toll houses?

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Monica4316

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In the East, there’s an idea of the toll houses, in which after death, the soul is taken up to God by the angels and demons try to accuse it of sins. If the soul repented of sin, they can’t do anything, but if it has not, or not perfectly, the soul is taken to hell. (at least for a time, not necessarily forever).

Is this at all compatible with Catholic teaching? Do you think this could be true? (with either hell or Purgatory being the case if the soul doesn’t make it to Heaven)
 
Sort of. We don’t know the exact specifics of what happens to the soul after death. I doubt there is a “toll house,” but there’s no reason that something like that can’t be just a pious way of thinking about it and explaining it, the same way we talk about meeting St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

However, Catholic doctrine does not teach that souls that have sinned “somewhat” go to Hell “for a little while.” That’s what Purgatory is all about.
 
Hi Monica,

You could interpret this as a naïve attempt to represent the particular judgment that we all go through after death. But this judgement is done by God alone and it is instantaneous. “Hell for a while” could also be likened to purgatory.

I suggest you bone up on the subject of after death by going to the Catechism of the Catholic Church : scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm#1030

Verbum
 
thanks 🙂

the more I read about it, the more I feel that the Orthodox understanding of “hell for a while” is basically Purgatory, they just don’t call it that. The Catholic Church says it’s a place OR condition, right? So the Orthodox could say it’s a condition of a soul in hell, which will not be there forever.

I was thinking, if toll houses are true, maybe that’s what happens during particular Judgement… but I have no idea… the concept is based on what some Orthodox Saints saw through private revelation. I think it’s possible that as a result of these toll houses, souls are sent either to hell or purgatory (or heaven if they make it all the way through). Or maybe, this idea is more of an illustration…

It does say in Scripture that the demons are in the air. Is this what the Church teaches as well?
 
I don’t believe that the idea of toll houses is universally acccepted by the EO. For those intersted in learning more about it, I would suggest reading some of the works of Fr. Seraphim Rose. The accounts of passages through the toll houses is some pretty scary stuff.
 
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