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Lessons -
Apologetics
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Where is there any mention of purgatory in the Bible? When a person who does not believe in Jesus dies he goes to hell, and once in hell no amount of prayers can get him out. So how come you claim that purgatory gives people a second chance? If sins are forgiven why do we still have to pay for it? These are some of the questions that often get thrown at Catholics. Here are the answers to these questions—and more!
Objection #1: The Bible does not teach about purgatory, nowhere does it say that purgatory exists.
Rebuttal #1: The word purgatory does not appear but the reality of purgatory is clearly mentioned. Note that the words ‘Incarnation’ and ‘Trinity’ are not mentioned in the Bible either. But these doctrines are present in the Bible.
Objection #2: When a person who does not believe in Jesus dies he goes to hell, and once in hell no amount of prayers can get him out. So how come you claim that purgatory gives people a second chance?
Rebuttal #2: Purgatory has nothing to do with giving people a second chance. The word Purgatory comes from the Latin word, “Purgatorio” which means to purge or cleanse. Purgatory is not for those who have not believed in Jesus; it is, rather, for those who have died in grace and friendship with God but lacking perfection. Jesus said: “Be perfect for my heavenly father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) What happens if we don’t reach that perfection? We have to be cleansed of all that imperfection before we meet a Holy God. The Bible says in Hebrews that without Holiness no one will see the Lord. This cleansing of imperfection and self-love takes place with the fire of God’s divine love for us. Hence, we get the word Purgatory. Once we are made perfect we can enter the pearly gates of heaven and see God face to face.
Objection #3: Jesus Christ died ‘once for all’, why then do Catholics think you need to suffer in purgatory for your sins? Wasn’t his death sufficient to save us from our sins? By saying there is purgatory we are emptying the cross of Jesus of it’s power. Jesus said it is finished. Hebrews 10:14 says, “But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.”
Rebuttal #3: The work of our redemption is over. But now he sends us the application of that redemptive work of Christ by the Holy Spirit, which is just as essential. For example, a man is walking down the road when he falls into a pit. Another man comes and pulls him out, i.e. he saves him. However, the fall has made the man dirty so he needs cleansing so the savior gives him a bucket of water to wash up. It’s the same man who saves and the same man who cleanses. As stated earlier purgatory is the final cleansing with fire, it is simply the completion of work of salvation. If Jesus’ suffering was enough for our redemption then why did St. Peter say in 1 Peter 4: 1, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin.”
What about 1 Peter 4:8? “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.” Why? Because Christ’s love wasn’t enough and because Jesus did not suffer long enough? No, but because Jesus’ suffering and his redemption having been finished is applied in us through the Holy Spirit. We suffer because Christ’s life must be reproduced in us. It must be applied.
What about Colossians 1: 24? “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church.” This means that though Christ suffered we must suffer too in order to reproduce the suffering and death of Jesus so that we can glory in his Resurrection. This also means that Jesus’s suffering is the redemption and purgatory is the application of that grace. Purgatory does not nullify Jesus salvation grace; just as our suffering does not point to the fact that he suffered less.
Objection #4: If sins are forgiven why do we have to still pay for it?
Rebuttal #4: In 2 Samuel 12:13-14, David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord. Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. We see in this passage how the Lord puts away the sin of David, but he must make restitution for this sin.
Objection #5: Purgatory is not Biblical.
Rebuttal #5: Jesus speaks of sins to be forgiven in the age to come Matthew 2: 32, “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgement, 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 offences can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come” (CCC 1031).
In Luke 16:19-31, we see Lazarus in a place of tranquility and rest. The Rich Man, however, finds himself in a place of fiery torment. We can note several things here:
1. The rich man is in this place simply because he ate sumptuously and has neglected the poor. Surely he does not deserve Hell for something like that.
2. The rich man is calling Abraham ‘Father Abraham’ he wouldn’t call him that if he was not indeed his Father of faith.
3. We see this man praying and interceding for his brothers who are alive. There is no love in hell so how come this man is praying for others?
Consider these verses:
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:25-26)
“That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.” (Luke 12:47,48)
“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:2-4)
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.” 1 (Corinthians 3:10-16) Apostle Paul is saying that he laid a foundation that is Christ Jesus. We and our works are not the foundation, but Christ is. We are the builders, building on this foundation by our good works. There are degrees of good works, gold and silver and so on. The work of each builder will become visible on the Day. Day refers to the day of judgment. Notice that it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
“The cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.” (2 Samuel 22:6)
“For great is your steadfast love towards me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” (Psalm 86:13) It should strike you as odd that in our English Bible’s we have a Hebrew word called Sheol. The term is simply left untranslated, because it’s very difficult to translate the Hebrew Sheol into any English word that we usually use.
“For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.” ‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, “He was not abandoned to Hades” (Acts 2:27-31). The Greek word, Hades is not normally associated with just simply “hell fire.” “Gehenna” is the word that Jesus uses for hell fire, “where the worm dieth not” and there’s this unquenchable fire. The word is borrowed from the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem, “ge-hin-nom,” the valley of hin-nom, which was where King Manasus sacrificed thousands of Israelite children to Molek, a demon god. After that nobody wanted to live in such a defiled land, so it became the garbage dump.
Also consider these verses from Revelation 20: 11-14, “Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
From these verses we can clearly see that the lake of fire is Hell fire. Then how is it that verse 14 says, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire”? If Hades is hell then does John mean: death and hell were thrown into Hell! How can hell be thrown into hell.It doesn’t make sense. It’s obvious from verse 13, “And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them…” From these verses we can conclude that there definitely is an inter-mediatory place where the dead are kept until they are judged.
1 Peter 3:19; 4:6 can also be used as proof to show that there exists an intermediary place: “...in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.”
Objection #6: This idea of purgatory had to begin somewhere and I have a feeling the earlier Christian’s did not believe in this.
Rebuttal #6: This practice was present in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The earliest Christian liturgies contain payer for the deceased. The tombs have inscriptions and all the evidence from the catacombs indicate the earlier Christian prayed to saints. The tomb inscriptions reveal words of hope, petition for peace and for rest. And the Christians would gather at anniversaries to pray at the graves to make intercession for those who had gone ahead of them.
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Mumbai Community, First Quarter Report
September 13: The HSI School of Discipleship in Don Bosco Church, Borivili completed its first quarter on September 13, 2009, and from all indications has proven to be a far greater success than anybody expected. A total of 101 confirmed members in the Community that include men, women and children of ages ranging from 7 to 70, testifed to the wonderful impact this program has made on their lives. Click here for their testimonies.
This is the sixth HSI School of Discipeship to open internationally, and the second in India.
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