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Purgatory: Purifying Fire or Fatal Fable?
Proclaiming the Glory of Jesus Christ in Mexico ^ | 10/29/2011 | Mike Gendron

Posted on 10/29/2011 3:31:02 PM PDT by RnMomof7

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To: UriÂ’el-2012

More to your specific point: if you will not debate those who have “rejected the Word”, can you explain to me HOW you decided that we “rejected the word”? Unless you have reasons, then you’re simply using your raw opinions and “feelings” in place of facts... and that simply won’t do, dear fellow.


101 posted on 10/29/2011 6:50:42 PM PDT by paladinan (Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
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To: Natural Law; Mad Dawg; NYer; RnMomof7; CynicalBear; Iscool; Dutchboy88
According to the Catholic Caucus Thread entitled "How to help the Holy Souls in Purgatory", posted by NYer today, which I can read but not comment on because of its Caucus designation, "Our prayers are shortening this horrible suffering of being without God", according to the article. So purgatory is a place of suffering, not a not-so-bad rest stop on the way to heaven? The article also states that "But we (the Church) are given this great power and privilege to release souls from Purgatory. Only we are the deliverers. Christ turns to the Church Militant. We're responsible to pray for the dead." SO, this obviously means that the only way souls are released from "this horrible suffering" is through praying for the dead. The Church is the deliverer of those souls to heaven. Not Christ.

Also interesting in the same thread: "What about babies in limbo?" was a question asked. THe answer: In 2005, a Vatican appointed group of international theologians, led by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, closed the doors of limbo forever. There is a link provided: "closing the doors of limbo: Theologians say is was hypothesis."

Limbo was an "hypothesis"? What about the poor people who "prayed" their loved ones out of the now hypothetical limbo? They based their faith on an hypothesis?...? But it's okay, I guess, that group of of "international theologians", led by the CURRENT Pope just closed the doors forever. How does one close the doors forever on an hypothesis?

102 posted on 10/29/2011 6:51:59 PM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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To: Natural Law

I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but yes I do, I was simply positing that the Lord God Jesus told his companion on the cross, after he’d told the other thief that he should show some respect because they were with the deity, “today you will be with me in paradise”. That’s all I need to know. It makes the rest of the Gospel ring true. In fact it gives the lie to the doctrine of purgatory. The thief believed, that’s all that’s required to wipe away your sins. Do you seriously read the gospel and think that in any way it requires something of your doing to achieve salvation? Of course it doesn’t, if it did you’d play a part in saving yourself and you cannot. It’s all God.

The money raising efforts of the purgatory nonsense are just man being man. A few more golden vessels for the clergy. It was just nonsense and completely a money making effort on behalf of the biggest industry in midevial europe. Total nonsense all of it.


103 posted on 10/29/2011 6:56:45 PM PDT by Carl from Marietta (Herman Cain 2012..get on the CAIN train! Content of Character, that's the ticket!)
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To: paladinan
(cf. James 2:24,

Have you ever read and comprehended James 1:1 ??

Is this book written to you ?

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
104 posted on 10/29/2011 6:59:27 PM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: narses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEL_7TS5FE

This is great and is the Magnificat.


105 posted on 10/29/2011 7:02:23 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore (Member of the First Church of Christ, I am Catholic)
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To: narses

***Oh, look: God is a “consuming fire,” when you draw close to him your sins are burned away. Latin theologians called this “purgatory”.***

Yep! Just like this!

Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Isa 6:6 ¶ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

Isa 6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin PURGED.

What can wash away my sins,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus...


106 posted on 10/29/2011 7:07:55 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Click my name. See my home page, if you dare! NEW PHOTOS & PAINTINGS)
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To: Natural Law

BTW: good tag-line! :)

Yep, I agree, great tag-line! :-D


107 posted on 10/29/2011 7:09:15 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore (Member of the First Church of Christ, I am Catholic)
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To: Carl from Marietta
"I was simply positing that the Lord God Jesus told his companion on the cross, after he’d told the other thief that he should show some respect because they were with the deity, “today you will be with me in paradise”."

Like the centurion you don't care what processes or steps must be taken for Jesus' will to be implemented. Me too. There are things we assume to be done. One of those is a final purification.

108 posted on 10/29/2011 7:10:40 PM PDT by Natural Law (Transubstantiation - Change we can believe in.)
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To: smvoice
"Our prayers are shortening this horrible suffering of being without God", according to the article. So purgatory is a place of suffering, not a not-so-bad rest stop on the way to heaven?

Pardon me, but: where did you get the somewhat caricature-ridden idea that Purgatory was some sort of pleasant "rest-stop"? I assure you, the teachings of the Catholic Church did not give you that idea. I'd also ask you to take your information from a more authoritative source (such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church); an article, no matter how well-written or well-meant, can contain incidental (or worse) errors or ambiguities of the author.

The article also states that "But we (the Church) are given this great power and privilege to release souls from Purgatory. Only we are the deliverers. Christ turns to the Church Militant. We're responsible to pray for the dead." SO, this obviously means that the only way souls are released from "this horrible suffering" is through praying for the dead.

No. Purgatory, by its very nature (i.e. "purifying fires"), makes a soul fit for Heaven... though we who pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory can (through the merits of Christ) speed their way by our prayers, penances and sacrifices for their sakes. It is in keeping with the dignity of man, created in the image and likeness of God, that man should not be idle in the work of his own sanctification (i.e. "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" [cf. Philippians 2:12ff], etc.). We're not meant to twiddle our thumbs, while God does every last thing for us; we are sons, not rocks or puppets.

The Church is the deliverer of those souls to heaven. Not Christ.

(??) Where on earth do you get that idea? That's akin to saying, "The Hand of the Lord saved us [cf. Isaiah 59:1, etc.], not the Lord, Himself." Surely you know that the Church is the very Body of Christ? Do you claim that Christ can save, but only without His Body?

Also interesting in the same thread: "What about babies in limbo?" was a question asked. THe answer: In 2005, a Vatican appointed group of international theologians, led by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, closed the doors of limbo forever. There is a link provided: "closing the doors of limbo: Theologians say is was hypothesis."

That is accurate.

Limbo was an "hypothesis"?

Yes. It was a reasonable one, given the difficulties between "necessity of Baptism for salvation" and "innocent baby dying without Baptism", and such... but it was merely a theory.

What about the poor people who "prayed" their loved ones out of the now hypothetical limbo?

Pardon me, but: you're getting a few things rather muddled. In the old theory of Limbo, unbaptized infants (and those in similar states, such as the feeble-minded who were unbaptized, but who had never committed sin) were PERMANENTLY sent to Limbo (whose nature was the topic of much speculation). There was no question of "praying anyone out of Limbo"; that is proper to Purgatory, not Limbo.

How does one close the doors forever on an hypothesis?

By declaring it to be wrong and/or untenable... somewhat like the "phlogistin" theory of combustion, or the Ptolemaic Theory of Heavenly Motion. I fail to see the difficulty, here; can you explain?


109 posted on 10/29/2011 7:10:49 PM PDT by paladinan (Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

According to John even Enoch and Elisha are not in the realm of heaven were Christ came from. Paul speaks of several heavens he was taken to the 3rd heaven but could not talk of the wonderful things he saw.

110 posted on 10/29/2011 7:12:09 PM PDT by guitarplayer1953 (Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to GOD! Thomas Jefferson)
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To: conservativguy99
The Gospel was collated by the Catholic Church. You can put everything in CAPS but that doesn’t change anything, protestant.

Caps were used in "WORD OF GOD" you object? Or is it the Word of the church instead I should use to satisfy some ancient tradition?

The WORD OF GOD has never been dependent upon man. The Word existed before Moses and existed before Adam. GOD knew our poverty as Isaiah and Isaiah in chapter 53 {writings written long before the RCC} knew GOD had a plan of salvation for mans salvation that was not dependent on man but Christ alone.

Not one word of man needing additional rituals or purification are in those passages. Christ intercedes for us we need not too ask favor of any other beings on this earth or in heaven for our salvation nor entrance too heaven. We die and our spirit being is with The Lord that very instant and our tired cursed bodies of the flesh return to dust.

111 posted on 10/29/2011 7:13:30 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: Not gonna take it anymore

:)


112 posted on 10/29/2011 7:14:47 PM PDT by narses (what you bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and what you loose upon earth, shall be ..)
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To: paladinan

First and foremost is the evidence of Scripture. John 3:15-18 says about Christ: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is eternal.

In John 10:28-30, Jesus says: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The forgiveness of God through Christ is sufficient to cover all of our sins — past, present, and future. There is nothing a person can do that God cannot forgive. This doctrine is supported by Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 4:30, and Jude 24, among others.

Once Saved, Always Saved – The Logical Evidence
As with many other scriptural doctrines, the idea of “once saved, always saved” is also supported logically. Eternal security is consistent with everything else the Bible teaches about mankind, and God. Examining the doctrine in relation to the rest of Scripture demonstrates that it is consistent with all other biblically sound teachings. The idea of losing our salvation is not only unscriptural, but it creates monumental problems with other doctrines, including salvation by faith, the sin nature of man, and the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice.

The Bible teaches that man is inherently sinful — that a sinful nature is a part of all of us (Romans 3:10). This means that even after being saved, every single believer is going to sin from time to time. Thinking that we can live a perfect, sinless life after our salvation is not only unscriptural, but arrogant (James 2:10). If we are not eternally secure, this sinning will cause us to lose our salvation, but how much sin is too much? There is no scriptural “yardstick” given to tell us how many or what kind of sins are enough to void our salvation. Without eternal security, the Bible would describe a situation where Christianity is a perpetual game of Russian Roulette; a life in which condemnation and salvation alternate every time we sin and confess, and we never know if we’re saved or not.


113 posted on 10/29/2011 7:16:26 PM PDT by Carl from Marietta (Herman Cain 2012..get on the CAIN train! Content of Character, that's the ticket!)
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To: UriÂ’el-2012

Certainly. I also read and comprehended Romans 1:1 (which was written to the Romans, and not to you or me), and so forth; but unless you’re suggesting that God placed the letter of St. James in the Bible for no reason relevant to Salvation (and I do wonder at your audacity at picking and choosing which books are expendable, if so!), or that Jesus was speaking ONLY to Nicodemus when He spoke the words of John 3:16, then I’m afraid you’ll have to admit that the entirety of the Bible is meant for us... including James 2:24, friend. When Holy Scripture makes a statement of fact, it is meant to be taken as such, and not simply as a provincial detail of Palestinian history.


114 posted on 10/29/2011 7:16:55 PM PDT by paladinan (Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
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To: starlifter
The One True Church is always ready to welcome you back.

If you refer to the Roman Catholic Church -- no thanks. Never was and never will be Roman Catholic.

I am, however, a member of the Body of Christ and have been for some time due to God's grace, through faith alone. Through Christ's shed blood, death and resurrection. The Roman Catholic Church has NOTHING to do with salvation -- neither does any other man-made edifice.

I pray for your conversion.

No need; God took care of that already. However, I will pray for yours.

Hoss

115 posted on 10/29/2011 7:18:01 PM PDT by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: conservativguy99; HossB86

***BTW, where did you get that Bible you’re so proud of? Look to Rome.****

Rome? More like Jerusalem, Constantinople and Alexandria. I don’t believe any of the writers wrote their God inspired letters and books in Latin.


116 posted on 10/29/2011 7:20:01 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Click my name. See my home page, if you dare! NEW PHOTOS & PAINTINGS)
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To: paladinan
Certainly. I also read and comprehended Romans 1:1 (which was written to the Romans, and not to you or me),

Paul was writing to the Messianic
believers in the city of Rome.

A good skill to develop is to read all
the words and read them in context.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
117 posted on 10/29/2011 7:20:55 PM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: Carl from Marietta

(Pardon the delay in my reply... I’m off to bed. I’ll try to get a reply to you tomorrow; I don’t mean to neglect it!)


118 posted on 10/29/2011 7:21:05 PM PDT by paladinan (Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
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To: Carl from Marietta

Amen!


119 posted on 10/29/2011 7:21:07 PM PDT by hocndoc (WingRight.org Have mustard seed: Will use. Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending, now,now,now!)
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To: UriÂ’el-2012
Thank you for that FACT. Rule 1: WHO was it written to? 2. WHY was it written? 3. What does it say?

TO THE TWELVE TRIBES which are scattered abroad.

Just like Hebrews. WHO was it written to? THE HEBREWS.

Sometimes I feel compelled to just say "DUH".

1st and 2nd Peter. WHO were they written to? Those in the LAST DAYS. John. Who were they written to? Those contending for the original faith that was delivered unto them. The last days. Jude: Same thing. And Revelation: Obviously those in the last days.

120 posted on 10/29/2011 7:22:01 PM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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