Thanks for the responses. I think I have a better idea now. However, can you provide some scriptural basis for purgatory?
Hello, Tommy.
Purgatory is a difficult subject for most people to understand, so you’re not alone. There are a few places in the Bible that hint at the existence of Purgatory.
“2 Machabees 12: [39] And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers. [40] And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain. [41] Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden. [42]
And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain. [43] And making a gathering,
he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, [44] (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)”
It’s very clear that the Jews believed it was necessary to pray for the souls of the dead, and offer sacrifices, because of the sins that they had committed during their life. If their soul left the earth with unforgiven sins, it makes sense that there must be a ‘time’ or ‘place’ (although, technically, there is no ‘time’ as we know it in eternity) for those souls to be cleansed of their remaining sins.
John the Baptist also makes a reference: “Matthew 3: [11] I indeed baptize you in the water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire. [12] Whose fan is in his hand, and
he will thoroughly cleanse his floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
There are many places in the Bible where the analogy of God separating the wheat from the chaff is made. The wheat usually refers to those souls who go to Heaven, and the chaff, which is the outer coating that must be removed, is usually seen as the souls that go to hell. But, it might also be interpreted as a soul that is ‘coated’ with the residue of unforgiven sins that must be ‘purged’ of the stain of those sins.
The separation of wheat is done by ‘threshing’.
From Wikipedia,
“Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain (or other crop) from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain.”
"Threshing may be done by beating the grain using a flail on a threshing floor.
Purgatory might be seen as the ‘threshing floor’, where the soul is purified before entering Heaven. While the process is probably very painful, the end result is to be able to enter Heaven, so it’s worth it. The alternative (hell) is
much worse.
Also, what about the thief on the cross, who Jesus told “Today you shall be with me in paradise”. In my mind, the thief would have been the poster boy for purgatory but Jesus didn’t tell him that he had to wait to enter heaven at a later date. Forgive me if this appears argumentative because it isn’t. I’m trying to better understand.
Since his sins were explicitly forgiven by Jesus, Himself, I would have to believe that he was given the privilege of going straight to Heaven. But, I’m not a theologian or the final judge so …
Also, if purgatory exists, how does God communicate to us if a loved one is there versus already being in heaven so that we would be able to know that we needed to make extra prayers and supplications for them?
In a word, He doesn’t. The safest bet is to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. We should always pray for the dead, no matter how ‘holy’ we think they might have been. None of our heartfelt prayers are ever wasted. If the soul we pray for has already made it to Heaven, then the merits of our prayers will be applied to all the souls in Purgatory. As someone else mentioned, they can’t pray for themselves, so they need us to pray and make sacrifices for them. However, they most certainly can, and do, pray for us! We can ask them to pray for our intentions, too. So, it’s a win/win.
