Glad to hear you didn't wind up on one of Dante's other levels. :-)
Purgatory isn't mentioned explicitly, but in the book of Maccabees, there is talk of praying for the dead - "It is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins" (2 Macc.12:46). Without something like purgatory, the passage wouldn't make much sense. I think most theologians today would call it more of a process (purgation and purification) rather than a place. Evidence in the catacombs suggests that the earliest Christians prayed for their dead.
Protestants consider the books of Maccabees part of the "Apocrypha", and not part of the canon of scripture. Therefore, they see no evidence or warrant for purgatory. I believe that the Eastern Orthodox, like Catholics, consider Maccabees part of the deutero-canonicals, and part of scripture. They don't hold to a doctrine of purgatory, but they do believe in a cleansing or purification process before entry to heaven.
My fate?
2 comments:
Wave "hi" tyo me where you get to purgatory ... I'll be there to, according to the test :-).
Am I wrong in thinking that there's not really any mention of purgatory in the Bible?
Hi Crystal,
Glad to hear you didn't wind up on one of Dante's other levels. :-)
Purgatory isn't mentioned explicitly, but in the book of Maccabees, there is talk of praying for the dead - "It is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins" (2 Macc.12:46). Without something like purgatory, the passage wouldn't make much sense. I think most theologians today would call it more of a process (purgation and purification) rather than a place. Evidence in the catacombs suggests that the earliest Christians prayed for their dead.
Protestants consider the books of Maccabees part of the "Apocrypha", and not part of the canon of scripture. Therefore, they see no evidence or warrant for purgatory. I believe that the Eastern Orthodox, like Catholics, consider Maccabees part of the deutero-canonicals, and part of scripture. They don't hold to a doctrine of purgatory, but they do believe in a cleansing or purification process before entry to heaven.
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