Purgatory and 1 Cor. 3

[SteveVH]

No, it does not. Read the passage carefully, setting aside your ideas of purification that you’ve derived from Catholic teaching, because I suspect you’re not doing so. No idea of purification by fire is mentioned in the text. The fire is explicitly said to test and reveal, not to purify.

1 Cor 3:12-15
"12If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13the 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. 14If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,* but only as through fire." *

Fire, also “[burns] up”. And gold is tested in fire. Tested in that sense means purified. The idea of fire representing purification was not foreign to this culture. It how they purified gold and other precious metals. When something undesirable is burned up does that not constitute purification? The fact that the word “purify” is not expressly used does nothing to change the clear meaning of the passage which concludes with, as you say, “the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”

The only thing in this passage that comes somewhat close to the Catholic teaching on Purgatory is the mention of being saved “as through fire,” which could indicate pain and suffering on the part of the individual, but Paul does not go into that detail.

He didn’t have to go into detail. The entire concept originated with the Jews. This was not some new, strange belief that needed a lot of explaining.

 

[Koineman]

1 Cor 3:12-15
"12If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13the 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. 14If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,* but only as through fire." *

Fire, also “[burns] up”. The idea of fire representing purification was not foreign to this culture.

Even so, that does not necessitate the conclusion that Paul was referring to purification.

It how they purified gold and other precious metals. When something undesirable is burned up does that not constitute purification? The fact that the word “purify” is not expressly used does nothing to change the clear meaning which concludes with, as you say, “the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”

It’s not just that the word is not used; the concept isn’t there either. You have to read it into the passage through conjecture: Well, since the contemporary culture was familiar with the idea that fire purified, therefore, Paul was talking about purification here. Sorry, I don’t buy that. It’s a non sequitur. Get your conclusions from the text.

 

[SteveVH]

Get your conclusions from the text.

Do you mean ignoring the rest of Scripture and the evidence of the early Church?

I come to my conclusions by placing them in proper context with the rest of Scripture and Tradition and the common belief of the people of that culture. To say that fire was equated with purification is not a stretch. We cannot approach the Scriptures from a 21st century viewpoint.

 

[Koineman]

Do you mean ignoring the rest of Scripture and the evidence of the early Church?

No. I meant just what I said: Get your conclusions from the text. Only then will you be able to tell for sure if it supports what the CC teaches.

 

[SteveVH]

The less detail Scripture gives, the more risk there is of engaging in eisegesis.

Remember, the Christian Scriptures came from the Church, not the other way around. The Church didn’t have to sit down and try to figure out what Paul was trying to say in order to form the doctrine of purgatory. And why would it canonize something that conflicted with its doctrines? These verses must be read through the Catholic lens because it was through the Catholic lens that they were included in the canon. I would not trust my own judgment on the matter.

'Id say its support of Purgatory is questionable at best.

Really? “One will be saved, but only as through fire.” What is questionable about that? What do you think he is talking about?

This passage needs to be exegeted. Is the Lord talking about temporal affairs in this life or the next life?

Both.

This is a pretty good verse to quote and warrants looking into further.

Your quotes from early church writings should really be posted and examined in their context, to be fair. I did that with the 1 Cor. 3 passage.

There are limits to the amount of material one can post, Koineman. Do me a favor and just google “Early Church Fathers - Purgatory” and see what you get. There’s a ton.

The earlier the better.

See above.

 

[Koineman]

Remember, the Christian Scriptures came from the Church, not the other way around.

No, they came from God ***through ***the church.

Really? “One will be saved, but only as through fire.” What is questionable about that? What do you think he is talking about?

He doesn’t go into detail. That’s the problem.

Both.

Okay, show that by exegeting it.

There are limits to the amount of material one can post, Koineman. Do me a favor and just google “Early Church Fathers - Purgatory” and see what you get. There’s a ton.

Oh well, so much for that.

 

[SteveVH]

Oh well, so much for that.

Is that too much of an exercise for you? Very well.

Cyprian of Carthage
*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" *(Letters 51[55]:20 [A.D. 253]).

Cyril of Jerusalem
“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 is laid out” (Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9 [A.D. 350]).

Gregory of Nyssa
“If a man distinguish in himself what is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch for a life of greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by reason. If he has inclined to the irrational pressure of the passions, using for the passions the cooperating hide of things irrational, he may afterward in a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, after his departure out of the body, he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire” (Sermon on the Dead [A.D. 382]).

John Chrysostom
*“Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them” *(Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]).

 

[SteveVH]

Clement of Alexandria*“The believer through discipline divests himself of his passions and passes to the mansion which is better than the former one, passes to the greatest torment, taking with him the characteristic of repentance for the faults he may have committed after baptism. He is tortured then still more, not yet attaining what he sees others have acquired. The greatest torments are assigned to the believer, for God’s righteousness is good, and His goodness righteous, and though these punishments cease in the course of the expiation and purification of each one, “yet” etc.”* (Stromata 6:14 [A.D. 202]).

Origen
*“If a man departs this life with lighter faults, he is condemned to fire which burns away the lighter materials, and prepares the soul for the kingdom of God, where nothing defiled may enter. For if on the foundation of Christ you have built not only gold and silver and precious stones (I 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.”(*Homilies on Jeremias 13: 445, 448 [A.D. 244]).

Augustine
"There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for other dead who are remembered. It is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended" (Sermons 159:1 [A.D. 411]).

Augustine
*“Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment” *(The City of God 21:13 [A.D. 419]).

Augustine
*“That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire” *(Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 18:69 [A.D. 421]).

How am I doing so far?

 

[Per_Crucem]

Okay, show that by exegeting it.

Are you objecting to any form of purification in the next life, or just the Catholic exegesis of I Cor. 3 to justify the view?

 

[SteveVH]

No, they came from God ***through ***the church.

Everything came from God. Especially those things entrusted to his Church, who, through His guidance, discerned the word of God from not the word of God, based upon what they had already received, the Deposit of Faith, reflected in the Sacred Tradition of the Church.

He doesn’t go into detail. That’s the problem.

Its not a problem when one realizes that this was not some new strange belief of which they had to be convinced. His silence says a lot.

Okay, show that by exegeting it.

I am neither a qualified Bible scholar nor theologian, not to mention that this entire thread has been an attempt at exegesis of these verses by various individuals. What is important in Catholic exegesis is the following:

*"Be especially attentive “to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.” Different as the books which comprise it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God’s plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.79 (128, 368)

The phrase “heart of Christ” can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.80

113 2. **Read the Scripture within “the living Tradition of the whole Church.” **According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (“according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church”81). (81)

114 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith. 82 By “analogy of faith” we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation. (90)

The senses of Scripture

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral, and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

116 The **literal sense **is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: “All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal.”83 (110-114)

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs. (1101)
1.The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2.The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction.”85
3.The **anagogical sense *(Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem. (CCC par 112-117) (Emphasis mine.)

So yes, Paul’s words can and should be understood from both view points.

 

[Reuben_J]

Koineman:

Okay, show that by exegeting it.

Consider this then.

***12 Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble:

13 Every man’s work shall be manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire: and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon: he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.

16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 But if any man violate the temple of God: him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.**

***Ver. 12-15. Now if any man build, &c. **

This is a hard place, says St. Augustine, lib. de fid. & Oper. chap. xvi. tom. 6. p. 180. The interpreters are divided, as to the explication and application of this metaphorical comparison, contained in these four verses.

St. Paul speaks of a building, where it is evident, says St. Augustine, that the foundation is Christ, or the faith of Christ, and his faith working by charity.

The difficulties are

1. Who are the builders.
2. What is meant by gold, silver, precious stones, and what by wood, hay, stubble.
3. What is meant by the day of the Lord.
4. What by fire, how every one’s work shall be tried, and how some shall be saved by fire.

As to the first, by the builders, as St. Paul had before called himself the first architect, who had laid the foundation of the faith of Christ among the Corinthians, interpreters commonly understand those doctors and preachers who there succeeded St. Paul: but as it is also said, that every man’s works shall be made manifest, St. Augustine and others understand not the preachers only, but all the faithful.

As to the second difficulty, if by the builders we understand the preachers of the gospel, then by gold, silver, &c., is to be understood, good, sound, and profitable doctrine; and by wood, hay, stubble, a mixture of vain knowledge, empty flourishes, unprofitable discourses; but if all the faithful are builders, they whose actions are pure, lay gold upon the foundation; but if their actions are mixed with imperfections, venial failings, and lesser sins, these are represented by wood, hay, stubble, &c.

By the day of the Lord, is commonly understood either the day of general judgment, or the particular judgment, when every one is judged at his death, which sentence shall be confirmed again at the last day.

As to fire, which is mentioned thrice, if we consider what St. Paul says here of fire, he seems to use it in different significations, as he many times does other words.

First, he tells us, (ver. 13.) that the day of the Lord…shall be revealed; or, as it is in the Greek, is revealed in, or by fire; where, by fire, is commonly understood **the just and severe judgments of God, represented by the metaphor of fire. **

Secondly, he tells us in the same verse, that fire shall try every one’s work, of what sort it is. This may be again taken for the examining and trying fire of God’s judgments: and may be applied to the builders, whether preachers only or all the faithful.

Thirdly, he tells us, (ver. 14. and 15.) **that some men’s works abide the fire of God’s judgments, they deserve no punishment, they are like pure gold, which receives no prejudice from the fire: but some men’s works burn, the superstructure, which they built upon the faith of Christ, besides gold, silver, precious stones, had also a mixture of wood, hay, stubble, which could not stand the trial of fire, which met with combustible matter, that deserved to be burnt. **

Every such man shall suffer a loss, when his works are burnt, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Here the apostle speaks of fire in a more ample signification: of a fire which shall not only try, and examine, but also burn, and punish the builders, who notwithstanding shall also, after a time, escape from the fire, and be saved by fire, and in the day of the Lord, that is, after life (for the time of this life is the day of men).

Divers of the ancient fathers, as well as later interpreters, from these words, **prove the Catholic doctrine of a purgatory, that is, that many Christians, who die guilty, not of heinous or mortal sins, but of lesser, and what are called venial sins, or to whom a temporal punishment for the sins they have committed, still remains due, before they can be admitted to a reward in heaven, (into which nothing defiled or unclean can enter) must suffer some punishments for a time, in some place, which is called Purgatory, and in such a manner, as is agreeable to the divine justice, before their reward in heaven. **
*

 

[Reuben_J]

***Ver. 16-17. Know you not. **

After the apostle had described the builders who are employed in the spiritual edifice, he then proceeds to speak of the duties of those who are the living temples of Christ. As for you, may brethren, who are the temples of God, preserve yourselves in purity of faith, and innocence of morals.

Fly from those false apostles who seek your ruin, and remain steadfast in that faith which you have received from us; (Calmet)

that is, the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic faith. What a happiness for the faithful minister to assist in erecting and ornamenting the living temples of God; but what punishment must await the unfaithful minister, who by his own neglect and bad example, helps to ruin and destroy the temples God himself had entrusted to his care! (Haydock)

— The Spirit of God dwelleth in you, having received the grace of God at your conversion: you are the holy temple of God: But if any one violate, or profane the temple of God, either by false doctrine, or by any grievous offence, he destroys the spiritual edifice, that was built in his soul upon the faith and grace of God. He cannot be said to be built any longer upon the same foundation: and therefore God will destroy such persons: they shall not be saved even by fire, or temporal punishments, but shall be excluded for ever from heaven, and condemned to eternal punishments. (Witham)
*

http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id164.html

 

[Koineman]

Is that too much of an exercise for you? Very well.

Not at all. If I shunned the labor, I wouldn’t have spent so much time examining 1 Cor. 3 in detail. The real issue is this: If you claim that the CFs back up your position, it’s only fair and reasonable to expect that you post the texts–and in their context. I did that with the 1 Cor. 3 text.

Cyprian of Carthage
*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" *(Letters 51[55]:20 [A.D. 253]).

Where’s the context? Do you have access to the full context?

Cyril of Jerusalem
“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 is laid out” (Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9 [A.D. 350]).

This doesn’t seem to be describing Purgatory. Does the context bear it out?

Gregory of Nyssa
“If a man distinguish in himself what is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch for a life of greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by reason. If he has inclined to the irrational pressure of the passions, using for the passions the cooperating hide of things irrational, he may afterward in a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, after his departure out of the body, he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire” (Sermon on the Dead [A.D. 382]).

Okay, this one pretty clearly speaks of Purgatory.

John Chrysostom
*“Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them” *(Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]).

Hmmm…not sure about this one. Although he does refer to people who are dead, he mentions bringing them consolation. Does the context indicate specifically that he has Purgatory in mind?

 

[Koineman]

I don’t think the church fathers were unanimous on the existence of Purgatory. In fact, Hippolytus speaks against it in this writing:

1. And this is the passage regarding demons. But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guard-house for souls, at which the angels are stationed as guards, distributing according to each one’s deeds the temporary punishments for (different) characters. And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast; for it is prepared against the day determined by God, in which one sentence of righteous judgment shall be justly applied to all. And the unrighteous, and those who believed not God, who have honoured as God the vain works of the hands of men, idols fashioned (by themselves), shall be sentenced to this endless punishment.** But the righteous shall obtain the incorruptible and un-fading kingdom**, who indeed are at present detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate whereof we believe an archangel is stationed with a host. And when those who are conducted by the angels appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light. And there the righteous from the beginning dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. There, there is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn; but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham’s bosom. But the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment, and they go of their own accord no longer, but are dragged by force as prisoners. And the angels appointed over them send them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when they are brought there, those appointed to that service drag them on to the confines or hell. And those who are so near hear incessantly the agitation, and feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, (as if they were) already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, where they see the place of the fathers and the righteous, they are also punished there. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to pass it, nor any of the unrighteous dare to cross it. (Hippolytus, “Against Plato, On the Cause of the Universe,” from newadvent.org/fathers/0520.htm

The righteous are spoken of as being temporarily in Hades after death, and in that place there is no suffering of any kind. The next stop for them is heaven: “they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location.”

 

[Koineman]

Another text, this one very early in church history:

I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as you have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run Philippians 2:16; Galatians 2:2 in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that** they are [now] in their due place in the presence of the Lord,** with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this present world, but Him who died for us, and for our sakes was raised again by God from the dead. (Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, chapter 9)

Polycarp says they are in the presence of the Lord and makes no mention of any Purgatory. If he knew of the possibility of Purgatory (which he must have known, if the Catholic teaching goes all the way back to the apostles), why didn’t he at least mention the possibility they might be headed there?

 

[Telstar]

I don’t think the church fathers were unanimous on the existence of Purgatory. In fact, Hippolytus speaks against it in this writing:

Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guard-house for souls

Apparently, you missed the part where it mentions that the first place is referred to as a “guard-house for souls” (a type of prison), where temporary punishments are distributed by the Angels that guard them? What else would that refer to if it’s not the Catholic understanding of Purgatory?

 

[Telstar]

Another text, this one very early in church history:

Polycarp says they are in the presence of the Lord and makes no mention of any Purgatory. If he knew of the possibility of Purgatory (which he must have known, if the Catholic teaching goes all the way back to the apostles), why didn’t he at least mention the possibility they might be headed there?

Polycarp is referring to the Apostles and other early leaders and martyrs of the Church, who were all faithful to the teachings of Jesus at the time of their death, so they died in great holiness. These are what Catholics refer to as some of the most holy Saints of the early Church. They would most likely have gone straight to Heaven because of their holiness. That was certainly obvious to Polycarp. Why would he even question whether or not they went straight to Heaven when they suffered so much for Jesus’ sake while they were still on earth? Purgatory is for people who still have unconfessed sins on their souls, or who don’t do enough penance for their sins, in this life. They might not deserve to go to hell for their minor (venial) sins, but they still need to be purified of them before they can enter Heaven. That’s what the wood, hay, and stubble represent.

 

[Koineman]

Apparently, you missed the part where it mentions that the first place is referred to as a “guard-house for souls” (a type of prison), where temporary punishments are distributed by the Angels that guard them? What else would that refer to if it’s not the Catholic understanding of Purgatory?

Considering the fact that the writer explicitly says that the righteous do not suffer in that place, I have no idea how you can think this refers to Purgatory:

For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate whereof we believe an archangel is stationed with a host. And when those who are conducted by the angels appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light. And there the righteous from the beginning dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. There, there is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn; but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location.

 

[Denise1957]

Considering the fact that the writer explicitly says that the righteous do not suffer in that place, I have no idea how you can think this refers to Purgatory:

I don’t think that the works of Hyppolytus are considered as authoritative. After all, Hyppolytus was a schismatic for 18 years. He later reconciled, and was then martyred, and canonized. Though he’s considered a saint, that doesn’t mean that his writings should be considered conclusive. Here’s a Catholic Answers article about him:

catholic.com/blog/steve-weidenkopf/the-antipope-who-became-a-saint

As the article states, this saint provides a good example of one who repents and reconciles after separating themselves from the Church.

 

[Koineman]

I don’t think that the works of Hyppolytus are considered as authoritative.

Wait–so there are some fathers who are considered authoritative and some who are not? Are you sure about this? And do Catholics know about this, and is there a definitive list of such authoritative church fathers, so when they quote CFs, they will know which ones to consult and which ones to avoid like the plague?

Was the quote from Hippolytus written when he was in schism?

Also, I didn’t post his writing because I think he is “conclusive,” as you put it. Frankly, I don’t think any single church father can be considered conclusive. The point in bringing up these CF quotes is to show that Purgatory was not held unanimously throughout the church at all times.