Its better we have a clearer view of what Purgatory is so that we don't bring badluck upon our selve by what we say.

Both reason and faith tell us that there is a middle ground of expiation, where the soul is cleansed from all stain of sin before it can enter the glory of heaven. "There shall not enter into it anything defiled" (Apoc. 21:27). Christ said, "Amen, I say to thee, thou will not come out from it until thou hast paid the last penny" (Matt. 5:26). Even persons who deny the existence of purgatory instinctively pray for their loved ones who have died. This would be great inconsistency if their reason did not tell them that their prayers would do the dead good. Prayers are useless for those in heaven or hell.

What is purgatory? --Purgatory is a place of temporary punishment for those who die in the state of grace, but are guilty of venial sin, or have not fully satisfied for the temporal punishment due to their sins.

Purgatory is a middle state where souls destined for heaven are detained and purified. Souls in purgatory cannot help themselves, for their time for meriting is past. But they can be helped by the faithful on earth, by prayers and other good works.
In some places, at eight o'clock at night, the church bells sound, to admonish the faithful to pray for the souls in purgatory. This hour is in commemoration of Christ's prayer in the garden. We should then kneel and pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and the Requiem aeternam: "Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them," etc.

Belief in the utility of praying for the dead automatically includes belief in the existence of purgatory. If there were no purgatory, it would be useless to pray for the dead, because saints in heaven need no help, and those in hell are beyond aid.
And we can be sure there will be no more purgatory after the General judgment; because the reason for its existence will have passed.

Purgatory is a place of temporary punishment for those who have died in venial sin, or who have not fully satisfied God's justice for mortal sins already forgiven.
A boy steals an apple from a stall in the market; this is a venial sin punishable in purgatory. Some argue that God is a good God, and will not punish such slight sins with the pains of purgatory. We must remember, nevertheless, that the judgments of God are different from those of men, as His holiness is far above human holiness.
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." Let us reverence God's holiness and justice, as we have loving confidence in His mercy.

A man commits a cruel murder. This is a mortal sin which, unrepented and unconfessed, will send him to hell.
The man repents, confesses, and obtains absolution for his sin; the guilt therefore is removed. But justice requires that he make up for the evil he has done; this atonement takes place in purgatory, unless he makes full satisfaction before death.

The doctrine of purgatory is eminently consoling to the human heart. It consoles us when our loved ones die. Purgatory is a bond of union making us realize that death is not an eternal separation for the just, but only a loss of their bodily presence.
Purgatory gives us an assurance that we are still in touch with our beloved dead. We are consoled by the knowledge that we can still help them with prayer, as in life we so helped them.

Is the doctrine of the existence of purgatory reasonable? --The doctrine of the existence of Purgatory is not only reasonable, but its negation is eminently contrary to reason; it is taught in Holy Scripture, and has been taught by the Church from the very beginning.

The doctrine of a middle state of purgation is taught in the Old Testament, and was firmly believed in by the Hebrews.
After a battle, Judas Machabeus ordered prayers and sacrifices offered up for his slain comrades. "And making a gathering, he sent twelve drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection. For, if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (2 Mach. 12:43-46).

When Our Lord came on earth, He purified the Jewish Church of all those human changes that with the years had crept into its usages and beliefs. But He never reproved anyone for belief in a middle state of purgation, or prayers for the dead.
On the contrary, Christ more than once implied the existence of purgatory. He said "And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this world, or in the world to come" (Matt. 12:32). When Our Lord said that a sin will not be forgiven in the next life, He left us to conclude that some sins will be thus forgiven. But in the next life, sins cannot be forgiven in heaven: "There shall not enter into it anything defiled" (Apoc. 21:27). Neither can sins be forgiven in hell, for out of hell there is no redemption. They must therefore be forgiven in a middle state, Purgatory.

Belief in the existence of Purgatory is a continuous and solemn teaching of the Church. From St. Paul, the early Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, on through the ages, the Church has taught the existence of Purgatory, and the correlated doctrine of the usefulness of praying for the dead.
From the beginning Christians prayed for the dead at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The oldest books used at Mass contain prayers for the dead.

The doctrine of Purgatory was given solemn definition by the Council of Trent as follows: "There is a purgatory, and the souls there detained are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, but especially by the most acceptable, sacrifice of the altar."

This dogmatic definition contains three points of faith that all Catholics are compelled to believe: (a) that there is a purgatory; (b) that after death souls suffer there for their sins; (c) that the living can extend assistance to such souls.

Reason demands belief in the existence of purgatory. If a man dies with some slight stain on his soul, a sin of impatience, or an idle word, is he fit to enter heaven? God's sanctity forbids it: "There shall not enter into it anything defiled" (Apoc. 21:27) . But must such a soul be consigned to hell? God's mercy and justice forbid it.
Therefore reason concludes the existence of a middle and temporary state of expiation, where the soul is cleansed from all stain of sin before it can be admitted into the perfect holiness and bliss of heaven. "Amen, I say to thee, thou wilt not come out from it until thou hast paid the last penny" (Matt. 5:26).

Among nearly all peoples there has persisted a belief that souls must undergo some sort of purification after death. This would point to the doctrine of purgatory.
The Greek story of Prometheus implies a place of purgation. The Egyptians and others believed in the transmigration of souls. Legends and myths of all nations, as well as burial customs, indicate belief in the possibility of helping the dead.

SOURCE: http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/MyCatholicFaith/mcfc078.htm

You quoted majorly from your catholic indoctrinated Bible. Purgatory is an excuse to sin and not a biblical doctrine. What nonsense! Mention the place in the Bible where Jesus or anyone said when one dies you go to one place where you'll be punished. AFTER DEATH IS JUDGEMENT. take it or leave it don't twist it.

If dia is no purgatory dat means everybdy wil go to hell...

that's what you believe. I believe in Jesus and obey him, i'll make heaven.

vickyO: that's what you believe. I believe in Jesus and obey him, i'll make heaven.

a riteous man sins seven times a day

where you get that one from now? so precise, 7 times a day. Tell me abeg.

vickyO: where you get that one from now? so precise, 7 times a day. Tell me abeg.

lol im d 4 bible na

Donpoker9: lol im d 4 bible na

I don't understand still....

vickyO:
I don't understand still....

u cnt even count hw many times u sin a day. 4 each sin commited, after u have been forgiven, u stil have 2 pay one day

vickyO: You quoted majorly from your catholic indoctrinated Bible. Purgatory is an excuse to sin and not a biblical doctrine. What nonsense! Mention the place in the Bible where Jesus or anyone said when one dies you go to one place where you'll be punished. AFTER DEATH IS JUDGEMENT. take it or leave it don't twist it.

So if something that is impure/defiled cannot enter heaven, And all have sinned and fallen shot of the glory of God. And yet even the most righteous man sins atleast 7 x7 times in a day.

Even after forgiveness, the stains of sin remain. So you are. Indirectly saying dat everyone will go to hell

vickyO: that's what you believe. I believe in Jesus and obey him, i'll make heaven.

U can't just sit and Claim heaven as if its. Air(free). Prove that you will make heaven. Becos you can't just say u obey Jesus, because it is said in Proverbs 24:16 that a just man sins 7 x

Dats true

satellitedaisy:

U can't just sit and Claim heaven as if its. Air(free). Prove that you will make heaven. Becos you can't just say u obey Jesus, because it is said in Proverbs 24:16 that a just man sins 7 x

Purgatory is described as prison in 1 Pet 3:19-21
1 Peter 3:19-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited[a] in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Here souls of those who rejected noah's message were kept in prison (purgatory) till Jesus rose from the dead and came to liberate them

chukwudi44: Purgatory is described as prison in 1 Pet 3:19-21
1 Peter 3:19-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited[a] in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Here souls of those who rejected noah's message were kept in prison (purgatory) till Jesus rose from the dead and came to liberate them

And ur point is?

Because baptism washes away only stains from original sin(unless in adult baptism where it washed away stains from sins comitted b4 baptism) . What of the stains from sins after baptism?

@ op, I believe in Christ and so heaven is mine. I don't just sit in my house and claim heaven. I act according to the word and I pray for more grace to do that which is right. No purgatory, don't twist the Bible to suit your doctrine

vickyO: @ op, I believe in Christ and so heaven is mine. I don't just sit in my house and claim heaven. I act according to the word and I pray for more grace to do that which is right. No purgatory, don't twist the Bible to suit your doctrine

Which part of the bible did I write? Proverb, apocalypse or matthew. I quoted the bible for you, I neither twist nor doctrinize it.

Or babe, are u scared of proving yourself?

satellitedaisy:

Which part of the bible did I write? Proverb, apocalypse or matthew. I quoted the bible for you, I neither twist nor doctrinize it.

Or babe, are u scared of proving yourself?

the scriptures you quoted doesn't relate... you failed to give a solid backing for your doctrine.

satellitedaisy:

And ur point is?

Because baptism washes away only stains from original sin(unless in adult baptism where it washed away stains from sins comitted b4 baptism) . What of the stains from sins after baptism?

my point isn that Jesus preached tomthe souls in prison(purgatory)

vickyO:
the scriptures you quoted doesn't relate... you failed to give a solid backing for your doctrine.

If after going through this, you still doubt, that means you have made up your mind to die in yur ignorance.

Psalm 66:12 Thou didst let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet thou hast brought us forth to a spacious place.

Isaiah 4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. (see also Isaiah 1:25-26)

Isaiah 6:5-7 And I said: "Woe is me! for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."

This passage is a noteworthy example of what happens when men experience God's presence directly. An immediate recognition of one's own unholiness occurs, along with the corresponding feeling of inadequacy. Like Isaiah, we must all undergo a self-conscious and voluntary purging upon approaching God more closely than in this present life.

Few doctrines are clearer in Scripture than the necessity of absolute holiness in order to enter heaven. On this, Protestants and Catholics are in total agreement. Therefore, the fundamental disagreement on this subject is: how long does this purification upon death take? Certainly, it cannot be logically denied as a possibility that this purging might involve duration.

Malachi 3:2-4 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 sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

We are quite aware that they understand it of a purgation which will be at the end of the world by the general fire and conflagration, in which will be purged away the remains of the sins of those who will be found alive; but we still are able to draw from this a good argument for our Purgatory. For if persons at that time have need of purgation before receiving the effects of the benediction of the supreme Judge, why shall not those also have need of it who die before that time, since some of these may be found at death to have remains of their imperfections


2 Maccabees 12:39-42,44-45 . . . Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen . . . Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear . . . So they all . . . turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out . . . For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

The Jews offered atonement and prayer for their deceased brethren, who had clearly violated Mosaic Law. Such a practice presupposes purgatory, since those in heaven wouldn't need any help, and those in hell are beyond it. The Jewish people, therefore, believed in prayer for the dead (whether or not this book is scriptural -- Protestants deny that it is). Jesus Christ did not correct this belief, as He surely would have done if it were erroneous (see Matthew 5:22,25-26, 12:32, Luke 12:58-59, 16:9,19-31 below). When our Lord and Savior talks about the afterlife, He never denies the fact that there is a third state, and the overall evidence of His utterances in this regard strongly indicates that He accepted the existence of purgatory.

Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, "You fool!" shall be liable to the hell of fire

It is only the third sort of offence which is punished with hell; therefore in the judgment of God after this life there are other pains which are not eternal or infernal, -- these are the pains of Purgatory. One may say that the pains will be suffered in this world; but St. Augustine and the other Fathers understand them for the other world. And again may it not be that a man should die on the first or second offence which is spoken here? And when will such a one pay the penalty due to his offence? . . . Do then as the ancient Fathers did, and say that there is a place where they will be purified, and then they will go to heaven above.

Matthew 5:25-26 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. (see also Luke 12:58-59

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.


Luke 16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. (read Luke 16:1-13 for the context)

Zechariah 9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit.

Ephesians 4:8-10 . . . "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "he ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)


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.


There is no passage in the bible that will give you a literal meaning applicable to life.

Unless you want purgatory to be spelt out like the 10 commandments