Earliest Christians on Purgatory

  • Thread starter Thread starter Erick_Ybarra
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Erick_Ybarra

Guest
“The souls of the godly remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worst place, waiting for the time of judgement.” (Justin Martyr- 160 E), 1.197

“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then if finds itself enjoying its freedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fears as soon as it sees the very angel’s face- depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230).

“There is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, unless it believes while it is still in the flesh. For it is an established truth that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges” (Tertullian c. 210, W- 3.551)

“When you have once departed yonder, there is no longer any place for repentance. And there is no possibility of making satisfaction. Here life is either lost or saved. Here eternal safety is provided for by the worship of God and the fruits of faith. Do not let anyone be restrained from coming to obtain salvation, either by his sins or by his years. To him who still remains in this world, no repentance is too late” (Cyprian 5.465).

“In hades there is no repentance…so while the way of mercy is open, brethren, let us entreat God with full atonements” Treatise against novatian 2.662, 663

“A second life is not granted to us. It is not as though if we seek wisdom in this life, we will be wise in the next one. Each result must be brought about in this life. It should be quickly found in order that it may be quickly embraced” Lactantius 7.85

“Let no one imagine that souls are immediately judged after death. For all are detained in one and a common place of confinement- until the arrival of the time in which the great judge will make an investigation of their deserts. Those whose piety will have been approved will receive the reward of immortality. However, those whose sins and crimes will have been brought to light - these will not rise again. Rather, they will be hidden in the same darkness with the wicked, being destined to certain punishment.” Lactantius 7.217
 
Tradition / Church Fathers
I. The Early Church’s Belief in Purgatory

“And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again receives her. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: Mother, thou shaft have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the just.” Acts of Paul and Thecla (A.D. 160).

“Abercius by name, I am a disciple of the chaste shepherd…He taught me…faithful writings…These words, I, Abercius, standing by, ordered to be inscribed. In truth, I was in the course of my seventy-second year. Let him who understands and believes this pray fro Abercius.” Inscription of Abercius (A.D. 190).

(Edited)

The Early Church’s Belief in Purgatory (Full article)
 
“As often as the anniversary comes round, we make offerings for the dead as birthday honours.” Tertullian, The Chaplut, 3 (A.D. 211).

“[A] woman is more bound when her husband is dead…Indeed, she prays for his soul, and requests refreshment for him meanwhile, and fellowship (with him) in the first resurrection; and she offers (her sacrifice) on the anniversary of his falling asleep.” Tertullian, On Monogamy, 10 (A.D. 216).

“For if on the foundation of Christ you have built not only gold and silver and precious stones (1 Cor.,3); but also wood and hay and stubble, what do you expect when the soul shall be separated from the body? Would you enter into heaven with your wood and hay and stubble and thus defile the kingdom of God; or on account of these hindrances would you remain without and receive no reward for your gold and silver and precious stones; neither is this just. 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.” Origen, Homilies on Jeremias, PG 13:445, 448 ( A.D. 244).

“For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace is given. Yet virginity is not therefore deficient in the Church, nor does the glorious design of continence languish through the sins of others. The Church, crowned with so many virgins, flourishes; and chastity and modesty preserve the tenor of their glory. Nor is the vigour of continence broken down because repentance and pardon are facilitated to the adulterer. It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory: it is one thing, when cast into prison, 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.” Cyprian, To Antonianus, Epistle 51 (55):20 (A.D. 253).

“Let us pray for our brethren that are at rest in Christ, that God, the lover of mankind, who has received his soul, may forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may be merciful and gracious to him, and give him his lot in the land of the pious that are sent into the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with all those that have pleased Him and done His will from the beginning of the world, whence all sorrow, grief, and lamentation are banished.” Apostolic Constitutions, 8:4,41 (3rd Century).

“The same divine fire, therefore, with one and the same force and power, will both burn the wicked and will form them again, and will replace as much as it shall consume of their bodies, and will supply itself with eternal nourishment: which the poets transferred to the vulture of Tityus. Thus, without any wasting of bodies, which regain their substance, it will only burn and affect them with a sense of pain. But when He shall have judged the righteous, He will also try them with fire. Then they whose sins shall exceed either in weight or in number, shall be scorched by the fire and burnt: but they whom full justice and maturity of virtue has imbued will not perceive that fire; for they have something of God in themselves which repels and rejects the violence of the flame.” Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, 7:21 (A.D. 307).

"Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition. Then on behalf also of the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls, for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth. And I wish to persuade you by an illustration. For I know that many say, what is a soul profited, which departs from this world either with sins, or without sins, if it be commemorated in the prayer? For if a king were to banish certain who had given him of-fence, and then those who belong to them should weave a crown and offer it to him on behalf of those under punishment, would he not grant a remission of their penalties? In the same way we, when we offer to Him our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, though they be sinners, weave no crown, but offer up Christ sacrificed for our sins, propitiating our merciful God for them as well as for ourselves.” Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 23:9,10 (c. A.D. 350).

.
 
“I think that the noble athletes of God, who have wrestled all their lives with the invisible enemies, after they have escaped all of their persecutions and have come to the end of life, are examined by the prince of this world; and if they are found to have any wounds from their wrestling, any stains or effects of sin, they are detained. If, however they are found unwounded and without stain, they are, as unconquered, brought by Christ into their rest.” Basil, Homilies on the Psalms, 7:2 (ante A.D. 370).

“Lay me not with sweet spices: for this honour avails me not; Nor yet incense and perfumes: for the honour benefits me not. Burn sweet spices in the Holy Place: and me, even me, conduct to the grave with prayer. Give ye incense to God: and over me send up hymns. Instead of perfumes of spices: in prayer make remembrance of me.” Ephraem, His Testament (ante A.D. 373).

“Useful too is the prayer fashioned on their [the dead’s] behalf…it is useful, because in this world we often stumble either voluntarily or involuntarily.” Epiphanius, Panarion, 75:8 (A.D. 375).

“When he has quitted his body and the difference between virtue and vice is known he cannot approach God till the purging fire shall have cleansed the stains with which his soul was infested. That same fire in others will cancel the corruption of matter, and the propensity to evil.” Gregory of Nyssa, Sermon on the Dead, PG 13:445,448 (ante A.D. 394).

“Give, Oh Lord, rest to Thy servant Theodosius, that rest Thou hast prepared for Thy saints…I love him, therefore will I follow him to the land of the living; I will not leave him till by my prayers and lamentations he shall be admitted unto the holy mount of the Lord,to which his deserts call him.” Ambrose, De obitu Theodosii, PL 16:1397 (A.D. 395).

“Other husbands scatter on the graves of their wives violets, roses, lilies, and purple flowers; and assuage the grief of their hearts by fulfilling this tender duty. Our dear Pammachius also waters the holy ashes and the revered bones of Paulina, but it is with the balm of almsgiving.” Jerome, To Pammachius, Epistle 66:5 (A.D. 397).

“Weep for the unbelievers; weep for those who differ in nowise from them, those who depart hence without the illumination, without the seal! They indeed deserve our wailing, they deserve our groans; they are outside the Palace, with the culprits, with the condemned: for, “Verily I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” Mourn for those who have died in wealth, and did not from their wealth think of any solace for their soul, who had power to wash away their sins and would not. Let us all weep for these in private and in public, but with propriety, with gravity, not so as to make exhibitions of ourselves; let us weep for these, not one day, or two, but all our life. Such tears spring not from senseless passion, but from true affection. The other sort are of senseless passion. For this cause they are quickly quenched, whereas if they spring from the fear of God, they always abide with us. Let us weep for these; let us assist them according to our power; let us think of some assistance for them, small though it be, yet still let us assist them. How and in what way? By praying and entreating others to make prayers for them, by continually giving to the poor on their behalf.” John Chrysostom, Homilies on Phillipians, 3 (ante A.D. 404).
 
“If the baptized person fulfills the obligations demanded of a Christian, he does well. If he does not–provided he keeps the faith, without which he would perish forever–no matter in what sin or impurity remains, he will be saved, as it were, by fire; as one who has built on the foundation, which is Christ, not gold, silver, and precious stones, but wood, hay straw, that is, not just and chasted works but wicked and unchaste works.” Augustine, Faith and Works, 1:1 (A.D. 413).

“Now on what ground does this person pray that he may not be 'rebuked in indignation, nor chastened in hot displeasure”? He speaks as if he would say unto God, ‘Since the things which I already suffer are many in number, I pray Thee let them suffice;’ and he begins to enumerate them, by way of satisfying God; offering what he suffers now, that he may not have to suffer worse evils hereafter." Augustine, Exposition of the Psalms, 38(37):3 (A.D. 418).

“And it is not impossible that something of the same kind may take place even after this life. It is a matter that may be inquired into, and either ascertained or left doubtful, whether some believers shall pass through a kind of purgatorial fire, and in proportion as they have loved with more or less devotion the goods that perish, be less or more quickly delivered from it. This cannot, however, be the case of any of those of whom it is said, that they ‘shall not inherit the kingdom of God,’ unless after suitable repentance their sins be forgiven them. When I say ‘suitable,’ I mean that they are not to be unfruitful in almsgiving; for Holy Scripture lays so much stress on this virtue, that our Lord tells us beforehand, that He will ascribe no merit to those on His right hand but that they abound in it, and no defect to those on His left hand but their want of it, when He shall say to the former, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom,” and to the latter, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.’” Augustine, Enchiridion, 69 (A.D. 421).

“During the time, moreover, which intervenes between a man’s death and the final resurrection, the soul dwells in a hidden retreat, where it enjoys rest or suffers affliction just in proportion to the merit it has earned by the life which it led on earth.” Augustine, Enchiridion, 1099 (A.D. 421).
 
“For our part, we recognize that even in this life some punishments are purgatorial,–not, indeed, to those whose life is none the better, but rather the worse for them, but to those who are constrained by them to amend their life. All other punishments, whether temporal or eternal, inflicted as they are on every one by divine providence, are sent either on account of past sins, or of sins presently allowed in the life, or to exercise and reveal a man’s graces. They may be inflicted by the instrumentality of bad men and angels as well as of the good. For even if any one suffers some hurt through another’s wickedness or mistake, the man indeed sins whose ignorance or injustice does the harm; but God, who by His just though hidden judgment permits it to be done, sins not. But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of those who suffer temporary punishments after death, all are not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow that judgment; for to some, as we have already said, what is not remitted in this world is remitted in the next, that is, they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the world to come.” Augustine, City of God, 21:13 (A.D. 426).

"But since she has this certainty regarding no man, she prays for all her enemies who yet live in this world; and yet she is not heard in behalf of all. But she is heard in the case of those only who, though they oppose the Church, are yet predestinated to become her sons through her intercession…For some of the dead, indeed, the prayer of the Church or of pious individuals is heard; but it is for those who, having been regenerated in Christ, did not spend their life so wickedly that they can be judged unworthy of such compassion, nor so well that they can be considered to have no need of it. As also, after the resurrection, there will be some of the dead to whom, after they have endured the pains proper to the spirits of the dead, mercy shall be accorded, and acquittal from the punishment of the eternal fire. For were there not some whose sins, though not remitted in this life, shall be remitted in that which is to come, it could not be truly said, “They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in that which is to come.’ But when the Judge of quick and dead has said, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,’ and to those on the other side, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels,’ and ‘These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life,’ it were excessively presumptuous to say that the punishment of any of those whom God has said shall go away into eternal punishment shall not be eternal, and so bring either despair or doubt upon the corresponding promise of life eternal.” Augustine, City of God,2 1:24 (A.D. 426).

“If we neither give thanks to God in tribulations nor redeem our own sins by good works, we shall have to remain in that purgatorian fire as long as it takes for those above-mentioned lesser sins to be consumed like wood and straw and hay.” Ceasar of Arles, Sermon 179 (104):2 (A.D. 542).

“Each one will be presented to the Judge exactly as he was when he departed this life. Yet, there must be a cleansing fire before judgment, because of some minor faults that may remain to be purged away. Does not Christ, the Truth, say that if anyone blasphemes against the Holy Spirit he shall not be forgiven ‘either in this world or in the world to come’(Mt. 12:32)? From this statement we learn that some sins can be forgiven in this world and some in the world to come. For, if forgiveness is refused for a particular sin, we conclude logically that it is granted for others. This must apply, as I said, to slight transgressions.” Gregory the Great [regn. A.D. 590-604], Dialogues, 4:39 (A.D. 594)
 
“There is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, unless it believes while it is still in the flesh. For it is an established truth that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges” (Tertullian c. 210, W- 3.551)
Click to expand...
An unbelieving soul in the flesh has no chance according to this. A believing one in the flesh does have the chance. So if you believe and have a few venial sins you still have a chance through the fire of purification. Mortal sins are not able to be forgiven after death.

A venial sin is like saying a four letter word before you die and getting angry at someone. Those can be forgiven as they are not turning away from God.

Lets say you commit adultery before you die and have not confessed this or received absolution and are unrepentant. I think your soul is out of luck here. You turned away from God.
 
Is it me, or do these quotes say nothing to contradict the Church teaching on Purgatory? Some of these quotes rather seem to allude to the Catholic teaching on Purgatory 🤷 It just shows how people view writtings through the eyes of their tradition 😉 Or maybe I preconcieved that you were trying to disprove the ancient teaching of the Church because of the Protestent title you have in your profile 🤷 Perhaps you adopt a view closer to C.S Lewis or some within the Eastern Orthodox tradition
God bless
 
Erick_Ybarra said:
“The souls of the godly remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worst place, waiting for the time of judgement.” (Justin Martyr- 160 E), 1.197 Otherwise known as Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 5. (link)

“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then if finds itself enjoying its freedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fears as soon as it sees the very angel’s face- depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Soul, chapter 53. (link)

“There is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, unless it believes while it is still in the flesh. For it is an established truth that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges” (Tertullian c. 210, W- 3.551) Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter 8. (link)

“When you have once departed yonder, there is no longer any place for repentance. And there is no possibility of making satisfaction. Here life is either lost or saved. Here eternal safety is provided for by the worship of God and the fruits of faith. Do not let anyone be restrained from coming to obtain salvation, either by his sins or by his years. To him who still remains in this world, no repentance is too late” (Cyprian 5.465). Otherwise known as Cyprian’s treatise addressed To Demetrian, paragraph 25. (link)

“In hades there is no repentance…so while the way of mercy is open, brethren, let us entreat God with full atonements” Treatise against novatian 2.662, 663 Otherwise known as an anonymous treatise Against Novatian, paragraphs 16 and 18. (link)

“A second life is not granted to us. It is not as though if we seek wisdom in this life, we will be wise in the next one. Each result must be brought about in this life. It should be quickly found in order that it may be quickly embraced” Lactantius 7.85 Otherwise known as Lactantius’ The Divine Institutes, book 3, chapter 16. (link)

“Let no one imagine that souls are immediately judged after death. For all are detained in one and a common place of confinement- until the arrival of the time in which the great judge will make an investigation of their deserts. Those whose piety will have been approved will receive the reward of immortality. However, those whose sins and crimes will have been brought to light - these will not rise again. Rather, they will be hidden in the same darkness with the wicked, being destined to certain punishment.” Lactantius 7.217 Otherwise known as Lactantius’ The Divine Institutes, book 7, chapter 21. (link)
Click to expand...
I have added the popular titles of the works cited and links to the works to assist those who might be interested in reading the quotes in context.
 
Nothing in those quotes have anything to do with purgatory.

You are being tragically misled. Protestantism is a false, man made religion invented by some men 1600 years after Christ founded His Church.

Come out from that false Protestant religion! Come out from her and into the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
 
“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then iffindsitselfenjoying itsfreedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Soul, chapter 53

How does this teach purgatory
 
Erick_Ybarra said:
“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then iffindsitselfenjoying itsfreedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Soul, chapter 53

How does this teach purgatory
Click to expand...
Purgatory is the “process of being cleansed and purified”.

Does your particular denomination teach that there is cleansing and purification that needs to take place in the souls of the saved after their death?
 
Erick_Ybarra said:
“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then iffindsitselfenjoying itsfreedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Soul, chapter 53

How does this teach purgatory
Click to expand...
Further down in that writing of Tertullian, he speaks about what the souls (both saved and unsaved) are doing until the time of the resurrection of their bodies. If you scroll down to Chapter #58 you’ll see where Tertullian says:
newadvent.org/fathers/0310.htm
…In short, inasmuch as we understand the prison pointed out in the Gospel to be Hades, Matthew 5:25 and as we also interpret the uttermost farthing to mean the very smallest offense which has to be recompensed there before the resurrection, no one will hesitate to believe that the soul undergoes in Hades some compensatory discipline, without prejudice to the full process of the resurrection, when the recompense will be administered through the flesh besides.
 
Erick_Ybarra said:
“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then iffindsitselfenjoying itsfreedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on

The Soul, chapter 53

How does this teach purgatory
Click to expand...
Teach purgatory it does not. Deny purgatory it does not.
Tertillan is not the whole of the Catholic faith, neither is St. Augustine, or any other individual for that matter, men are not impecable and are susceptible to error.

Through out Tertillian teaching, you will notice him use the word Then…Then…repeatedly, is he implying time? Maybe, maybe not, we are confinded by language. Some of the realities of the Christian faith, such as purgatory, language is used to define a deep reality, and in doing so, one may confine the reality, to the language. The language is infact trying to convey a deeper reality for us to reflect upon, we must not to limit the magnitude of the greater reality that awaits. We all look through a glass darkly, but on. e day we will know, as we are known. I know that’s in scripture somewhere, sorry for the paraphrasing

The soul is released from the bonds of the flesh upon death. It then becomes cleansed and purified, that is Catholic. If you are somehow looking for a time reference, you won’t find it in Catholic theology. Many non-catholics misrepresent the Catholic position in order to tear it down. What turtillian said was very Catholic.

And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities.

Again, the soul is now free from the bondage of sin and death. One passes from dream to reality in a moment, so when people talk about purgatory and use time stamps, then that is to convey the event which will take place. Time is unknown outside of this body of flesh, it may not be linear. This is an unknown, the bible teaches that there are events that take place, but time as we know it, will not be the same.

Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it".

So the soul declares what it sees? Tertillian keeps using Then…Then…Is he denoting an event that is a process by using then as a time monicker? This is unknown, the Catachism of the Catholic Church doesn’t mention time for a reason, time in Christ is an unknown. Tertillian then goes on to imply that those that died in grace see an angel? So then, do we see an angel, or do we go before the “bema” (judgment) seat of Christ?

So, though this does not explicitly teach purgatory, it certainly doesn’t deny it

Peace and love in Christ
 
Erick_Ybarra said:
“When the soul, by the power of death, is released from it bonds to the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified…And then iffindsitselfenjoying itsfreedom from matter. And by virtue of its liberty, it recovers its divinity. It is just as one who awakes out of sleep passes from dreams to realities. Then the soul declares what it sees. Then it either exults or it fearsassoon as it sees the very angel’s face-depending on what lodging it discovers has been prepared for it” (Tertullian- c. 210, W - 3.230). Otherwise known as Tertullian’s treatise on The Soul, chapter 53

How does this teach purgatory
Click to expand...
This particular quote from Tertullian neither teaches Purgatory nor denies it. What it does teach is that death dissolves the soul’s “bonds to the flesh,” i.e., to its physical body, and then the soul enjoys a “freedom from matter,” i.e., a purely spiritual existence. Tertullian teaches a particular judgment at death which determines the soul’s “lodging.” His wording to describe those lodgings suggests heaven, which upon seeing a soul “exults,” and hell, which upon seeing a soul “fears,” but his description does not deny that some heaven-bound souls still might need to pass through Purgatory, to be cleaned and purified of all their remaining attachments to sin, to, as it were, wipe their feet at the front door before entering their heavenly lodging proper. Purgatory could also be mean by “lodging” but only in the sense of a temporary lodging because all souls who lodge in Purgatory go on to lodge eternally in heaven. A soul seeing that he was to lodge in Purgatory well might “exalt” because it then knows it will eventually but certainly move on to heaven.

When Tertullian says that by death the soul is instantly “cleansed and purified,” he cannot mean the type of cleansing and purifying from all remaining attachments to sin which Catholics ascribe to Purgatory because he is describing the experience of all souls, hell-bound souls as well as heaven-bound souls, which would imply every soul is sanctified or made fit for heaven by death and, in that case, there would be no reason for any soul to fear his “lodgings.”
 
Tertullian died a heretic–how much stock should be put into his opinions?

Some may be right–some may be wrong–but they don’t equal the teaching of the Catholic faith.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top