Support for Purgatory?

[Jrp72]

Does anyone view Matthew 5:25-26 as a support for purgatory? That verse has always stood out the me.

 

[TheLittleLady]

5:25-26

Matthew, CHAPTER 5

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Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.q Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.26Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

An article that brings in this passage:

Did Jesus Teach that Purgatory Is Real?

There are two Bible passages where Jesus taught the reality of purgatory: Matthew 5:25-26 and Matthew 12:32. Here's what you need to know.

www.catholic.com

 

[Todd_Easton]

Haydock’s commentary on Matthew 5:25-26, says, in part:

Agree whilst you are in the way, or wayfaring men, i.e. in this life, lest you be cast into prison, i.e. according to Sts. Cyprian, Ambrose, and Origen, into purgatory…

 

[Jrp72]

What is the common interpretation of these two verses by Protestants?

 

[Todd_Easton]

What is the common interpretation of these two verses by Protestants?

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on these verses can be found here.

 

[PrisonerOfChrist]

Looking at the larger context of St Matthew’s Gospel. In another passage it reads:

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart." Matthew 18:34-35

As Catholics, we can interpret this passage in a allegorical and analogical sense which fits in the doctrine of Purgatory.

 

[margaret42]

It seems that purgatory is necessary for us, since there is no imperfection in heaven. The Church gives a cleansing for the effects that sin has caused, so we can “be perfected”.

 

[Vico]

Does anyone view Matthew 5:25-26 as a support for purgatory? That verse has always stood out the me.

1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7; Mt 12:32-36, are used by the Catholic Church for this.

Catechism

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. [Cf. Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820; (1547): 1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000.] The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire. [Cf. 1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.]

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. [St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39: PL 77, 396; cf. Mt 12:32-36.]

 

[Wesrock]

Purgatory can be found implicitly in some verses of the New Testament. It’s not directly taught as a new doctrine. Why? Because the Jews of Jesus’ day and Jesus already accepted it. Maccabees 2 shows that prayers for the dead were offered in the centuries before Christ.

Here is the Jewish Encyclopedia’s discussion of Purgatory, which includes some Old Testament support, too.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12446-purgatory

 

[DIERM]

As Catholics, we can interpret this passage in a allegorical and analogical sense which fits in the doctrine of Purgatory.

Yes. However, I think you mean from the Spiritual Sense (which includes allegory and analogy)…I would think in the context of this discussion its more anagogical than analogical.

 

[snarflemike]

It seems that purgatory is necessary for us, since there is no imperfection in heaven. The Church gives a cleansing for the effects that sin has caused, so we can “be perfected”.

My version of this is

“Are you perfect now?”
“No.”
“Will you be perfect in heaven?”
“Yes.”
“Then you believe in purgatory.”

Then the discussion can begin.