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Why does the Roman Church believe in Purgatory? To answer that question we need to look at some of the relevant statements in recent Roman publications. In The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Geoffrey Chapman 1994) some of the Lord's disciples are described as being "pilgrims on earth", others as dead "and being purified", and others as "in glory". Purgatory is that place of purification.
Why, though, is there need of purification? Hasn't the Lord Jesus fully dealt with our sins by His atoning death at Calvary? The Roman answer to that seems to be both "Yes" and "No". Ultimately our salvation is all due to the grace of God and the work of the Lord Jesus. The guilt of the believer's sin has already been forgiven, but there is still a temporal punishment to be borne by the sinner. (Paul VI, Indulgentium Doctrina). This is dealt with either in this life, or after death in Purgatory.
This explains the Roman practice of prayer for the dead. Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, section 50, quotes 2 Maccabees 12:45 in support of the idea that such prayer can loose those in Purgatory from their sins.
In the section in which The Catechism deals with "The Final Purification, or Purgatory" it speaks of this purifying being needed to "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven". This is distinguished from the punishment of those under eternal condemnation. Reference is made to the Councils of Florence and Trent, and to 1 Corinthians 3:15 and 1 Peter 1:7.
Gregory the Great (c 540 - 604), Bishop of Rome from 590, who sent Augustine to convert England, is quoted in deducing from Matthew 12:31 that there are sins that can be forgiven in the age to come, if there is one that can't. An even earlier figure, John Chrysostom (c347 - 407), one of the great preachers in the early centuries of the Church, and for a few years Bishop of Constantinople, used job's example of sacrifice for his sons as encouraging Christians to believe that their offerings and prayers bring consolation to the dead.
It is claimed that from the beginning the Church has offered such prayers, particularly in the Mass. Other works of mercy have also been encouraged. In other words, Scripture, tradition, and church practices are all used as arguments for believing in Purgatory.
The doctrine of Purgatory is closely linked with that of Indulgences, which we shall be looking at another time. Suffice it is to say now, that in the Apostolic Constitution on Indulgences published with the Vatican II documents, the Council of Lyons (1274) is quoted, indicating that those in Purgatory are believers "who had not made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions". Finally we quote Paul VI in The Credo of the People of God where he refers to some who have died in the grace of Christ who "must still make expiation in the fire of Purgatory" while making up part of the People of God.
What can we say to all this? The first thing is that it takes sin very seriously. It recognises that sinners cannot approach a holy God without sin being fully and finally dealt with. It is precisely at this point that the vital point occurs. To what extent has our Lord Jesus Christ dealt with our sin? Has He done it all, or must there be satisfaction on our part in the form of penance or punishment as Rome appears to maintain?
Those whose sole authority is the Bible declare that Christ has done it all. Whatever chastening we may experience in this life as we are conformed to the likeness of Christ, when we put off this body we go to be with Him, clothed in His righteousness. There is no place in the Gospel for Purgatory. It does not exist. There is no need for it in the purposes of God. Neither of the New Testament texts quoted refers to Purgatory. The quote from the Apocrypha is without canonical authority according to our understanding.
By all means let us take sin seriously. Never let us ignore the necessity for holiness if we would see the Lord. But let us hold firmly to the all-sufficiency of the offering of Christ. How wonderful it would be if in the mercy of God we were able to help some sincere Roman Catholic enter into the joy of that liberty with which Christ has made us free, while heeding Paul's further exhortation, not to use liberry as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love to serve one another (Galatians 5:1,13).
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