It's like the old joke about the man looking on the ground and somebody says what are you doing? He says, "I dropped my key over on Elm Street." "But this is Pine Street.""I know, but the light is so much better here so it's much easier to look."
It is as if somebody hurled a flash-bang into a room to see who stuck his head up, and then busily denied hurling the grenade.
Purgatory is NOT "between" hell and heaven. Everyone in Purgatory KNOWS he is saved. Purgatory is a place of hope and joy. It is the Riker's Island of heaven. It's in Heaven in a way, as Riker's Island was in the US in a way. (okay,not the best analogy.)I see the promise of purgatory as a MERCY of God's care for me and desire for me to be as spiritually strong and happy as possible. Compared to this life, for me Purgatory will be a step up into the beginning of bliss.
I am currently recovering from foot surgery. I am in pain. I am also thrilled (so far) because this pain is the sign that I am getting better and stronger. It is, in fact, the outskirts of greater health. (If I didn't feel pain, something would be very wrong.)
To have a discussion about what the Bible says is not unChristian. To promulgate falsehood and sophistry is at least ignorant (and so blameless if the ignorance was unavoidable) and possibly negligent (and culpable). That it could be presented as a fruit of the Spirit is preposterous.
Some Catholics may believe this or that. I have met any number of very bizarre beliefs among Protestants. Currently the Episcopal Church believes that buggery can be a sacramental act. Jehovah's witnesses believe that it is better to let a child die than to allow him a blood transfusion. But I don't throw their deviations from what Protestants generally believe in your face. I leave that kind of sophistry to you all.
If the doctrine of purgatory denies the finished work of Salvation on the Cross (which evidently I am supposed to believe on your authority) then so do Paul and Jesus.
And I love your last sentence: I understand you to say you can lie and offend without guilt because those who disagree with you are going to hell. I suppose when you go fishing you start by stomping around in the creek and setting off fireworks, and when you want to catch flies you set out saucers of vinegar. Good luck with that, but I hope you understand my suspicion that catching fish or flies is not really your goal.
Are you sure you don't mean Ellis Island?
Ellis Island was the immigrant processing place. Riker's Island is the New York City jail.
Please tell Old Reggie why Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene before the Apostles in the Gospel of John. He is either writing another Dan Brown novel or wants to make a point of some kind. He doesn't accept any of the abundant references for the Papacy I've given so I am going to hand this off to a higher authority ecclesiastically. I know a Dominican can always take care of business.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us...and Old Reggie.
F
Looks like we have a discussion going on Purgatory here. Shall I post the Scripture that SUPPORTS Purgatory. Yes, it's in the Bible!
PS. I know I dropping in on the end of the thread, but I wanted to post it yesterday and didn't get around to it.