A few years ago my sister called me and asked me a question I have been asked many times. Where is purgatory mentioned in the Bible? My sister had been attending an inter-denominational Bible study and some girlfriend of hers had made some comment about Catholics and Purgatory and scoffed at praying for the dead. Well everyone laughed at the comment and this made my sister a little angry.
So much for inter-denominational Bible study groups. They never remain inter-denominational. The majority rules on a point of faith. I urge you to join and stay with Catholic Bible study groups. If you can't find one you aren't looking hard enough. Back to our subject, Purgatory.
When the people in the group asked my sister for just one scripture that mentioned Purgatory she was at a loss for words. My sister informed them that Purgatory was in the Bible and she would ask her brother just where it was and get back to them. She thinks I know everything but that's how younger sisters are. You big brothers who have younger sisters know what I am talking about.
Guess who got a phone call before the coat was hung up? She explained what had transpired and asked me "Where's the word Purgatory in the Bible? Purgatory is in the Bible, right? Am I right or are they right?" This was rattled off pretty fast with little time for breathing so I knew she was more than a little upset. I think angry had become furious on the drive home. Since I thought she might be hyperventilating and I wanted to calm her down, I answered, "It isn't. It is. Both" This brought the desired response, a long pause. "What kind of answer is that?", she asked. I told her that I was just trying to calm her down and get her attention. "You have my attention. I'm calm. Where is Purgatory in the Bible?"Let's take the first question. My sister’s friend is absolutely right; the word Purgatory isn't in the Bible. If the doctrine of Purgatory is rejected solely because the word Purgatory isn’t in the Bible than we must also reject the Trinity. This may surprise some of you but the word Trinity isn't in the Bible. Surprised? Yet the doctrine of the Trinity is accepted by most claiming to be Christian.
Now for the second question. Yes Purgatory is in the Bible. Although not mentioned by name the existence of a place which Catholics call Purgatory is implied or inferred. This falls into an area some call inferential theology. So the answer to the third question is that you are both right. The word isn't in the Bible but the inference to this place, Purgatory, is.
Let's look at some scripture to support the Catholic position.
In Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 12:32) we read that the sin of "Blaspheming the Holy Spirit" is a sin which won't be forgiven in this world or the next.
Matthew 12:32
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
This passage implies that there are some sins which are forgiven in the next world.
In Matt 5:26 Jesus talks about a place from which you wouldn't be released until you paid everything you owe.
Matthew 5:26
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Jesus, talking about the unforgiving debtor, said he would be tortured until his debt was paid. Jesus then said the Father would do the same to us.
Matthew 18:34-35
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.Where is this place we will be in until we have paid our last farthing? A place we must stay until our debt is completely paid. We know it can't be hell because no matter how much we pay there is no escape or pardon. It can't be heaven because Scripture tells us nothing defiled can enter heaven.
Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.Something we all should be aware of is that Scripture says we defile ourselves with "idle words.” Now don't confuse an idle word with a useless word. The biblical definition of an idle word is a malicious assertion or calumny. I thought I should mention this because at times many of us sow our words in the fields of gossip and calumny. And we all know what it says in Galatians 6:7. You don’t? Then look it up.
Matthew 12:36-37
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.Place yourself in the following scenarios. You are a Christian according to any Church's standards. You are walking the Christian walk daily but in a moment of weakness you make a malicious statement against someone. You want to repent and plan to do so at your evening devotions but before you can ask God's forgiveness you are killed in a car accident. Would true justice require an eternity in hell?
An opportunity arises to help someone. To do a good work. Perhaps give to a charity, perhaps change a flat tire for some old lady. You get the idea. The epistle of James says neglecting these good works would be a sin for the Christian.
James 4:17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
For a sin of omission are people doomed to spend eternity in hell? The examples given are sins committed by people who were Christians in every sense of the word. These people are probably guilty of only venial sins. All their lives they had tried to live for God. Don't the Scriptures teach that such people reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Yep, you are absolutely correct. This is the passage I told you to look up. Pretty sneaky, huh?)
Would the all just God determine that these people spend eternity in hell? This seems like a mockery of justice. The kind of justice dispensed by courts on earth. But even with the corrupt courts we have, would a person with a parking ticket and a murderer both be sentenced to death? Of course not! Then how can we accuse the Omnipotent, All Just God of dispensing such justice?
Job 8:3-4
Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?Catholics believe sins are classified into two categories. The first category is called mortal sin. Mortal comes from the word mortis in Latin which means death. It is so called because Catholics believe if you die without having repented of mortal sin you will go to hell, the second death.
The second category of sin is referred to as venial sin. Venial comes from the Latin word venialis which means pardonable. The Scripture below supports this position that there are varying degrees of sin and the quotes from the Early Church Fathers at the end of this section show that this is what the early Church taught and believed.
1 John 5:16-17
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
Paul speaks about a place where a person’s works are burned as by fire yet the person himself is saved. Many Doctors of the Church have used the quote of Paul in Corinthians in their writings and consider it a direct reference to Purgatory.
Corinthians 3:15
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Many private revelations to saints have shown Purgatory to be a place where sin is purged by fire. Even though Catholics are not required to accept or believe private revelations a glance at the Old Testament shows that these revelations may have a basis. We see Isaiah’s sin purged by a live coal.
Isaiah 6:5-7
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.Any more on purgatory in the Bible? Well, the second book of Machabees talks about praying for the dead.
2 Machabees 12:46
it is a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins.
Hooray! Finally a Scripture that supports the Catholic position. Well that depends. For my sister's interdenominational Bible group it won't matter what Machabees says because they don't have that book in the protestant versions of the Bible.
I hate to break the bad news but the Protestant Reformers rejected 2 Machabees and six other Old Testament books that were in the Septuagint Version even though they were recognized by many early Church Fathers and the Catholic Church. The same Church, in fact the only institution, that determined which writings were to make up the Canon of the Bible. How people can accept and profess that the Bible is the Word of God yet reject the institution that determined which writings would constitute the Canon of the Bible is beyond my comprehension. Getting back to Purgatory. I sometimes get side tracked forgive me.Now my sisters non-Catholic friends state they don't believe in Purgatory and praying for the dead but at all the non-Catholic funerals I have attended there was always prayer for the deceased. Why? It doesn't do any good, does it? Or does it? Perhaps there is a truth hidden in our hearts by God that surfaces at the time of the death of our loved ones that causes us to pray. I mentioned earlier that my sister's friend scoffs at the idea of praying for the dead but what if she is wrong. Hebrews 12:23, the King James Version, seems to put the saints into two different groups "the General Assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in heaven"; then the Scripture speaks of "the spirits of the just men made perfect."
Hebrews 12:22-23
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Do certain questions come to mind? Why is a distinction made? Who are the spirits made perfect? Where were they perfected? Perhaps a place called Purgatory? If this place or state of purgation does exist who is praying for your loved ones? A more personal question to ponder is who will pray for you?
We are all called to perfection and holiness. Our mission on this earth is to become as much like Jesus as we can. I don't know about you but at this moment I fall far short of the mark. That's why we have Purgatory. It is more like a place to clean up before seeing God. Oh, sure we will experience pain for our sins to the point we will weep because we shall see how our sins appear to God. But we have this to look forward to:
Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.Early Church Fathers on Purgatory
"And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again received her [Thecla]. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: 'Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the righteous.'" (Acts of Paul and Thecla, AD 160)
"The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I lived, that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the chaste shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields, who has great eyes surveying everywhere, who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius, ordered this to be inscribed; truly I was in my seventy-second year. May everyone who is in accord with this and who understands it pray for Abercius." (Epitaph of Abercius, AD 190)
"[T]hat very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease . . . For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other. . . . and [I] knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then . . . I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown to me. I saw that that place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment. . . . [And] he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment." (The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 2:3-4, AD 202)
"[T]hat allegory of the Lord [Matt. 5:25-26] . . . is extremely clear and simple in its meaning . . . [beware lest as] a transgressor of your agreement, before God the Judge . . . and lest this Judge deliver you over to the angel who is to execute the sentence, and he commit you to the prison of hell, out of which there will be no dismissal until the smallest even of your delinquencies be paid off in the period before the resurrection. What can be a more fitting sense than this? What a truer interpretation?" (Tertullian, The Soul 35, AD 210)
"We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries." (Tertullian, The Crown 3:3, AD 211)
"A woman, after the death of her husband ... prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice." (Tertullian, Monogamy 10:1-2, AD 216)
"The strength of the truly believing remains unshaken; and with those who fear and love God with their whole heart, their integrity continues steady and strong. For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace [i.e., reconciliation] is given. Yet virginity is not therefore deficient in the Church, nor does the glorious design of continence languish through the sins of others. The Church, crowned with so many virgins, flourishes; and chastity and modesty preserve the tenor of their glory. Nor is the vigor of continence broken down because repentance and pardon are facilitated to the adulterer. It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison, not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to be at once crowned by the Lord." (Cyprian of Carthage, Letters 51[55]:20, AD 253)
"But also, when God will judge the just, it is likewise in fire that he will try them. At that time, they whose sins are uppermost, either because of their gravity or their number, will be drawn together by the fire and will be burned. Those, however, who have been imbued with full justice and maturity of virtue, will not feel that fire; for they have something of God in them which will repel and turn back the strength of the flame." (Lactantius, Divine Institutes 7:21:6, AD 307)
"Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid out." (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9, AD 350)
"Useful too is the prayer fashioned on their behalf, even if it does not force back the whole of guilty charges laid to them. And it is useful also, because in this world we often stumble either voluntarily or involuntarily, and thus it is a reminder to do better." (Epiphanius of Salamis, Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 75:8, AD 375)
"If a man distinguish in himself what is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch for a life of greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by reason. If he have inclined to the irrational pressure of the passions, using for passions the cooperating hide of things irrational, he may afterward in the a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, after his departure out of the body, he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire" (Gregory of Nyssa, Sermon on the Dead, AD 382)
"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them." (John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians 41:5, AD 392)
"Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extant of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly giving alms to the poor on their behalf. Not in vain was it decreed by the apostles that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed. They knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. when the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God, should we not succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not reckoned as worthy of this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And what is that? We may give alms to the poor on their behalf." (John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians 3:9-10, AD 402)
"There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for other dead who are remembered. It is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended." (Augustine, Sermons 159:1, AD 411)
"But by the prayers of the Holy Church, and by the salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is no doubt that the dead are aided, that the Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins would deserve. The whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers: that it prays for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself; and the sacrifice is offered also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, then, works of mercy are celebrated for the sake of those who are being remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose behalf prayers to God are not offered in vain? It is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit to the dead; but for such of them as lived before their death in a way that makes it possible for these things to be useful to them after death." (ibid., 172:2)
"Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by 'some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment." (Augustine, The City of God 21:13, AD 419)
"The prayer either of the Church herself or of pious individuals is heard on behalf of certain of the dead, but it is heard for those who, having been regenerated in Christ, did not for the rest of their life in the body do such wickedness that they might be judged unworthy of such mercy [as prayer], nor who yet lived so well that it might be supposed they have no need of such mercy [as prayer]." (ibid., 21:24:2)
"That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire." (Augustine , Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 18:69, AD 421)
"The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh. Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are given in the Church. But these things are of profit to those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these things. There is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no avail after death." (ibid., 29:109)