Purgatory Part 2- What about "temporal punishment"

I recently commented and shared my blogpost regarding CS Lewis and Purgatory on another Evangelical Blog titled : God Entranced: Purgatory and Evangelicals by David Waugh. This is a very well written analysis and exploration of the principles found in Dr. Jerry Walls book, Purgatory: The Logic of Total Transformation.

DISCLAIMER: I have not read Dr. Walls book yet, although it is in my amazon wish list now! This is not a critique on his book in any way, as a matter of fact I anticipate agreeing with much of his book and enjoying it. This is more of a response to what appeared as mischaracterizations of the Catholic position in the blog post that possibly came from the book. My goal is to hopefully clarify the Catholic position and build consensus between Catholics and Evangelicals on this issue, one of which I believe the evangelical will find far lest repugnant once understood.

I think it is important that All Christians, and especially Evangelicals explore these topics to understand what they really disagree with. What are they really PROTESTing about purgatory in this case?

I left some comments on Mr. Waugh's blog post that correlated with my previous post on purgatory and trying to bring clarification by posting the Catechism References (1030-1032), as well as posting a quote by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger regarding the sanctifying state of Purgatory as opposed to a third place of punishment. These quotations are available on my other blog post C.S. Lewis Believed in Purgatory- Rightly So .

Mr Waugh graciously enough admitted that he was not an expert on Catholic doctrine, and pointed me to some catechism references and the Catholic Encyclopedia that seemed to indicate that Purgatory was a place of punishment. All of the references to punishment however are "temporal punishment".  I am a passionate Catholic, but I too, Mr. Waugh, am not an expert on Catholic Doctrine, so I originally overlooked these areas of the Catechism. Now having them brought to my attention, I believe I can clarify the misunderstanding that they seem to show, which you admit to a Protestant is confusing.  I agree with that, and when I was Evangelical, I too would have found it confusing, and know first hand the large number of misconceptions that I had about the Catholic Church as all of those misconceptions had to be reconciled prior to me agreeing to join the Catholic Church.  Surprisingly, that process ended up being fairly quick for me, it was as if once the first domino was pushed over, the rest seemed to fall away quickly.

So back to the issue at hand,

First, I think that we are dealing with some definition issues that I think need to be cleared up.

Purgatory- So hard to some up in a single definition, but Catholic.com did a good job when they said,
                 The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve    
                 the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in 
                 God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this 
                 final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned"        
                (CCC 1031).  

The full text from Catholic Answers (Catholic.com) regarding purgatory can be found in a Catholic Purgatory Tract .  It should be noted too, that this tract has an imprimatur from Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego.  An imprimatur, means that this can be considered free of doctrinal error and useful for teaching the Catholic faith.  It is something that not all Catholic books and documents have, and gives a sense of the reliability of what is written, in this case very good reliability.

Temporal Punishment-  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines temporal punishment well, and makes the clear distinction between temporal punishment and eternal punishment, I believe that this is the main area of confusion, where the evangelical sees any form of punishment after death as eternal and thus unjust since Christ has paid our price for our sins.  Of course, Catholics believe in Christ's redemptive power as well and that he has saved us from eternal punishment for our sins, however the effects of sin still remain in our spirit and our character and of course in the world in which we affect.  It is this type of affect of sin that Purgatory answers.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1472 To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the "eternal punishment" of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the "temporal punishment" of sin. These two punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain.⁸⁴

1473 The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man."

Evangelicals should be able to relate very well with the final sentence there that refers to removing the "old man" and putting on the "new man".  I remember in my time as an Evangelical, that I saw that as happening at conversion and was symbolized in baptism. But to truly believe that, one must believe that sanctification is also completed at that time, which even evangelicals will say it is not. So it is this idea of sanctification we are talking about here. 

I read a good analogy on the Catholic Answers Forum that I will share here regarding this idea of temporal punishment. 

Let's say you kill somebody, and go to confession and are forgiven. But you have to pay the consequences of that sin...you sit in jail for a very long time. That MAY meet God's justice, and if you don't pay now, you will pay later. 

Let's say you throw a rock through my window. You repent, go to confession, are forgiven, and get absolution. Jesus paid for your sin. But what about my window? Does Jesus pay for it? No, that's your responsibility. Paying for the window is the temporal punishment for throwing a rock through it. 

But what about all the "broken windows" we did not get around to paying for in our lives, metaphorically speaking? God's justice needs to be satisfied, and that is why there is purgatory. Temporal punishment occurs in this life, or the next. And God is so loving He accepts our prayers in lieu of after-death purification.

I think it is important for us to remember that this is not just what temporal punishment and purgatory is about, but also what sanctification is about.  Once a person acknowledges their sinfulness, effects change in their lives and the lives of those around them, then through God's grace and forgiveness one can be fully sanctified and enter God's presence. 

The Catholic Church teaches that all attachement to sin must be removed from the soul before entering God's presence.  The Evangelical position would have us believe that God simply declares us righteous and I guess looks the other way, that somehow sinfulness can enter into his presence. At the very least I think they may concede that some sort of final sanctification occurs at death through a miracle of God.  The miracle for Catholics is the state of purgatory.  

If the Evangelical does believe in true sanctification at death by God, so that we are made pure and blameless to enter his presence, I wonder why they bother to follow Christ's teachings in this life.  I think they would say that if you truly love God you will do what he says, and I agree, but we also need to understand that there is a benefit not just physically to us and those around us, but also spiritually to righting our wrongs, to paying penance, to fasting, to love our neighbors as ourselves.  All of these things bring us more into intimate communion with God, the One who is Holy and Blameless, Just and Merciful, and a true Father. Not a father who spoils His Children, but one who lovingly disciplines in order to mold them into communion with him.

It should probably be clarified here that in the state of Purgatory, there is not a second chance.  Catholic teaching is clear here.  It should also be noted that the souls in Purgatory do not work off their sins.  No one in Purgatory merits for themselves anything.  Purgatory instead should be viewed as a state of being in which your attachments to the temporal consequences of your sins are removed.  It may be painful or uncomfortable, it may be instant or take time, all of those types of things are speculative.  What is known for certain is that one must be pure to enter God's presence and Purgatory is a Logical, Biblical, and Historical way of looking at that issue.

Another thought I had on this idea of punishment is, in eternity, anytime spent outside of God's presence would be considered punishment. So in that sense Purgatory is certainly punishment, in fact I think most Catholics would see it as a form of punishment.  The issue I more have with the blog post and possibly the book, is this idea that you are being punished as some sort of eternal punishment, or that you can somehow work your way into heaven from Purgatory.  That is simply just not the case. 

I think that if one can get their head around the idea that Purgatory may be an instantaneous encounter with Christ's love, which the Catholic Church speculates as possible, then perhaps the doctrine of Purgatory is not so far fetched for the Evangelical reader.

In closing I would like to end with a quote from Pope Benedict the XVI regarding this doctrine, in his encyclical Spe Salvi I believe he sums it up in a beautiful way that even an Evangelical reader can appreciate and hopefully recognize as not just plausible, but likely. 

Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgement. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion. At the moment of judgement we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.

Are Catholic's Christians- A Response to an Evangelical Blog

Today, I am writing a blog response to another post on the 

  "Listening to the Giants" Blog

The blog post presented in this case is titled: 

John Wycliffe- A man who was a Roman Catholic Priest.

The author of the blog in typical Holier than Thou, Evangelical America style asks the profound question “Can a Roman Catholic be a Christian?”  The author does stress that he does not wish to offend, but let’s face it, this is offensive language, particularly when the ignorance behind the statements are understood.  It should also be noted that he is not really asking if a Roman Catholic can be a Christian, he is asking “Can Roman Catholics be saved like my friends and I are.” In fact, his conclusion pretty much emphasized this point saying,

“Yes…I believe it is possible. Yet I would also assert that most Roman Catholic’s are not saved because they are trusting in their own righteousness not in the righteousness of Jesus Christ……So who is the type of Roman Catholic that is a true follower of Christ?....Maybe this is an individual that stays in the Catholic Church for family reasons and yet personally understands and believes the true, unadjusted gospel. Maybe this is an individual who is illiterate and therefore, cannot read the scriptures for himself….To be honest I cannot understand how any Roman Catholic who has a Bible (and consistently reads it) stays in the Roman Catholic Church.”

What? Are you serious?  I would laugh about this, but as a former devout Evangelical Christian who was so certain of my Sunday School teaching, and blindly followed my mega church pastor and all that went before him, I know that sadly this fellow is not joking.  There is a serious misconception about Catholicism in the Protestant World here in America.  I seriously have to question how many practicing Catholic’s this gentlemen talks to, how many priests he has listened to sermons of? How many Catholic Apologists he has reviewed?

I am almost certain the answer is none. 

I would bet that this person’s exposure to Roman Catholic’s may be in the form of a few co workers, family, or other acquaintences that don’t know their faith, and probably a smattering of fallen away Catholics that also do not understand the Catholic faith, oh and there of course is the Protestant Seminary education (or lack there of) regarding Catholicism. I hope that this post, if he reads it, will help him to understand how far off he is in truly understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He mentions that Catholic’s rely on their own righteousness, this of course is false, but I would say that Catholic’s rely no more on our own righteousness, then Evangelical’s rely on their own traditions and intellect.

So to start my rebuttal, I think we need to answer the question he proposes: "To know who is a Christian (who is saved), one needs to see if they are practicing the Gospel according to Jesus."

 

He then outlines, that Jesus believes all Protestant tenants, he specifically points out that Protestant’s, and thus “true Christians” believe that Catholics cooperate with God in the process of justification where as evangelical’s believe that justification is an act of faith alone. Please note that he goes into much detail to emphasize, rightly so, that Catholic’s believe that God is the initiator of all acts of cooperation in His salvation plan, and that any work done by an individual is merited to God and not man, yet he still claims this is works based salvation. Of course this is another straw man, and indicates that Catholics earn their salvation, which is not true.  It also shows that he believes faith is simply an act of the intellect, a prayer at a revival, a simple belief that Jesus is the Savior of the World. I believed these same tenants for a long time myself, and was disappointed and hurt when I realized I was following manmade religion for most of my life. I never stopped to wonder about the idea of intellectual faith and assertion of Christ.  Could not Adolph Hitler have had such a belief in Jesus, maybe he prayed the “sinners prayer” at a revival as a youth, by most evangelical definitions, despite his atrocities in the rest of his life, he would be welcoming us into heaven when we arrive there.  I know this is an extreme example, but one that I hope will shed some light on this false doctrine. In light of this let us remember what James says in Chapter 2, verse 19, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.”  I would argue that the demons believe that Jesus is God, that he came to save the world, that he died and rose again, that he died for their sins and rebellion, and yet I would not say that demons, who continue to rebel against God and do evil, are saved.

It should be noted that when he does a side by side of justification he mentions Martin Luther and his beliefs that if one is truly saved he will produce good works, and if his life is not changed and he does not do good works than he is a false believer and will not find heaven.  So let me get this straight; Faith Alone means that by God’s grace you are justified and if you are truly justified and truly have faith you will do Good Works (Which I assume are fully attributed to the Grace of God).  How is that not the Catholic Position? It really is! Yet Martin Luther’s position is not the Evangelical position, the Baptist idea of Once Saved Always Saved, and the idea of praying a single prayer for your “get out of hell free card” are the Evangelical tenants. I know….I was involved in this type of Evangelism many, many times.

  So enough about what I think of all this. What does Jesus think of this?

Matt 5:48 “Be perfect, therefore as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Wow? So not everyone that cries out Lord at a revival will enter heaven, but only the ones who after that “DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER”.

Matt 7:24-27

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

So the person that hears Jesus’ commands and PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE is building on the rock.

Matt 12:36-37

 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

I am certain this is self-explanatory right? How are we judged? By what we say/do. Note that the proceeding verses are about bearing good and bad fruit.

Matt 16:24-27

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

He says, that you must deny yourself (works) take up your cross and follow him (works). He clearly says that works demonstrated out of faith in who He says he is, is necessary. The Son of Man will reward each person according to what they believed? NO! According to what they HAD DONE! Please remember though, that as I speak of works, these works are demonstrative works of faith, these are works that come from God for God, an solely by his Grace.  These are works of a true believers heart, and are done, because Jesus told us to and we are trying to follow him in everything.

Matt 19:16-30

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

So, let me get this straight, Someone asks Jesus directly, “How do I have eternal life?” And Jesus answers him and tells us! Jesus tells him, “ believe in your heart that I am God and that I died for your sins and rose again.”  Oh wait a minute, I was remembering what my Evangecube said when I was an Evangelical, Jesus DID NOT say that, lets go back to the text and double check Jesus’ answer.  Oh yes, he says “keep the commandments” What does he mean?! In case there is any doubt he lists the WORKS that need to be Refrained from or Committed.  So when the man says that he has done that, Jesus tells him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor and to follow Jesus.  You see Jesus tells him to love others as himself, to live generously, to have FAITH in Christ and what he is doing,  To FOLLOW Christ, not intellectually, but FULLY! How exciting that we know from Jesus himself how to have eternal life. We are to cooperate with his plan, we are to “drop our nets” and follow him, we are to go out into the “deep water” and caste our nets again, even though we had caught no fish all night.  We are to show a LIVING FAITH to the World, to not just give God intellectual lip service, but to have a transformation of heart and TRULY, FULLY Follow JESUS CHRIST.

THIS IS CATHOLIC TEACHING………THIS IS THE TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF!

In case right now you are scratching your head and wondering what Jesus says about intellectual belief, lets look back at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

You see Jesus very plainly says that more than just intellectual belief is required, in fact in the proceeding verses of Chapter 7 of Matthew, Jesus tells us about the trees that “do not bear good fruit” that are then “thrown into the fire”.  He further tells us that we will recognize his true disciples “by their fruit”. What is fruit other than good works, if good works are not necessary as a demonstration of saving faith, then why does Jesus lay down so much emphasis about them? Lets look at some more words of Jesus.

Matt 24:10-13

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,  and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

“And because of increased lawlessness (OT Law), the love of many will grow cold (sounds like today), But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”  How do we overlook such verses in American Evangelicalism?

Matt 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I believe this passage speaks of the TRUE GOSPEL of Jesus Christ.  If there was any doubt before, one only needs to look here.  Nowhere is there any mention, of belief, or faith alone, but it is clear that both the sheep and the goats have faith in Christ. The difference between them, is their hearts. The goats had faith in Christ and if they had seen him hurting they would have helped him, but they ignored their neighbors, they turned the other way from the homeless man begging for a sandwich, they ignored the widows and orphans, they treated the least as the least. The sheep, who are saved also had faith in Christ, but they had true faith, and like Jesus, they helped others, they served, they were the hands and feet of Jesus to the world……Powerful stuff…..Imagine the world if every Christian (Yes even every Catholic Christian) did this.

Luke 8:21

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Matt 28:19-20a

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“teaching them to obey EVERYTHING I have commanded you” I mention this because, another tenant of Protestantism is Sola Scriptura, the Bible alone, yet in John 21:25, John says,  “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” .  Think of the ramifications of this. Are we to assume that the only important things for us, and all that the Apostles shared to others are found in the Bible? John tells us no! Yet are we supposed to think that whatever was orally passed on by the Apostles is unimportant? That those teachings of Jesus are worthless?  If you are a sola scriptuarist, then you are saying that these extra teachings John references of Jesus are worthless and unimportant, and that the Apostles censored themselves after Jesus’ command in Matt 28.  But I digress, back to what Jesus says about Salvation.

Luke 10:25-28

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Jesus goes on to teach the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which he makes it clear that your neighbor is anyone in need, even those you are uncomfortable with.

John 5:28-29

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned."

Like Jesus Paul, also emphasizes this, while condemning Jewish works of the Law without faith in Jesus, or in lieu of Faith in Jesus, Paul emphasizes justification through faith and works. Some of my favorite verses regarding this are:

1 Cor 13:1-3, 13

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

If you have not faith? No if you have not Love you are nothing.  The greatest of these is faith? No the greatest is Love, because as Galations 5:6 says,

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

Faith working through love….exactly what the Catholic Church teaches.

Romans 2:6-13

God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.  There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.  (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Galations 6:7-9

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

1 Cor 7:19

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.

James 1:22-25

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

There are many more verses we can look at, but for sake of the length of this paper, I feel one more passage should be examined and that is James Chapter 2 in its entirety, but I will highlight just a few verses here.

James 2:14-24

 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

James 2:24, Yes this is the only place in the Bible where the words “Faith Alone” are mentioned…. “Not by Faith Alone”

It is important we understand too, that James wrote his gospel, because of the very idea that was already starting among both jews and gentiles.  That is the idea that is so similar to modern evangelicalism, that one only needs to profess Christ, or be baptized with no life change, no good works and they would be saved.  James clearly addressed the problem then, and an honest reading will help address the problem today.

Clearly the case for the Catholic position is clear, and I would challenge any reader of this post to find me the Words of Jesus himself that say we are saved by Faith Alone apart from works.  The truth is that it cannot be found, and that it was not taught by Jesus or any of the Apostles as a holistic view of Scripture will show.

The idea that Christians for the first 1,500 years of Christianity were Catholics and thus not saved, then for the next 300 years, all Christians whether Reformers (like Wycliffe and Luther) or Catholics, were not saved because they did not hold the present evangelical view. And the idea that only after American Evangelicalism sprouted or maybe even only once “Joe’s First Evangelical Free Church” was established, that people were Christians and saved, is not just ludicrous and laughable, but completely ethnocentric (or maybe religiocentric is a better word ) and ignorant of history.

So, I have appealed in the one authority you will acknowledge for deciding matters of faith, the Bible.  I have read it and studied it. As you allege, no one can do so and remain Catholic, yet here I am a learned Evangelical, who decided to erase my preconceived doctrines and ideas and read the Bible fresh one day, to see what it said and to see which church most aligned with its teachings.  My friend, by the grace of God, I found the Catholic Church in that process.  The more I studied, the more solidified I became in my Catholic Faith. I was also so relieved, and yet also surprised to find out that thousands of people every year in America are making the same journey. Hundreds of protestant ministers and seminarians are making the switch, because they truly seek the truth and are willing to follow it even if that means going to the Church that was so engrained in our youths as deplorable.

I must ask you, do you believe there is one truth delivered from God? Or do you believe that truth is relative to the individual?  I would guess that you would say there is one truth from God.  How then, do we have thousands (over 30,000) protestant denominations? These denominations are founded on schism from others and on division, on disagreements about how the Bible should be interpreted.  This means, only one of all the Christian denominations has the fullness of Christ’s truth.  The fullness of the faith that was given by Christ and preached by the Apostles.  I believe this is in the Catholic Church, and to a slightly lesser extent the other Apostolic Churches. These are the only churches that trace themselves all the way back to the Apostles, that have taught consistently for millennia not decades, and continues to be the bearer of Christ’s Commission.  At this point, one could also look at the first few centuries of Christian writings, from the likes of Augustine, Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and others and see clearly that the church they belonged to was the same church the Catholic Church is today, at the very least, you can see that it is nothing like American Evangelicalism.

I hope that this post was able to educate you about what exactly the Gospel is, and that Catholic’s, despite the Evangelical propaganda against them, are in fact Christians. Ultimately, as the Catholic Church says, I will leave the determination of salvation of others up to God alone, and do my best to follow Christ and his teachings as he commanded me to, having full faith in his Grace and Mercy. So you may be asking now, are non-Catholics saved?  Maybe, it’s complicated, for another post maybe, and up to God.  All baptized however, no matter what the denomination, are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Jon

CS Lewis Believed in Purgatory - Rightly So

This post is in response to a recent blog posting I found while searching the Internet for some CS Lewis quotes.  The full blog post can be seen here:

Listening to the Giants- CS Lewis a man who believed in Purgatory

There are many quotes of CS Lewis' that affirm a belief in Purgatory, many of which are listed in the blog post. Of course this falls into reason, as CS Lewis was an Anglican, and returned to the Anglican Church through the Evangelization efforts of his Oxford friend J.R.R. Tolkien and reading G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man. Both Tolkien and Chesterton were Catholic.

Lewis' most notorious quote regarding Purgatory probably comes from The Great Divorce in which he states;

“Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, “It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into joy”? Should we not reply, “With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleansed first.” “It may hurt, you know”—even so, sir.”

The first mischaracterization I find in this post is as follows:

"Some would say C.S. Lewis believed in the (recently popularized) sanctification (i.e. cleansing) model of Purgatory, rather than the classic model of satisfaction (i.e. punishment for your sins).

But if you are like me you are wondering, "What is the sanctification model of Purgatory?" 

Basically, it is the idea that Purgatory is necessary to make the Christian fully or completely sanctified before you enter Heaven."

What are these "models"?  Throughout the post it is referred to as the sanctification model is the Protestant model, and the satisfaction model is the "traditional model", although he never says Catholic, I am quite certain that is what he means.  However to say that the Catholic Church teaches currently the satisfaction model is completely false. Yes, Catholics teach that God's justice must be satisfied, but as this relates to Purgatory it is not about our eternal consequence of sin, but the temporal consequence.  The author of the blog seems to talk about Purgatory satisfying the eternal consequences of our sin which is a misunderstanding of the teaching.  Some aspects of the "satisfaction model", as described, if there is such a thing, is simply Medieval speculation on a divine reality.  We do this all the time, including in trying to understand things like the Trinity.  There are some things we do not know and cannot know, these types of doctrines, like the doctrine of purgatory, develop over time as our understanding of Christian Truth develops.

So what does the Catholic Church teach about Purgatory? 

Well the Catechism of the Catholic Church section 1030 and 1031 state:

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, 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 offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

We of course can also look at other Catholic sources to further understand this such as Pope Benedict XVI's:

"The transforming 'moment' of this encounter cannot be quantified by the measurements of earthly time. It is, indeed, not eternal but a transition, and yet trying to qualify it as of 'short' or 'long' duration on the basis of temporal measurements derived from physics would be naive and unproductive. The 'temporal measure' of this encounter lies in the unsoundable depths of existence, in a passing-over where we are burned ere we are transformed. To measure such Existenzzeit, such an 'existential time,' in terms of the time of this world would be to ignore the specificity of the human spirit in its simultaneous relationship with, and differentation from, the world.

. . .

"[Purgatory] is the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints.

. . .

"Encounter with the Lord is this transformation."...

--Joseph Ratzinger, Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life, p. 230-231

We can also look to Pope John Paul II for a better understanding of these truths:

Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected. Purification must be complete, and indeed this is precisely what is meant by the Church's teaching on purgatory. The term does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence. Those who, after death, exist in a state of purification, are already in the love of Christ who removes from them the remnants of imperfection (cf. Ecumenical Council of Florence, Decretum pro Graecis:  DS 1304; Ecumenical Council of Trent, Decretum de iustificatione:  DS 1580; Decretum de purgatorio:  DS 1820). It is necessary to explain that the state of purification is not a prolungation of the earthly condition, almost as if after death one were given another possibility to change one's destiny. The Church's teaching in this regard is unequivocal and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council which teaches:  "Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed (cf. Heb 9: 27), we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth' (Mt 22: 13 and 25: 30)" (Lumen gentium, n. 48). It seems clear from these Catholic Teachings as well as many others that the Catholic Church currently and has taught (At least since the 1300's) the "sanctification model".  Where the idea of the "satisfaction model", as described by the author,  comes from I am not sure, but it may just be a reference to the misunderstandings prevalent in the culture regarding the idea of Purgatory.  The author then lays out four arguments to support his conclusion that CS Lewis was "dead wrong" in believing in Purgatory, they are as follows: #1—There is not one explicit (or implicit) verse advocating the concept of purgatory. #2—It cannot be reconciled with justification by faith alone. #3—Scripture seems to teach immediate placement of individuals in Heaven (and maybe in Hell). #4—The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard I will address each of these four points in great detail, it should be noted though that the original blog post offers no facts, details, or other reason than the authors opinion, as to support these four points.  It is interesting that, his blog is entitled: Listening to the Giants : this blog exists to encourage readers to revisit and learn from the men of old".  I can't help but wonder who these "men of old" are? Perhaps he means the men of two hundred years ago in the American Enlightenment and more recent folks such as Lewis, because a simple look to the "Men of Old" in the first few centuries of Christianity should change his mind about the doctrine of Purgatory. For example, St Abercius (c AD 190), Tertulian (c AD 210), Cyprian of Carthage (c AD 252), Lactantius (c AD 307), Cyril of Jerusalem (c AD 350), and many more have affirmed in their writings the necessity and common practice of praying for the souls in their purification before God. One such example of Cyprian of Carthage is, "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 to be in suspense until the sentence of God at the day of Judgement; another to be at once crowned by the Lord." Now to address point one There is not one explicit (or implicit) verse advocating the concept of purgatory.  I will grant him that there is no explicit verse, just as there is no explicit verse to detail the Trinity.  There is however many implicit verses of which this doctrine originates. Let's examine some of these verses.  First, 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 which reads as follows:  By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. I have yet to see a convincing Protestant explanation of these verses. How under the idea of Sola Fide can one be saved but only as escaping through the flames while suffering loss?  The only explanation for what St. Paul writes here is an understanding of Purgatory. You see if what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward, if it is burned up, he will still be saved but will be purified prior to receiving his reward in heaven.  Of course this does not mean a literal fire, God's love is often referred to as a fire, this is a metaphor for the sanctification process.  Many protestants know the praise song, Refiner's Fire, and this is that same sort of fire.  Another verse is Matthew 12:32  And whoever says 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. Jesus explicitly states in this verse that anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age OR IN THE AGE TO COME.  If there was no purification of sins after death, no further reconciliation with God after we die, then there would be no need to say that the sins would not be forgiven now or then.  Jesus would have simply said that person's sins would not be forgiven, period. This opinion was held by many of the "men of old" including; St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, Bede, and St. Bernard, among others. The parable of Luke 16 is another good example describing a waiting place for righteous men to be made perfect in Christ, known as Abraham's bosom. "...the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame."  The righteous men of old were waiting here for Christ to open heaven by his atoning work on the cross.  Once that happened as is stated in 1 Peter 3:19-20 "he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water." This verse certainly alludes to the fact that there is a possibility of more than just God's presence or hell.  It supports the possibility and likeliness of a third place, where one, even the righteous men of old in this case, can wait to be made perfect for God's presence. We can see further reference to this idea of purgatory in 1 Corinthians 15:29 "Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?" What on earth could this verse mean, other than it is beneficial to pray for the dead and their purification? One final verse that I like to point out is often used to support the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, but I think there is some application here as well. Hebrews 12:22-24 states:  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. How were these spirits of the righteous made perfect? Through God's purifying love, through the refiner's fire, through the state of being that is purgatory.  #2—It cannot be reconciled with justification by faith alone. This is an interesting proposition and a natural one for a protestant to ask.  First of all, even if faith alone is true, Purgatory does not contradict that notion. The idea that God purifies us before entering his presence has nothing to do with our justification by Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  Without Christ there would be no salvation, and so this is essentially a moot point.  But lets dive deeper into what is being asked.   The blogger writes: "This (Faith Alone) was the main objection by the Reformers. The concept of Purgatory (i.e. the satisfaction model) requires justification by works. In other words, it is your works that releases you from Purgatory. It is your works that satisfies the wrath of God. It is your works that reconcile you to God. And finally, it is your works that grant you entrance into Heaven." The Church clearly teaches the sanctification model of Purgatory. Satisfaction, is perhaps a side point, but is satisfaction for our temporal consequences not our eternal consequences of sin. The author of the blog seems to conflate these ideas.  All our actions have consequence, and we must account for those.  Even the saved must do so.  This is entirely different than salvation through Christ though which is the only way the eternal consequence of our sin is remedied.  No where does the doctrine of Purgatory require salvation by works.  The souls in Purgatory are unable to do anything to merit their entrance into God's presence.  It is entirely by God's grace, aided by the church in prayer, that they are purged of their sinful nature, and made truly righteous, not just declared righteous.  God cannot look upon sin, and so to enter his presence all traces of sin must be "purged".  This is purgatory, works are no where a part of it, other than to say while we are alive, we can be "working our salvation out in fear and trembling" as St. Paul said, and try to rid ourselves of all immorality in preparation for entering God's presence after death.  #3—Scripture seems to teach immediate placement of individuals in Heaven (and maybe in Hell). This is an interesting point that is brought up, but is completely missing the mark.  The author seems to think that Purgatory is a place, perhaps a third place between heaven and hell.  While of course any thing in this area is speculation, I believe the majority of teaching on Purgatory refers to it as a state of being rather than a place.  It is a state of having our sins washed from our souls by God's Grace.  The pope himself has acknowledged that this could be instantaneous at death through a single encounter with Christ's love.  How it all works is for us to figure out when we die, but for now we need to just understand that if God cannot look upon sin, then we must be made, through his love and grace, righteous, truly righteous, not just declared so while we maintain our sinful hearts. The author states the following regarding this, and dismissing the idea that Purgatory is part of heaven (which by the way the Catholic Church teaches, if anyone is in a state of purgatory they have assurance of heaven). So it seems reasonable to me that if you add the conversion of the thief with the finality of Hebrews 9:27, the reader must conclude that when you walk through death’s doors, there is no opportunity for purging, learning or changing your mind. All sales are final. All sales are final at death. Of course they are, there are no second chances. One's fate will be sealed upon death, purgatory is not about second chances it is about being made ready for God's presence. The author has a clear misunderstanding of Purgatory, as any soul in purgatory merits nothing of himself by learning or changing his mind or purging himself, it is all done through Christ and by Christ.  Lets revisit the words of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, Lumen gentium: It is necessary to explain that the state of purification is not a prolungation of the earthly condition, almost as if after death one were given another possibility to change one's destiny. The Church's teaching in this regard is unequivocal and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council which teaches:  "Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed (cf. Heb 9: 27), we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth' (Mt 22: 13 and 25: 30)" (Lumen gentium, n. 48). I find it so interesting that this author uses Hebrews 9:27 to argue against what he falsely believes Purgatory to be, when the Catholic Church itself uses that same verse to affirm that Purgatory is a state of Christ's purification not a second chance do over as the author of the blog indicates. Hopefully I have covered this point adequately, it does not need too much addressing as it is a straw man argument against the doctrine of Purgatory. #4—The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard Finally the author uses this parable, very weakly, to seem to say that the misunderstood sanctification model of purgatory is not true.  This is a stretch at best, and I will not rewrite the entire parable here, but it can be found in Matt 20. The author argues that since the thief on the cross and the workers in the parable who only worked one hour are told that they will be in paradise, then purgatory is negated. As we discussed in the above point, purgatory is not about works salvation.  It does not matter if the thief on the cross was amoral up until his final conversion at death.  If his heart turned to Christ, he was baptized by desire or by martyrdom and is saved through Christ.  Christ tells us he is saved.  What we need to realize is that he went to paradise that day, he did not go to hell.  Any moment outside of hell, whether you are in the washroom of heaven (Purgatory) before entering, or in the beatific vision, any moment outside of hell is paradise. I think I will end it on that note, I know this was a very lengthy argument, but I do hope that you found it informational, interesting, and hopefully anyone who reads this has a better understanding of what the doctrine of Purgatory actually is. In Christ, Jon For more on Purgatory and the "temporal punishment" for sin, please see part 2 to this blog post.   Purgatory Part 2- What about Temporal Punishment