Does everybody go to purgatory

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Damo73

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I dont understand purgatory, is it a place that christians go to suffer until they have suffered enough for there sins?did not Jesus take the punishment of sin upon him self “death”.What verses mention this place?Do people still go to Hell or do they go to purgatory?
 
Damo73 said:
I dont understand purgatory, is it a place that christians go to suffer until they have suffered enough for there sins?did not Jesus take the punishment of sin upon him self “death”.What verses mention this place?Do people still go to Hell or do they go to purgatory?
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I thought Catholics believe that Saints do not have to go to so-called “Purgatory”.
 
Damo73 said:
I dont understand purgatory, is it a place that christians go to suffer until they have suffered enough for there sins?did not Jesus take the punishment of sin upon him self “death”.What verses mention this place?Do people still go to Hell or do they go to purgatory?
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Everyone who dies in God’s grace with any venial sin or imperfection will go to Purgatory for a time. Everyone who dies with unrepented Mortal sin goes directly to Hell.
 
CCC
[SIGN]1030 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.
[/SIGN]

Even Pope John Paul II went to regular Confession. The odds of dieing in a perfect state of grace are small.
 
Damo73 said:
I dont understand purgatory, is it a place that christians go to suffer until they have suffered enough for there sins?did not Jesus take the punishment of sin upon him self “death”.What verses mention this place?Do people still go to Hell or do they go to purgatory?
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Welcome, Damo!!! Let me ask you, what is the prison that Jesus refers to in Matthew 5:26, and what is the last penny you have to pay?

Mat. 5:25-26 - Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
 
Unfortunately many think of Purgatory as a lesser evil than hell. Nothing can be further from the truth. Purgatory is merely a state by which God can purify us completely so we can wholly receive him. Sin is basically looking for satisfaction in something else other than God. In order to enter heaven, we must renounce these ‘satisfactions’ and the process causes suffering in the soul as we are depriving it from the habits it was used to. In the process the soul will no longer seek to feed on these habits but on God.
There is also suffering in that the soul experiences separation from God. Remember that all sin, no matter how small is infinitely opposed to God and hence God cannot wolly communicate with a soul that is in opposition to his infinite love. And being that heaven is that state in which the soul is in union with God…well you get the idea

Cheers

Alex
 
Damo73 said:
I dont understand purgatory, is it a place that christians go to suffer until they have suffered enough for there sins?did not Jesus take the punishment of sin upon him self “death”.What verses mention this place?Do people still go to Hell or do they go to purgatory?
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I hope that in God’s ultimate grace that everyone goes to purgatory. I pray that nobody goes to hell.
 
Damo, you’re going to have to explain Paul in 1 Corinthians, for Catholics teach that this points to Purgatory.

(1 Cor. 3:10-15) *According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.

After your death, you suffer loss, as through fire (Purgatory), but you are still saved.*****
 
…or, you might be the thief on the cross to whom God himself says “today you will be with me in paradise”…

If the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is real (most Protestants read the Scriptures to come to a different conclusion, I don’t know about the Orthodox), I doubt that in real life there are many people who die without even one venial sin or doubt on their soul. If that’s the case, then you’d end up in purgatory to be cleansed so that you can proceed to heaven.
 
rr1213 said:
…or, you might be the thief on the cross to whom God himself says “today you will be with me in paradise”…

If the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is real (most Protestants read the Scriptures to come to a different conclusion, I don’t know about the Orthodox), I doubt that in real life there are many people who die without even one venial sin or doubt on their soul. If that’s the case, then you’d end up in purgatory to be cleansed so that you can proceed to heaven.
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BINGO!!! Until you’ve paid the last penny.

Unless of course, Jesus looks over at you and says, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise…” 😉
 
I wish all Christians and Catholics could shift their thinking from “what do i have to do to stay out of hell and get to heaven” and shift instead to “i don’t want to commit this sin because i don’t want to distance myself from my Creator. I love Him too much to disrespect God and myself”… the world would be much holier.
 
You’re so right, chris.

The first way of thinking is purely reactionary; the second is true and positive action.
 
NotWorthy said:
BINGO!!! Until you’ve paid the last penny.

Unless of course, Jesus looks over at you and says, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise…” 😉
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Temporal suffering at the time of death might in fact mitigate Purgatory. The good thief was crucified next to Jesus, after all, able to talk to Him but not to touch Him.

Debts must be forgiven, repudiated, or paid. There aren’t any other obvious alternatives.
 
Malcolm_McLean said:
Temporal suffering at the time of death might in fact mitigate Purgatory. The good thief was crucified next to Jesus, after all, able to talk to Him but not to touch Him.

Debts must be forgiven, repudiated, or paid. There aren’t any other obvious alternatives.
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I agree with you that that is the norm. But I wouldn’t bind Jesus to any restrictions on who can bypass Purgatory.
 
alexaustralia said:
Unfortunately many think of Purgatory as a lesser evil than hell. Nothing can be further from the truth. Purgatory is merely a state by which God can purify us completely so we can wholly receive him.
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How do you reconcile your teaching with what the writer of Hebrews said concerning Christ and His substitutionary sin-sacrifice on the cross?Heb. 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
 
apophasis said:
How do you reconcile your teaching with what the writer of Hebrews said concerning Christ and His substitutionary sin-sacrifice on the cross?Heb. 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
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Our sins are forgiven, there is no question there. But, we are still liable for the temporal punishment of our actions.

Hence, Purgatory.

For example: If your son breaks a neighbors window, and he comes to you tearfully to confess his action, do you forgive him (assuming it was an accident)? Yes, of course you do.

But do you show him that his negligence is going to cost someone some money and you make him work to pay off the broken window? A good father would do that. Hence, Purgatory!!

Now, Apophasis, how do you reconcile the Scripture I quoted regarding paying your debt to the last penny, while you are in prison?
 
Has the Church made a proclamation on if there is a literal fire in purgatory, or is it still just optional?
 
book: Catholicism for Dummies page 288:
Purgatory isn’t considered a spiritual jail or hell with parole. And Catholicism DOES NOT teach that everyone goes to purgatory.
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So NOT everyone goes to purgatory. Also, purgatory is NOT a jail or hell. So what is it???
book: Catholicism of Dummies page 289:
It may help to think of purgatory in terms of a major operation to save a life. Say a doctor performs surgery on someone’s heart or brain and removes a cancerous tumor. The surgery achieves the main objective, but the wound needs to heal, and the incision needs to be cleaned and rebandaged. Purgatory is like that secondary part of the recovery— the healing, cleaning, and bandaging.
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So this means that Christ passion was the surgery and it work. It was successful and it did the job. There will be a 100% recovery! However, the person still needs to recover and heal. Purgatory is the recovering stage.

One last note:
book: Catholicism for Dummies page 291:
Catholics DO NOT see purgatory as a place of pain or torment. Instead it’s considered a place of expectant joy, although suffering occurs from the temporary distance… You can hear the joy and merriment of (heaven), smell the foods, and hear the music and laughter, but you can’t see any faces or distinguish voices or aromas. You’re close but yet far enough away to feel the pain of not being in (heaven). Yet you know that you ARE NOT ready yet. Your clothes are dirty and wrinkled, your hair’s a mess, and you need to shave and brush your teeth. Why all this preparation? Well Catholic believe that God and heaven are worth it.
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So it’s more of a dressing room or back stage of a concert. You are there it’s your big moment, you can go on stage (heaven), but you are just not ready to do it.

Also everyone in Purgatory will go to Heaven!!!

I highly suggest that you read the book: Catholicism for Dummies

Book: Catholicism for Dummies
Authors: Rev. John Trigilio Jr and Rev. Kenneth Brighenti
Published by: Wiley Publishing Inc (2003)

Catholicism for Dummies will answer a lot of questions and explain a lot of things regarding Catholicism. Plus it’s an easy to read format!!! A big plus!!!
 
NotWorthy said:
Our sins are forgiven, there is no question there.
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But that wasn’t my question. I asked how you can reconcile your doctrine of “Purgatory” with Heb. 1:3:Heb 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,.
 
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