Is Purgatory in the Bible?

What is Purgatory?

The Roman Catholic church has long held the belief in a post-death suffering to purify the individual before entering heaven. But where does the catholic church get their concept of purgatory from? Does purgatory clash with the bible? In this article we will examine the stance of the Catholic church on purgatory, doing our best to represent the position accurately, then we will examine the protestant view. We will look to scripture to examine the doctrine through the framework of Jesus’s teachings, evaluating the position accordingly. Ultimately, we will show that purgatory, though a sincere attempt to honor God’s holiness by many theologians across time, actually undermines the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work at the cross, either minimizing the severity of sin, or minimizing the importance of Jesus’s death.

What Do Catholics Think About Purgatory?

The Roman Catholic church defines Purgatory as a limbo state between death and resurrection where the souls of those who were saved by grace, but not yet fully cleansed of sin’s temporal effects, go to be prepared for heaven’s perfection. The stance is based on texts like Revelation 21:27, or 1 Corinthians 3:13-15. It is a compelling idea when one considers the utter holiness of God and the smallness and sinfulness of man. It seems fitting that there would need to be a final “purge” if you will, where the old sin nature is destroyed forever, and the individual is delivered to heaven, fit to live fully in the presence and love of God. The official doctrine of the Catholic church would characterize purgatory as the unfolding of Christ’s atonement, meaning that Jesus atoned for all sin for all time at the cross, but we still have to deal with the immediate consequences of our sin in this life, this suffering being the outworking of his justification. Take king David for example: He was forgiven for his sin against Bathsheba and her husband, but still had to experience the suffering that that choice produced for him. Thomas Aquinas argued that most people die without having dealt with all of the temporal consequences of their sin and that there must be a place where the individual has to experience and shed the rest of that.

The Catholic church acknowledged purgatory as a doctrine in the year 1274 at the second council of Lyons. However, the idea had been developing for centuries prior through individuals such as Tertullian, Cythrian of Carthage, and Augustine of Hippo. Slowly, the idea of lesser sins being purged after death through suffering emerged and was shaped until it was finalized and canonized in the 13th century. The idea of purgatory seemed to emphasize the holiness of God, the seriousness of our sin, and provide hope for the imperfect.

What Does the Bible Say about Purgatory?

Purgatory was one of the major doctrinal issues that fueled the protestant reformation in the 16th century. The reformers found no biblical basis for purgatory and thought that the idea of purgatory actually undermines the weight of sin and the value of the death of Christ. Post reformation, a common refrain in protestant churches was: Sola Gratia, translating to “Grace alone”. The emphasis on this biblical truth was a backlash against purgatory and practices like indulgences where people would pay the catholic church to lessen the time they spent in purgatory. This phrase was echoed to emphasize the original message of the gospel authors and Apostles that salvation was a gift from God, undeserved, and unearned. There is nothing else to be done because Jesus’s death was all sufficient to atone for all sin for all time. Jesus’s final words echoed this truth: “It is finished”. The core message here is that faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is the only way we can be saved from sin and death and nothing else can be added to faith.

The difference here is that protestants would say that there is no need for purgatory because the death and resurrection of Christ “cleanse us of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The Catholic church’s idea of purgatory is based on the idea that Christ has fixed our relationship with God, but we must pay for our sins by experiencing and metabolising the temporal suffering they produce. 

Is Purgatory Wrong?

Purgatory may seem like a helpful idea, a way to account for our need for purification in the flesh before we enter heaven, it seems to elevate the holiness of God and show our neediness before him, but most truly, purgatory undermines the weight of sin and the value of grace. First of all, the doctrine of purgatory suggests that we are able, through suffering, to “pay for” the damage our sin causes in the world. This totally minimizes the weight of sin. This is a fundamental error according to scripture. Our sin is far too weighty, we would never be able to pay for it. In fact, this is the basis for the doctrine of hell: Sin is such a big deal that it would take an eternity of suffering for one to pay it off. This is why the death of Christ is necessary: God himself took all our suffering upon himself and defeated it. The suffering produced from sin in this life is not atoning, it is simply the fallout from a broken world. We do not suffer our way toward purity, we are made pure in Christ, “Sola Gratia”.

Secondly, the doctrine of purgatory takes away from the atoning work of Christ. It suggests that Christ’s death was not all sufficient. If I need to work off, pay for, suffer for my sin after I die in order to be purified, then Christ’s death and resurrection clearly didn’t cut it. But scripture clearly teaches that the death of Christ was sufficient to pay for all sin in all people for all time. Another refrain uttered by the reformers hammers this home: “Solus Christus”, meaning Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less. Purgatory suggests a need for more.

Aside from the fact that Purgatory is nowhere mentioned in scripture, the concept is insulting to Christ. Purgatory undersells the weight of sin and it undermines the value of Christ’s work, putting us in his place as those who can and must save themselves through suffering. This is not just unbiblical, it is a dark philosophy that directly contradicts the Gospel. If we could suffer our sins away, then the sacrificial suffering and death of God on the cross was unnecessary. It is no wonder this was one of the first and biggest issues on the table during the protestant reformation.

The Gospel

Humans are constantly looking for ways to save themselves because we don't trust God to do it. Purgatory is a fantastic example of how everyone does this, even God’s own people. None of us trust God the way we should, but Jesus calls us to trust him fully with our whole hearts. The Gospel says we are utterly helpless before God, unable to contribute even a mote to our salvation, but deeply in need of relational restoration to God. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves or help him save us. The gospel also says that we cannot stop him from seeking after us and loving us. The beautiful reality is that God loves us dearly and he wants to be with us. He showed this in Jesus by coming to be with us and at the cross by dying for us, taking on all the suffering produced by our sin, removing all barriers between God and man, meeting our greatest need: restoration to relationship with God. The only thing he asks of us is simply to believe him and hold out our hands to receive it. Jesus won't force us to be children of God, but for all who want it, he has brought us there. When it comes to heaven, nothing can be earned, but everything is free for the asking. Jesus doesn't help us save ourselves, he saves us, point blank period. If you want the love of God, it is yours.