins", I'm more worried about the BIG SINS I've committed and probably will commit in the future.

I have no illusions that only with a very very forgiving God can I possibly end up in heaven. I pray for it every night and thank him every morning but I worry about dying in a state of unforgiven sin or "out of grace". Maybe "purgatory" was meant to ease the concerns of people like me. I'm worrying about the big stuff and what I can do to quit pushing the Lord away from me or pushing myself away from the Lord.

[Kartographer]

Purgatory (1999)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLXUQDyDUHw

[Dick Vomer]

I often speculated that perhaps purgatory is real and we are all experiencing it with what we call “life”.

I've thought that too. So much sadness, tragedy and despair. Until you are right with the Lord then you pass from this life to the next. You sound like me. I left the Catholic Church and after going to a Promise Keepers gathering started coming back to the Lord.

It's taken over 14 years and the realization of my mortality to bring me fully back to the Catholic Church. My first confession in over 28 years brought tears to my eyes. I can only describe it as if a blanket had been taken off of me. When I can , I go to mass during the week at 0700 and confession once a week. I've started praying the rosary and remembering what my father said about the Catholic church I learned to hate. That men are weak and fallible but the Church is trying to guide you back to the truth and love of the Lord our savior.

To this day I'm still not fully comfortable at Sunday service but the simpler daily mass suits me well. I didn't realize all the singing, hand holding and hand gestures that have been added to the mass in 3 decades.

Peace brother and I hope your journey back has brought you comfort and peace of mind. Your brother in Christ.......

[dfwgator]

“Purgatory” is right here on planet earth.

I skied there just last week.

[Romans Nine]

Winning answer.

If we could ever know just how much money has been raised through this “doctrine” it would make the IRS blush with shame.

[Politicalkiddo]

This is Purgatory.

[CynicalBear]

>>It's not uncommon for many cults to believe much of what Christianity teaches and uses it's verbiage to mask the underlying beliefs that so oppose Jesus and his true teachings.<<

That's the insidious part of it. people think they are following a Christian faith but have been lied to. They don't realize they have put their faith in men, not in God.

[oldbill]

Purgatory is reading screeds like this from a bigot.

[.45 Long Colt]

Regarding the mass I have made the point that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22, Leviticus 17:11), so Rome’s unbloody sacrifice can’t possibly achieve its stated goal. In biblical terms, an unbloody sacrifice is no sacrifice at all!

It seems the same applies here. Neither penance nor time in Purgatory can do a thing to atone for sin. There must be a blood sacrifice for remission.

[jackibutterfly]

Oh, THAT is hilarious, and very clever! :-)

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

“If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

1 Corinthians 3:14-15

[MamaB]

Nope, she and others are just telling the truth.

[GreyFriar]

As a Protestant I’ve never gotten into the debate over purgatory; and as it appears to be a holding area that Catholics believe in, but isn’t necessarily for their initial salvation; I guess I just go with: Let’s just agree to disagree and focus instead on what unites us, our salvation from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

However, I do agree that Purgatory does exist via these two links:

In getting glimpses of who lives in Purgatory, Maine go to — http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030401&slug=gas010

Ski Purgatory at: http://www.durangomountainresort.com/

[CynicalBear]

That passage is talking about the apostles who build the ekklesia. It’s not talking about man’s sins or their deeds on earth. The testing by fire is talking about those who stay in the faith or those who were just still “worldly” as the Chapter starts off with. The Catholic Church has totally corrupted and twisted the meaning of that passage.

[Alex Murphy]

KEYWORDS: anticatholicbogots; christ; enoughalready; faith; salvation; Click to Add Keyword

LOL did you know that you're a "bogot"?

[Jan_Sobieski]

Amen!

[Old Yeller]

Purgatory is reading screeds like this from a bigot.

Neither exists.

[Old Yeller]

If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Not saving works. No such thing. Works as a result of being saved.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Very interesting...Purgatory (purification by fire) may have actually been brought back by Crusaders of the first and second Crusades...along with many other Islamic practices like prayer beads and flagellation...

Wikipedia - While use of the word "Purgatory" (in Latin purgatorium) as a noun appeared perhaps only between 1160 and 1180, giving rise to the idea of purgatory as a place[7] (what Jacques Le Goff called the "birth" of purgatory),[8]

[boatbums]

Something that has always seemed wrong is the idea that after confession the priest tells the person he is forgiven BUT must say a certain number of prayers as his "penance" to make the forgiveness "take" or be complete. I wondered how saying prayers could be seen as adequate punishment? "For your penance, say four Our Fathers and five Hail Marys." or, "For your penance, say two rosaries.". Do they actually imagine God will be appeased by the recitation of canned prayers rather than a truly repentant and contrite heart? Isn't the shed blood of Jesus Christ appeasement enough? And, finally, doesn't this make these "prayers" a punishment instead of a form of worship? Strange!