Purgatory: Imperfection vs Sin

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For hypothetical sake, suppose a person does not commit sin (or, has undergone full purification of their sin in this life). However, the person still has certain imperfections. Will the person still go to purgatory? Stated a different way, does a person’s imperfections require purification through purgatory. Furthermore, what is the difference in sin and imperfection?

I hope my post is understandable. Thanks for your thoughts.

houston1
 
No one believes in Purgatory as a state or actual place any more. It was simply a preaching device to put over complex ideas in an easily understandable way. The Church has shelved the notion quietly and will eventually be bold enough to say so openly just as we have seen with Limbo, another concept which once was taught as literal truth but which Pope Benedict has discredited.
 
gallowglass said:
No one believes in Purgatory as a state or actual place any more. It was simply a preaching device to put over complex ideas in an easily understandable way. The Church has shelved the notion quietly and will eventually be bold enough to say so openly just as we have seen with Limbo, another concept which once was taught as literal truth but which Pope Benedict has discredited.
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:eek:…

…In the mean-time, realize that imperfections are caused by sin. But, I think you have to point out what you mean by imperfections. If you mean habits that annoy people (say you grind your teeth), then no, these do not warrant purgatory. If you mean imperfect in that they always take the biggest slice of pizza, and I mean always, this would be caused by gluttony.

Yeah…define imperfection. And yes, the Church still firmly holds purgatory as a state or place.
 
The perfect human is the one who loves God with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and their neighbor as themselves.

Rom13:10 says, **“Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law”. **

So St Augustine can say, "Love and do what you like."

But until we do we’re not yet quite fit for the presence of God, Who is Love.
 
Thanks for all you who responded to my post. I would appreciate examples of imperfections verses sins. My thought is that an imperfection is something that a person is prone to do or think without premeditation and/or without full understanding For example, an alcoholic may be prone to think about drinking all the time and may tend to drink a bit too much from time to time. The alcoholic may do this habitually without giving full consideration of thought. Is this an imperfection or a sin? Another example is suppose an severely mentally ill person commits murder and that person really did not understand what he/she was doing. Is this an imperfection? I would think that sins are deliberate and, in this case, the mentally ill person did not know what he/she was doing. Is this then an imperfection?

Also, I am still not clear whether imperfections need to be purified in purgatory. Any other thoughts on this?
 
gallowglass said:
No one believes in Purgatory as a state or actual place any more. It was simply a preaching device to put over complex ideas in an easily understandable way. The Church has shelved the notion quietly and will eventually be bold enough to say so openly just as we have seen with Limbo, another concept which once was taught as literal truth but which Pope Benedict has discredited.
Click to expand...
Limbo was never a part of the official teaching of the Church.
I do believe in Purgatory as a state and as an actual place and the Church is never going to teach that it does not or might not exist.
At Fatima, Our Lady confirmed the existence of Purgatory and many mystics, including saints, have confirmed its existence and even communicated with souls in that state.
Google Maria Simma for some answers on how we get there etc.
 
In my understanding, imperfection is something you don’t control, but it prevents you from loving God fully… it could be an attachment, or laziness, or selfishness… it’s not an action that you choose, but more like a weakness. Yes, we go to Purgatory for this, but it probably won’t be as difficult/painful as having to go there for temporal punishment due to sin.
 
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