Gumb << I dont believe they were taught by the apostles. Maybe some early church fathers toyed around with the idea of purgatory, but it definitely was not universally accepted in the early church. >>
The argument that “X” was not universally accepted in the early church (meaning first or second century AD) is not a good one since you can apply that to the fully-developed doctrine of the Trinity and the 27-book NT canon. There was definitely not a universally accepted “one God in substance, nature, or essence with three co-eternal, co-equal Persons” (in those precise words) nor a 27-book NT in the “early church” (the Gospels were widely accepted, but at least 5 of the NT books were disputed, or not included, or not known).
I can agree there were no
confessionals in the first century, there was no full-blown doctrine of papal infallibility of a
"Pope ruling from Rome" in the NT, and that a third “place” or state of
purgatory is not explicit in the teaching of Jesus or His apostles (unless you count “hades” or “sheol”). That does not cause me to doubt or have difficulty with these doctrines.
The basic foundations for these doctrines are found in the Bible (i.e. they are “biblical” in my opinion, see Dave Armstrong’s
books and site Biblical Evidence for Catholicism). Prayers for the dead was a universally accepted practice by the 2nd century A.D., found in the book of Maccabees (2 Macc 12), and in the case of Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy (see
this commentary just written yesterday by Dave Armstrong on his blog). There are also examples of “temporal punishments” for forgiven sin found in the Bible (2 Sam 12:13-14, there are others).
The explicit teaching of these doctrines as found in the Fathers became more clear over time. St. Augustine was of course most explicit on
purgatory, but we have testimony before him:
ORIGEN: “It remains then that you be committed to the fire which will burn the light materials; for our God to those who can comprehend heavenly things is called a cleansing fire. But this fire consumes not the creature, but what the creature has himself built, wood, and hay and stubble. It is manifest that the fire destroys the wood of our transgressions and then returns to us the reward of our great works [cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15].”
CLEMENT OF ALEX: “The greatest torments, indeed, are assigned to the believer. For God’s righteousness is good, and His goodness is righteous. And though the punishments cease in the course of the completion of the expiation and purification of each one, yet those have very great and permanent grief who are found worthy of the other fold, on account of not being along with those that have been glorified through righteousness.”
CYRPIAN: “It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison [cf. Matt 5:26; 1 Peter 3:19], not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to be at once crowned by the Lord.”
LACTANTIUS: “But also, when God will judge the just, it is likewise in fire that he will try them. At that time, they whose sins are uppermost, either because of their gravity or their number, will be drawn together by the fire and will be burned. Those, however, who have been imbued with full justice and maturity of virtue, will not feel that fire; for they have something of God in them which will repel and turn back the strength of the flame.”
CYRIL OF J: “Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, Apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep; for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice [of the Mass] is laid out…For I know that there are many who are saying this: ‘If a soul departs from this world with sins, what does it profit it to be remembered in the prayer?’…[we] grant a remission of their penalties…we too offer prayers to Him for those who have fallen asleep though they be sinners. We do not plait a crown, but offer up Christ who has been sacrificed for our sins; and we thereby propitiate the benevolent God for them as well as for ourselves.”
I call that more than “toying” with the
doctrine. It seems quite explicit when we move into the fourth century (the same century as Nicaea, Constantinople, and the canon of the NT was formalized).
Arguments Against Purgatory Considered (another good one)
Phil P
