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The Protestant fantasy of what the purgatory is, -- is not biblical. The purgatory as a place where the soul already saved by Christ's grace alone undergoes purification before it enters heaven is entirely biblical. See for example, the discourse of the purification of the saved by burning off their inferior works in 1 Cor. 3 While some Protestants may misunderstand what RC purgatory is, as do many Roman Catholics, some Roman Catholics earnestly assert 1Cor. 3:15 refers to purgatory, this reflects reading into the text, and the note in their own official NAB Bible, including its latest revision, states, “The text of 1 Cor 3:15 has sometimes been used to support the notion of purgatory, though it does not envisage this.” (http://usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=1%20Corinthians&ch=3). Not that approved in Rome or CF teachings are always consistent Aquinas stated in 13th century that, Bellarmine stated that “there are six opinions.” on 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. However, in dealing with the attempt to convert 1Cor. 3 into support purgatory, in short what the context supports is that the judgment here is at the time of the return of Christ, not commencing upon death, and in context, what is tried by fire here is the manner of persons (“any man's work”) one built the temple of the Lord with, 1Cor. 9:1) with the faithful being rewarded, with true believers being one's “joy and crown,” (Phil. 4:1) while the suffering, is a negative, a loss of rewards. (1Cor. 3:15) the Corinthians were following men more than Christ, (1Cor. 3:4) and thus Paul states that they are the fruit of the work of the sowers Apollos and himself, but God gives the increase, (1Cor. 3:5-7) and that “every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour,” believers themselves being God's building, (1Cor. 3:9) built upon Christ. (1Cor. 3:11) The judgment here is at the time of the return of Christ, not commencing upon death, and in context, the “work” that is tried (“any man's work”) is the manner of persons one built the temple of the Lord with. 1Cor. 9:1) Thus the admonition is “let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon,” 1Cor. 3:10), as what is built is either imperishable or perishable, 1Cor. 3:12) which “the day [of Christ] shall declare” by fire, (1Cor. 3:13) with the work that abides the fire gaining the builders a reward, (1Cor. 3:14) true believers being precious jewels and one's “joy and crown,” (Phil. 4:1) whereas if any mans works are burned then the believer suffers loss, a negative loss of rewards (Cor. 3:15) — not gain as would be the case if salvific personal purification was the case. But if anyone defiles the church, as one was doing in the next chapter, then he would be destroyed if he died in that state. (vs. 16,17) I will expand on this, and references are hypertext and should be read, and most can be seen by pop up in my similar comments here. Thanks be to God, "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 8 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 9 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 10 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 11 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 12 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 13 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 14 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:8-15, emph. Mine) The immediate and larger context is about the nature of the church, and here it deals with judgment (at the time of Christ's return) as regards the manner of work one builds it with. God's judgment will reveal who men were following, and building His church with. The Corinthians were, like Rome, thinking of instruments of God “above what it written” (1Cor. 4:6, and “written” almost always refers to Scripture), resulting in unnecessary carnal divisions (1Cor. 3:4) and also counting manifestly gross sinners as members. (1Cor. 5:1) And as they collectively are the temple of God, if any man defile it and will not repent, shall God destroy them. (1Cor. 3:17; cf. 11:32) See also below on when moral sanctification takes place in the believer. The judgment then of 1Cor. 3:15 is about one's workmanship in building the church, and “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire,” Rather than these works being personal faults which one must be purified from (and would be counted a joy for losing), and of sins being expiated (atoned, compensated for) through potentially thousands of years of “fire and torments or purifying' punishments,” (Indulgentiarum Doctrina; cp. 1. 1967) so they can enter heaven, instead those being judged are already with the Lord in heaven, the time of this judgment being the time of the Lord's return, which the Corinthians are to wait for, (1Cor. 4:5; cf. 2Tim. 4:1,8; Rev. 11:18; 22:12) when believers will forever be with the Lord, (1Thes,. 4:17) that being the “day of Christ.” (2Thess. 2:2; 1Cor. 1:8; Phil. 1:6,10; 2:16) As for that which is burned, “the day shall declare” “what sort it is,” (1Cor. 3:13) with the works being what one builds the church with, whether in planting or watering, this material being souls, who are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone,” “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit,” (Eph. 2:20; cf. 1Cor. 3:11) being “God's building,” (1Cor. 3:9) as living stones are “built up a spiritual house,” (1Pt. 2:5) with true believers being God's “jewels,” (Mal. 3:17) In distinction to the lost, the precious stones with fire-tried faith endure the fire of testing, (1Pt. 1:7) and believers are rewarded by Christ at His coming for building with true stones. Therefore Paul himself calls the Corinthians themselves “my work in the Lord.” (1Cor. 9:1) “and we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 2Cor. 1:14) And says to the Thessalonians, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? " (1 Thess. 2:19; cf. Rv. 3:11) And to the Philippians, that being “my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” (Phil. 4:1) In contrast to gold, silver, valuable jewels and precious stones, whose death is precious in the sight of the Lord, (Ps. 116:15) the fire burns up the fake stones, these represented as “wood, hay and stubble,” and tares, (Mt. 13:30; cf. 1Cor. 3:17) and which is a negative loss for the builder, as a man is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (2Tim. 2:5) Those who suffer loss due to false converts being burned up will themselves be “saved so as by [through] fire,” as a man who lost his possessions in a fire, though one must have some fruit to be considered a believer. (Mt. 25:30; cf. 8:12; 22:13) And Paul labored in the Lord, so that whether present of absent when He returned, he would find “Well done” for being faithful over a few things, (2Cor. 5:9; Mt. 25:21,23) and faithful shepherds shall be rewarded with “a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” (1Pt. 5:4) In additional distinction to postmortem purgatorial purification, personal sanctification is always shown to be done in this life, even if by extreme means as that of 1Cor. 5:5, in bringing a soul back to saving faith. Nowhere does Scripture tell of believers being in a postmortem place of suffering for purifying of faults, though this is extrapolated by some out of a few texts which fail to establish it. In contrast to such, the tormented postmortem state of the lost is clear, and their suffering is in accordance with accountability, relevant to grace given, (Lk. 10:13-14; 12:48; while the clear references to the postmortem place of the elect is with the Lord. Paul describes the passing from this life as being “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” to be with the Lord, which is something to earnestly be desired, and is in contrast to our groaning on earth. (2Cor. 5:1-4) Not only would the penitent criminal who went to Paradise (Lk. 23:43; cf. 2Cor. 12:4; Rv. 2:7) as well as Paul be with the Lord upon their passing, (Phil 1:23; 2Cor. 5:8: “we”) but so would every resurrected raptured Corinthian (1Cor. 15:51ff) or Thessalonian, “to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1Thess. 4:17) even though Paul had not attained to perfection, (Phil. 3:12) and the Corinthians in particular were in need of greater purification, (2Cor. 7:1) though not all were believers. (2Cor. 13:5) While saving faith is one that characteristically walks in the obedience of faith, (Heb. 5:9) there are consequences in this life for forgiven sin, (2Sam. 12) from lost opportunities to loss of lives, as well as chastisement for in this life needed for conformity to Christ, (Heb. 12) which can be severe. Believers also may suffer loss of rewards due to their manner of workmanship, as there will be postmortem accountability for what a believer did. (Rm. 14:10-12; 2Cor. 5:10) And meeting the Lord's disapproval will not be a light thing, part of which i surmise will be the grief at realizing how much their lack in “the obedience of faith” cost souls, and robbed God of the glory they could have given their sacrificial Lord and Savior. Yet this only takes place at His return, (2Tim. 4:1,8; Rev.11:18) versus purgatory, which has souls suffering upon death. And while the loss of rewards in 1Cor. 3 does reflect upon the character of the builder, yet in summation, in context and in conjunction with other texts on the day of judgment, the fire is not about making postmortem expiation for sin and or being personally purified upon death, but the fire is that which consumes the false building material, which is shown to be the manner of converts one built the church with, directly or indirectly, and the suffering is the consequential suffering of loss of rewards at the future return of Christ, a negative loss, for building the church with such bad material, versus stones like Peter which the Lord used to build His church with, with all believers being stones (1Pt. 2:5) without which there is no church to build. This is what is most clearly warranted by the text, and to read purgatory into it is wresting it to conform to one version* developed from nebulous church tradition. *The Orthodox do have some versions of a postmortem preparation (necessarily a place of punishment but rather a place of growth), but overall reject Roman Catholic purgatory, as one source states, “Both purgatory and indulgences are inter-corrolated theories, unwitnessed in the Bible or in the Ancient Church, and when they were enforced and applied they brought about evil practices at the expense of the prevailing Truths of the Church. If Almighty God in His merciful loving-kindness changes the dreadful situation of the sinner, it is unknown to the Church of Christ. The Church lived for fifteen hundred years without such a theory.” — http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7076 Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Kallistos Ware acknowledges several schools of thought among the Orthodox on the topic of purification after death. This divergence indicates that the Catholic interpretation of purgatory, more than the concept itself, is what is universally rejected. — http://orthodoxwiki.org/Purgatory |
Once again a very well researched post daniel1212!
It is true that 1 Cor 3:9-15 can be interpreted in different ways than that of the purgatory, like most allegorical passages in the scripture. It also should be noted that the Catholic NAB is produced by most liberal Catholic Bible scholars available in cooperation with the Protestants, -- always a bad idea. A serious Catholic should wholly disregard the "catholic" NAB comments.
The statement I made is that the Purgatory is the primary subject matter of 1 Cor 9-15, because I am confronting the evident Protestant falsehood that there is "no" biblical support for the concept of Purgatory. In that light, I will respond to your post.
The judgment here is at the time of the return of Christ
That is a serious objection as indeed the "day of the Lord" most naturally refers to the Second Coming of Christ and the attendant universal judgment, as opposed to the particular judgment of everyone immediately upon one's death. If one were to conclude from 1 Cor. 3 that upon the last judgment some people will suffer the purgatorial fire, such a believer would be in keeping with the passage. The problem with this interpretation is that it makes the particular judgment a non-event: the believer is saved and ... is made wait till the Second Coming to enter heaven and be with the Lord. While this reading is possible, it is not mandated by the text as it is possible that the manifestation to others is delayed but the purification itslef is immediate.
if any mans works are burned then the believer suffers loss, a negative loss of rewards (Cor. 3:15) — not gain as would be the case if salvific personal purification was the case.
There is both a loss and a gain described in 1 Cor. 3 (vv 8, 15) and in the case of the purgatorial passage according to the Church there is also a loss of the direct passage into sainthood, and a gain of that very sainthood in the end. There is no contradiction between the scripture and the teaching of the Church here.
if anyone defiles the church, as one was doing in the next chapter, then he would be destroyed if he died in that state
Indeed, and one burdened by a grave and unconfessed sin, espacially that of holding the damnable Protestant convictions in order to hurt the Catholic Church, will indeed not be saved even through purgatory, but rather damned forever.
The judgment then of 1Cor. 3:15 is about one's workmanship in building the church, and “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire,” Rather than these works being personal faults which one must be purified from (and would be counted a joy for losing), and of sins being expiated (atoned, compensated for) through potentially thousands of years of “fire and torments or purifying' punishments,” (Indulgentiarum Doctrina; cp. 1. 1967) so they can enter heaven, instead those being judged are already with the Lord in heaven
Ther is no such distinction as "workmanship in building the church" opposed to "personal faults which one must be purified from". When one commits a sin, that is a sin against the entire Church as well as an individual loss, and when one does penance, that builds him individually and also builds up the Chruch as a whole (Col. 1:24). That the passage is not about the clergy only is seen in "every man's work" being underscored in the passage.
Nowhere does Scripture tell of believers being in a postmortem place of suffering for purifying of faults
In this passage, 1 Cor 3 verses 13 through 15 in particular we see that post-mortem suffering. Your point seems to be that the souls that go through the purgatorial cleansing are with the Lord already, -- which indeed in a way they are -- so you yourself agree that the suffering and loss described in the passage in focus is occuring following the believer's natural death.
the fire is that which consumes the false building material, which is shown to be the manner of converts one built the church with
No, because in 1 Cor 3:9 every believer is said to be such building. It is therefore he himself being burnt in the cleansing fire, not some disembodied "works" or "materials". You are not following the language of the metaphor through.
Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Kallistos Ware acknowledges several schools of thought among the Orthodox on the topic of purification after death. This divergence indicates that the Catholic interpretation of purgatory, more than the concept itself, is what is universally rejected
It is good that you study the Orthodox sources. Any Protestants will go miles toward the Kingdom of Heaven if he converts to the Orthodox Church and obeys her patriarchs in where they are correct and in a few cases where they are ... not in error, but in an attempt to deepen the schism. The truth is that there is much in Western Catholic Church that is peculiar to it and is not shared by the East. In this case, both East and West agree on the essentials, that there is a purification after death of those capable of being purified and thus saved, thanks to the infinite mercy of Christ. The specific Western practices and pieties are not obligatory for the East if they don't have the mind for them.
Nice work, both of you.