Purgatory

[Mystophilus]

The only sensible answer I can think of is that it is to control people through fear. This is why many today reject the idea.

Fire cleanses, in that it separates elements from one another. That makes it a useful symbol for purgation.

Also, I like the idea of Purgatory. Without it, there is a zero-width line between the eternally saved and the eternally damned, which seems rather unfair to whoever happens to be the most minimally damned.

 

[thinkandmull]

Pope Benedict’s Encyclical on Hope has an opinion on this thread’s question