Purgatory

[Sojourner55]

Actually, the blood of Jesus does a thorough job of cleaning us up without a "Purgatory." As far as any residual flaws after Salvation, such as unconfessed sin or unfruitful works, we are told by the Apostle Paul that Jesus will take care of such things at His judgment seat:
For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. (2 Cor 5:10)

In fact, the only reference to any sin-quenching fire with Biblical credentials is this one:
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. (1 Cor 3:10-15)

Clearly, this is a judgment before the throne of the Lord, and not an obscure spiritual process occurring in some limbo between heaven and hell. "Purgatory" as doctrine, is neither Scriptural nor necessary.

[guestman]

As to purgatory, the book Orpheus—A General History of Religions states: “St. Augustine had held that there was an intermediate state of probation between future felicity and damnation, that of the purification of souls by fire. This is the Orphic [pagan Greek] and Virgilian [pagan Roman] doctrine of Purgatory: there is not a word about it in the Gospels. .*.*. The doctrine of Purgatory .*.*. was formulated in the sixth century, and proclaimed a dogma of the Church by the Council of Florence (1439).”(Pg 263)

It further stated that "it became necessary to invent something to define the condition of the souls immediately after death." As has been stated before, The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “The Catholic doctrine on purgatory is based on tradition, not Sacred Scripture.” And with regard to Limbo, over 20 years ago, Rome’s former Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, admitted that it is “only a theological hypothesis.”

Had the Catholic church sincerely "done their homework" without bias, it could have seen that purgatory is not Bible-based, but was absorbed from Greek pagan teachings. For purgatory to have any footing at all, the soul would have to be immortal. That this not true can be found in many Bible verses, such as Genesis 2:7, whereby of Adam, it says: "And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul."

Thus, Adam became a soul and later his soul (or himself as person with all his desires) died, for he became also a sinner and of which Jehovah God says at Ezekiel 18:4: "Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die."

And further at Jeremiah 2:34, it speaks "in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents."(King James Bible) Hence, the soul has blood. And at Isaiah 53:12, it says of Jesus that "he hath poured out his soul unto death."(King James Bible) So the soul dies. Thence, the Catholic church is known as a great inventor, conjuring up teachings and traditions that have no Biblical support, such as purgatory, even taking Jesus supposed birthday of December 25 and embellishing it, though the evidence is outstanding that he was born around October 1st, not December 25.

[Samuel Cripps]

I'm not a Catholic, and I do not subscribe to the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, but I think people miss the point when they suggest that a purgatorial fire diminishes Christ's work on the Cross. Didn't Jesus Himself describe His death on the cross as a baptism of fire?

[Adstars]

I'm not a Catholic, and I do not subscribe to the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, but I think people miss the point when they suggest that a purgatorial fire diminishes Christ's work on the Cross. Didn't Jesus Himself describe His death on the cross as a baptism of fire?

Quote the verse where Jesus said His death on the cross would be or was a baptism of Fire.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[Samuel Cripps]

Compare Luke 3:16 with 12:49-50.

Quote the verse where Jesus said His death on the cross would be or was a baptism of Fire.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[John 8:32]

Compare Luke 3:16 with 12:49-50.

The baptism with fire occurs a little later in history...

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

[Samuel Cripps]

I hold to the spiritualist (idealist) view of the Book of Revelation. That is to say: I think that the lake of fire is a present reality, as well as a past and future reality. I view the Cross the same way. I do not regard Christ's work on the cross as merely a past event, but as a present reality.

In any case, do you see the connection between Luke 3:16 and Luke 12:49-50?

The baptism with fire occurs a little later in history...

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.