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286 10 Purgatory: The Purification of the Elect Simon, son of John, do you love me? —John 21:15 The alternative to hell is purgatory. —T.S.Eliot1 Even their virtues were being burned away. —Flannery O’Connor2 “Purgatory” designates that state of definitive purification, after death, for those who have died in friendship with God but are stained by the remains of sin. “All who die in God’s grace and friendship,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”3 It is commonly held that the doctrine of purgatory is one of the most “human” of Christian doctrines, in that it gives expression (1) to the holiness of God that cannot endure anything blemished in his presence, (2) to a realistic appraisal of the sinful condition many, if not most, people find themselves in at the end of their lives, and (3) to the unity of the Church, Christ’s mystical body, which provides the mysterious solidarity that makes the purification of its sinful members possible.4 In the words of St.Josemaría Escrivá, “Purgatory shows God’s great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him.”5 The doctrine of purgatory is a typically “Catholic” one. Orthodox Christians explain postmortem purification in a somewhat different way from Catholics. Traditionally , Protestants deny the existence of purgatory altogether. It is also true 1. T.S.Eliot, The Idea of a Christian Society (London: Faber and Faber, 1954), 24. 2. F.O’Connor, “Revelation,” in The Complete Stories (orig. 1971; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 2007), 508. 3. CCC 1030. 4. See E.J.Fortman, Everlasting Life after Death (New York: Alba House, 1976). 5. Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, n. 889. Purgatory 287 that the latter was not officially defined by the Church until the Middle Ages, and does not seem to occupy a substantial place in Scripture. However, the reason why the Church had not clearly defined the doctrine of postmortem purification at that stage is simple enough: in real terms, nobody had ever really denied it. As this doctrine is present at an implicit level in theology and Church practice, it is also deeply present throughout Scripture, albeit at an implicit level. The Doctrine of Purgatory in Scripture Scripture provides a solid basis for the doctrine of purgatory at a general level and in concrete texts. We shall consider the former first. The Scriptural Background for Purgatory Above we mentioned three fundamental reasons that account for the existence of purgatory. All three are clearly attested in Scripture. First, God is holy and requires a holy life of his people.6 “O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from the heart” (Ps 14:1–2). “Nothing unclean shall enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rv 21:27). In the Old Testament great importance was given to ritual purity, which is always considered as a manifestation of interior purity.7 This need was especially applicable to the priests, who on account of their ministry enjoyed an especially close contact with the Lord (Lv 8–9). When John speaks of the eschatological promise of the direct vision of God (1 Jn 3:2), he adds the following exhortation : “And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3). The prospect of seeing God face to face requires believers to purify their lives. In effect, during the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). Second, humans generally are aware of the power and apparently intractable quality of sin in their lives.8 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. . . . Indeed I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:3,5). Jesus, who had come “to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10), was moved by human weakness: “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36...

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