Case for purgatory

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OMG_THEOLOGIST

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i was reading david b. currie’s writing of purgatory in his book Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, and I ran into a road block.

these are the facts that I am aware of:
-the soul is eternal
-by definition, eternal means that time does not apply
-time is the meausurement of change.

Now the big question is:
if the soul is eternal(cannot change) then how can the soul change from a unclean soul to a pure soul in purgatory?

Thanks for your help.
 
The soul is eternal in the sense that it cannot physically die, as the body dies. The soul survives the death of the body.Matthew 10:28. But this has nothing to do with the character of a soul. When one leaves this world at death, they leave the same person they were the moment before they died. If the person or soul has remaining sin on his soul, that soul must undergo a purging of fire by God before entering heaven.
Protestants have never been taught this truth. They have been taught that you are saved the moment you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior and should you die anytime in the future, you would go directly to heaven. But they are not told that very few Christians die without sin on their soul. Sin must be dealt with. If not in this life, it will be when we pass on to the next, one way or another.
 
In the same way that one can bathe and not cease being human.
 
“If the soul is eternal(cannot change) then how can the soul change from a unclean soul to a pure soul in purgatory?”

If the difficulty rests upon a dependence on time, why do you have a difficulty with the location? In other words, can the soul “change” here on earth during Baptism, Confirmation, or Holy Orders?

Peace,

MilesJesu
 
Purgation could be instantaneous upon death, but there is nothing precluding the possibility of purgatory having duration. Eternity is an all encompassing event that includes the past, present, and future in some kind of panoramic and seemless experience that never ends. This does not suggest that there is no past, present, or future. It merely means that these things are experienced outside of our earthly experience of time which is a construct necessary to the physical world.

If you deny the possiblity of purgatory having duration based on your scenario, then you are compelled to reject other things pertaining to the after life. For example:

–it would be necessary to believe that the moment a person dies they would simultanesouly experience the resurrection of the body.

–it would be necessary to believe that the martyrs mentioned in Rev 6:9-10 have already witnessed the Lord judging and avenging their blood on those who dwell upon the earth. Scripture, however, indicates that they are waiting for this to happen.

–you would have to believe that the heavenly liturgy, described in Revelation chapter 4 and 5 which describes a sequence of activities by the twenty four elders, could not happen as sequential events.

The examples could be multiplied but those given should suffice. Clearly, we do not understand or comprehend what things will be like in eternity. We will be changed but we can only speculate how all of this is accomplished.
 
Miles
Code: 
      I answered your question already, but apparently you did not read it. The soul is eternal, because it survives the death of the body. But the soul itself is the intellect and personality of the human being who dies. That remains unchanged. What you are the moment you die remains the same after you leave your dead body. If you have remaining sin on your soul it must be purged from your being, before you can enter heaven. For NOTHING unclean can enter heaven. 

                                  It is your lack of understanding of the eternal soul that causes your confusion. You fail to equate the difference of the eternality of the soul with the character of the soul. There is a vast difference between the two. :)
 
All I can say is, I hope and pray that there is a purgatory, and I believe there is, or not too many of us are ever going to get to heaven. We are all sinners in one respect or another, and we will have to be cleansed before we can enter heaven.
 
OMG THEOLOGIST:
i was reading david b. currie’s writing of purgatory in his book Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, and I ran into a road block.

these are the facts that I am aware of:
-the soul is eternal
-by definition, eternal means that time does not apply
-time is the meausurement of change.

Now the big question is:
if the soul is eternal(cannot change) then how can the soul change from a unclean soul to a pure soul in purgatory?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Theologist,

The fallacy here is the idea that the eternal is somehow more limited than the temporal. A better analogy between eternity and time is that what we see as time is the shadow on the wall of the three-dimensional, colorful eternity. Simply because we cannot fathom how something will work does not prove that it won’t work. It’s not that “the soul cannot change” in eternity, it’s that we have no clue as to how eternity operates.
  • Liberian
 
Liberian
Why do you fail to read my post? Whether a soul exists in the temporal or enters the eternal, the soul remains as the soul is, in character and intellect, unless the will determines to change or an outside power greater than the soul eradicates the impurities of the soul itself. Do you not yet understand this?
 
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piety101:
Liberian

Why do you fail to read my post? Whether a soul exists in the temporal or enters the eternal, the soul remains as the soul is, in character and intellect, unless the will determines to change or an outside power greater than the soul eradicates the impurities of the soul itself. Do you not yet understand this?
Click to expand...
Piety,

It’s not that I failed to read your post, it’s that I thought I would come to the question from a different direction. Was there an error in my post? or was it not relevant to Theologist’s question?
  • Liberian
 
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