Purgatory

1. Purgatory Is there a Purgatory after this life?

2. Objection 1 • It would seem that there is not a Purgatory after this life. For it is said (Apocalypse 14:13): "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." • Therefore after this life no cleansing labor awaits those who die in the Lord, nor those who do not die in the Lord, since they cannot be cleansed. Therefore there is no Purgatory after this life

3. Objection 2 • Further, as charity is to an eternal reward, so is mortal sin to eternal punishment. Now those who die in mortal sin are forthwith consigned to eternal punishment. • Therefore those who die in charity go at once to their reward; and consequently no Purgatory awaits them after this life.

4. Objection 3 • Further, God Who is supremely merciful is more inclined to reward good than to punish evil. Now just as those who are in the state of charity, do certain evil things which are not deserving of eternal punishment, so those who are in mortal sin, at times perform actions, generically good, which are not deserving of an eternal reward.

5. Objection 3(cont.) • Therefore since these goodactions are not rewarded after this life in those who will be damned, neither should those evil actions be punished after this life. Hence the same conclusion follows.

6. 2 Maccabees 12:46: "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." Now there is no need to pray for the dead who are in heaven, for they are in no need; nor again for those who are in hell, because they cannot be loosed from sins.

7. 2 Maccabees 12:46: Therefore after this life, there are some not yet loosed from sins, who can be loosed therefrom; and the like have charity, without which sins cannot be loosed, for "charity covereth all sins"

8. 2 Maccabees 12 • 38 • Judas rallied his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the week was ending, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath there. • 39 • On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them with their kinsmen in their ancestral tombs. • 40 • But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain.

9. 2 Maccabees 12: • 41 • They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. • 42 • Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. • 43 • He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view;

10. 2 Maccabees 12 • 44 • for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. • 45 • But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. • 46 • Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.

11. Proverbs 10: 8-14 • 8 • A wise man heeds commands, but a prating fool will be overthrown. • 9 • He who walks honestly walks securely, but he whose ways are crooked will fare badly. • 10 • He who winks at a fault causes trouble, but he who frankly reproves promotes peace. • 11 • A fountain of life is the mouth of the just, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. • 12 • Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses. • 13 • On the lips of the intelligent is found wisdom, (but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence). • 14 • Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin.

12. John 11:26: • Hence they will not be consigned to everlasting death, since "he that lives and believes in Me, shall not die for ever

13. John 11:25-27 • 25 • Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, • 26 • and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" • 27 • 6 She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

14. Revelation (Apocalypse) • nor will they obtain glory without being cleansed, because nothing unclean shall obtain it, as stated in the last chapter of the Apocalypse (verse 14). • Therefore some kind of cleansing remains after this life.

15. Revelation 22 • 12 • "Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. • 13 • I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." • 14 • Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates. • 15 • Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit.