[Arguss]

"Then again, the God I know did all the suffering necessary, and now and forever considers me and all other true believers justified, purified, clean, and righteous.

Isn't that convienient, all you have to do is believe. What about the demons? They also believe in Jesus. Rmember what He did to them? The pigs, the cliff? How could he be so cruel to those who believe in him?

The Apostle Paul also appears to be praying for a dead person, Onesiphorous, in 2 Timothy 1:16-18

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Crist, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body." 2cor 5:10

I hope you haven't forgotten these passages, as I know they are uncomfortable to preach on in a protestant congregation.

[bonaventura]

After reading your further comments I assume you weren't being intentionally misleading, so pardon that comment that I made above. I thought you might have been a protestant giving a false "teaching" of the Catholic Church.

Sorry.

[armydoc]

"Isn't that convienient, all you have to do is believe. What about the demons? They also believe in Jesus. Rmember what He did to them? The pigs, the cliff? How could he be so cruel to those who believe in him?"

My definition of a true believer is someone that not only intellectually believes that Jesus is Lord, but also ACCEPTS JESUS AS LORD OF HIS LIFE, which inevitably produces a profound change in the believer's life. I don't think the demons did that.

[ladyinred]

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Crist, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body." 2cor 5:10

So are you meaning by quoting the above verse that Purgatory is the judgement seat of Christ? As a Protestant, I have to say that at least in the Churches I have attended, this verse is quoted often.