[caww]

In I Corinthians 3 it is the believer’s works, not the believer himself, that will be tested by fire.

Paul is not speaking of literal fire any more than he is of literal wood and gold. He is speaking metaphorically, calling some works wood, hay, stubble....which fire burns combustible.... and others gold, silver and precious stones... which fire purifies.

Whatever is not built on the true foundation will be burnt. It says nothing of punishments but of the quality of ones works related to their rewards. There is nothing here or anywhere else in Scripture to support Catholicism’s view that flames in a spiritual zone purge the individual of the sins that were not cleansed while they were alive taking the sacraments...Eucharist...which by believing in pugatory cleansing then that null and voids the sacrement rite they attest to which makes them pure.

BTW..am so glad your posting..enjoying your reads.

[ScubieNuc]

In I Corinthians 3 it is the believer’s works, not the believer himself, that will be tested by fire.

Exactly. In fact, I Corinthians 3:11 talks about our foundation being Jesus and what we build on it is our works or the "gold, silver, wood, or hay". Then it goes into talking about the judgement of our works and wraps up in verse 15 by saying that the person will be saved and that's because their foundation is Jesus.

There is definately nothing in there or elsewhere anything like what the Catholic doctrine talks about (people on Earth being able to pray or do anything to aid those who's works are being judged or that there is a time required to punish the believer because for some reason Jesus's sacrifice on the cross didn't really pay the whole cost).