Purgatory -- where did it come from?

[Bishka]

Where did the idea of purgatory come from and where is the basis for it and is it practiced anymore?

 

[James the Persian]

Where did the idea of purgatory come from and where is the basis for it and is it practiced anymore?

I'd be interested to see the answers to this too as it is one of the peculiar doctrines of Roman Catholicism that was rejected in the east. I'm not sure how you can practice purgatory, though. What do you mean by that? How do you practice a belief?

James

 

[Bishka]

I'd be interested to see the answers to this too as it is one of the peculiar doctrines of Roman Catholicism that was rejected in the east. I'm not sure how you can practice purgatory, though. What do you mean by that? How do you practice a belief?

James

What I mean about praciticing it, is the the belief still preached and told that it is true?

 

[James the Persian]

What I mean about praciticing it, is the the belief still preached and told that it is true?

Yes, the RCC does still teach purgatory. Nobody else does to my knowledge (and if they do they must be offshoots of the RCC themselves, such as the Old Catholics) and historically the doctrine was only ever taught in the post-Schism west. It was condemned in the east.

James

 

[retrorich]

Purgatory -- where did it come from?

From human imagination, as did all religious theories.

 

[michel]

An excerpt From:-http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm

I. CATHOLIC DOCTRINE​

Purgatory (Lat., "purgare", to make clean, to purify) in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.
The faith of the Church concerning purgatory is clearly expressed in the Decree of Union drawn up by the Council of Florence (Mansi, t. XXXI, col. 1031), and in the decree of the Council of Trent which (Sess. XXV) defined:

"Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has from the Sacred Scriptures and the ancient tradition of the Fathers taught in Councils and very recently in this Ecumenical synod (Sess. VI, cap. XXX; Sess. XXII cap.ii, iii) that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar; the Holy Synod enjoins on the Bishops that they diligently endeavor to have the sound doctrine of the Fathers in Councils regarding purgatory everywhere taught and preached, held and believed by the faithful" (Denzinger, "Enchiridon", 983).​

Further than this the definitions of the Church do not go, but the tradition of the Fathers and the Schoolmen must be consulted to explain the teachings of the councils, and to make clear the belief and the practices of the faithful.
Temporal Punishment That temporal punishment is due to sin, even after the sin itself has been pardoned by God, is clearly the teaching of Scripture. God indeed brought man out of his first disobedience and gave him power to govern all things (Wisdom 10:2), but still condemned him "to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow" until he returned unto dust. God forgave the incredulity of Moses and Aaron, but in punishment kept them from the "land of promise" (Numbers 20:12). The Lord took away the sin of David, but the life of the child was forfeited because David had made God's enemies blaspheme His Holy Name (2 Samuel 12:13-14). In the New Testament as well as in the Old, almsgiving and fasting, and in general penitential acts are the real fruits of repentance (Matthew 3:8; Luke 17:3; 3:3). The whole penitential system of the Church testifies that the voluntary assumption of penitential works has always been part of true repentance and the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, can. xi) reminds the faithful that God does not always remit the whole punishment due to sin together with the guilt. God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off eternally from God.

 

[Katzpur]

Where did the idea of purgatory come from and where is the basis for it and is it practiced anymore?

I believe the concept of Purgatory most likely originated with the ancient Christian belief in the Spirit Prison as described in the Bible. The two do, after all, have certain elements in common. I suspect the belief in Purgatory evolved as the Apostasy took place.

 

[Bishka]

I believe the concept of Purgatory most likely originated with the ancient Christian belief in the Spirit Prison as described in the Bible. The two do, after all, have certain elements in common. I believe the belief in Purgatory evolved as the Apostasy took place.

I never thought about it that way.

 

[James the Persian]

I believe the concept of Purgatory most likely originated with the ancient Christian belief in the Spirit Prison as described in the Bible. The two do, after all, have certain elements in common. I suspect the belief in Purgatory evolved as the Apostasy took place.

So the 'Apostasy' is post-Great Schism now, then? That's good to know. I'd have to ask, though, if the Apostasy occurred so late and purgatory is a symptom of it, Orthodoxy must be correct (we have never agreed to the post-Schism RC doctrine of purgatory) and so I have to ask what need there was for a restoration. It really would be helpful to LDS arguments of Apostasy if you could actually identify a period by which the Church had already apostacised. And if you do, as I believe you do, think that the Church was already Apostate long before 1054, then what possible relation can there be between the 'Apostasy' and purgatory?

James

 

[eudaimonia]

Wasn't the doctrine of purgatory recently abandoned by the Catholic church? Or am I misremembering something?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[James the Persian]

Wasn't the doctrine of purgatory recently abandoned by the Catholic church? Or am I misremembering something?


eudaimonia,

Mark

You're misremembering. They recently disavowed the teaching on limbo (which was never doctrine to begin with, but was a common RC belief). They most certainly do still teach the doctrine of purgatory.

James

 

[michel]

Wasn't the doctrine of purgatory recently abandoned by the Catholic church? Or am I misremembering something?


eudaimonia,

Mark

I am not sure, but this, published in october last year suggests that the belief is still held to by many.
http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/05ws/ws051027.htm
By Fr. William P. Saunders
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 10/27/05)
I hardly hear purgatory mentioned anymore. I have even heard some Catholics say we do not believe in it since Vatican II. What is the right teaching? — A reader in Reston
On Sept. 17, 2002, our late beloved Pope John Paul II stressed the need to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The first and highest form of charity for brothers is the ardent desire for their eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of space and time, enabling us to love those who have already left this earth." Therefore, not only the belief in purgatory but also the spiritual duty to pray for the souls there remains part of our Catholic faith.
Contrary to what some may erroneously believe, Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" asserted, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51).
Moreover, the Catechism clearly affirms the Church's belief in purgatory and the purification of the soul after death: "All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but, after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (cf. No. 1030-32).

 

[gnostic]

Purgatory always remind me of Dante's The Divine Comedy. I don't know why. *shrugs shoulder*