Receiving Jesus Christ and repentance cleanses you of all sin. The Blood of Christ is the only atonement and extension of God's grace to us. Look at the thief who died next to Jesus at Calvary. Jesus told him that "surely you will be with me today in paradise" not purgatory. Do you think the thief who was being sentenced to death had some lingering attachment to sin? Yes, he did but he went straight to heaven after his death. To believe anything otherwise is to say that Christ was a liar or guilty of 1/2 truths. Remember this just because dogma is taught does not make it valid or true. There are many teachings in the Catholic church that do not meet the Biblical smell test and that I do not agree with nor accept. The Scriptures which are the inspired Word of God is the ONLY thing we have to base things on. Any other teaching if it is not based upon Scripture is an assumption. And an assumption is life's lowest level of knowledge. A Christian no matter what sect they are in is to base their life on the truth of God's Word not dogma.
Dear DarthVader,
I'm not really trying to persuade you to believe in the doctrine of Purgatory. I'm only trying to make a little more clear just what the doctrine is and means, and trying to make clear that belief in it is required of Catholics.
As for the good thief, there is no conflict between the doctrine of Purgatory and his being with Jesus "today in Paradise."
First, we don't really know just how perfect or imperfect, how attached to sin or not, the good thief's soul was. In that the good thief quite literally shared in the Cross of Christ, one might think that he underwent some significant amount of purging, purification, perfecting, before he even died.
Second, Jesus promised him that he would be with Jesus "this day," not instantly at death. Thus, that the good thief may have experience Purgatory isn't precluded by Jesus' promise.
Third, it may not be quite precise to think of Purgatory as a place separate from Heaven. Catholic doctrine requires belief in a PROCESS of perfection, not a PLACE of perfection. As well, the concept of time is not doctrinally required in the teaching of Purgatory. One doesn't go to Purgatory for a specific period of "time," although it is speculated by the Church that souls undergoing Purgatory may experience something like time.
Thus, for all we know, the good thief may have been in the presence of God as he experienced Purgatory. What we do know, dogmatically, is that no one comes to the completion of the Beatific Vision without being perfected.
"There are many teachings in the Catholic church that do not meet the Biblical smell test and that I do not agree with nor accept."
If the Church teaches something infallibly, a Catholic must believe it. The doctrine of the Church is that there are no conflicts between infallible teaching and Scripture.
"The Scriptures which are the inspired Word of God is the ONLY thing we have to base things on."
You are certainly entitled to believe that, but that isn't actually Catholic (or Orthodox) belief. The Church teaches that Sacred Tradition and Scripture are in perfect harmony, when rightly understood, and that one must accept both.
"Any other teaching if it is not based upon Scripture is an assumption."
Again, you may choose to believe this if you wish, but this is more of a Protestant view of Christian faith than a Catholic one.
"A Christian no matter what sect they are in is to base their life on the truth of God's Word not dogma."
Well, that's a false dichotomy. It is dogma that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. It is dogma that Jesus is True God and True Man. It is dogma that Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and on the third day, rose again. These are all dogmas of the Catholic Church. Most Christians would say that one must base one's faith and one's life on them.
And here's a dogma most Christians accept: that of the Trinity: One God, three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each One God, each One a Person of Himself, yet all One God, not three. Although, as a Catholic, I believe (and am obligated to believe) that there is nothing contradictory between Scripture and the doctrine of the Trinity, nonetheless, the doctrine of the Trinity is not spelled out in the Bible.
Over the centuries, there have been a multiplicity of doctrinal interpretations of the nature of God made by various Christians, and each has used Scriptures to support his views. Some have denied the absolute Divinity of Jesus. Some have attributed Divinity to Him, but said He is of a different substance of the Father. Some have interpreted a modalist Trinity, where instead of three unique Persons, there is one God Who operates in three different modes.
Yet, orthodox Christians (whether Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant) reject all of these as being heterodox, false. But you will be hard-put to absolutely rule out these other views of the nature of God strictly through the Bible, without reference to the writings of the Fathers and the Councils of the Church.
sitetest