Is Purgatory Biblical?

Theology
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Purgatory is a place that we may be familiar with through Dante’s Divine Comedy or even simply through the much more lighthearted way we use the term today, referring to a thankless, never-ending, or distasteful task or responsibility.

But is the idea of purgatory biblical? What verses support or oppose it?

I know belief in purgatory is generally a doctrine that divides Catholics and Protestants (with Catholics holding to a belief in purgatory and Protestants denying the existence of a purgatory-like place). I find this interesting since I grew up Catholic, but heard very little about purgatory, except possibly as the reason to continually pray the rosary. I’ve been attending Protestant churches for many years now and of course have not found a belief in purgatory or even mention of it in any of these churches.

What do you think? What is the more Scripturally-accurate view?

Sharing this article as some background and context on purgatory as well.

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Purgatory is a place where ones sins are purged from one.

This believes that Jesus’s death and resurrection has not stoned for our sins.

It is not a christian belief.

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I’ve run into this question a few times, and what helped me sort it out a bit was stepping back and asking: what is actually being claimed about what Jesus accomplished?

From what I’ve learned in Protestant teaching, the main reason purgatory isn’t embraced is because it assumes there is still some remaining “unfinished” cleansing that needs to happen after death, whereas passages like Hebrews 10:14 (“by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy”) point to Christ’s work as completely sufficient.

I think that’s where the divide sits.
Not so much around whether growth or sanctification is real… but around when and how it happens.

I don’t see explicit biblical descriptions of a place called purgatory in Scripture. I see sanctification in this life, and I see the immediate presence with the Lord after death (2 Cor 5:8).

So for me, the most Scriptural view leans toward Jesus’ atonement being fully complete, without an extra phase needed after death.

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Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” which doesn’t leave room for an in-between place of further purification.

Jesus Himself told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), not after a delay or cleansing period.

If we are “justified by faith” (Romans 5:1) and made righteous through Christ alone, then purgatory (however well-intended the concept) is not supported by Scripture. As believers, we rest in the finished work of the cross, not in additional steps after death.

Would love to hear if others see different verses on this.

But so far, the Bible points me toward confidence in Jesus’ completed atonement.

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I was also curious about the biblical support for such a widely held belief. I heard that there is a verse in Maccabees that is used and I once heard a priest refer to the “beaten with many stripes and beaten with few stripes” passage and saying what else could it mean. To me, this was pretty thin. However the bible is only some of what Catholics hold as authoritative. They equally hold to holy traditions and the teachings of the church. As a result, if something is not biblical, it is not as much of a problem for Catholics as it would be for some other Christians.

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That’s a good observation, and you’re right. Catholic teaching does place tradition and church authority alongside Scripture, whereas many of us hold to Sola Scriptura. That difference does shape a lot of what we believe about things like purgatory.

The verse you mentioned about “many stripes” is Luke 12:47–48. It’s part of Jesus’ teaching on faithful and unfaithful servants and I think it speaks more to judgment and accountability than a place of purification after death.

I personally don’t see a middle ground between this life and eternity.

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Good points, and I agree. The idea of purgatory is also not a hopeful one, and I think the Bible is full of hope for the Christian.

The only scenario where I can see validity to it is dependent on your view of hell because, if the reality of hell seems incongruent with a loving God, I could see the idea of purgatory making sense for those who did not follow God in this life and yet can’t be condemned to hell forever. Purgatory kind of fits that gap.

Not saying I believe this, but just observing how it could make sense with that framework!

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So, how should we respond when Catholic family members talk about purgatory?

This November, our Catholic relatives may talk about (probably will talk about) the “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory,” a time when they pray and offer sacrifices for loved ones who’ve passed away, believing those souls are being purified before entering heaven.

As a Bible-believing Christian, I definitely believe that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8), and that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all (Hebrews 10:10-14). So, again, the idea of an ongoing process after death, like purgatory, feels at odds with the finished work of the cross.

Still, I want to speak with grace, especially when these conversations come up around the table. We have dinner together most Sunday evenings. I’d never want to create unnecessary division, but I also don’t want to pretend I agree.

How have you approached this kind of situation?

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The simple and short answer is no. It’s not.

The concept of Purgatory arose slowly and over time in the Western theological tradition. The earliest hints can be seen where St. Augustine speculates about the possibility that there may be an experience of some kind of final purification before entering the glory of heaven. The idea grew and evolved over centuries, until finally become dogmaticized in the late middle ages.

Purgatory was one of the things which the Protestant Reformers found no value in, seeing that it lacks biblical support and actually is theologically problematic.

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Well said. The idea of purgatory isn’t found in Scripture, and it undermines the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” There’s no need for further purification when the blood of Jesus has already cleansed us completely.

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No, it is not biblical, as the Lord Jesus death provided full and complete aton ement for all of our sins, so none left to atone for after death to God

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Welcome to the community.

Peter

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I think you all answered this beautifully. I just say Amen!

I think simplicity is best. Just say something like it is a nice thought, second chance, and all that; however, it is not Biblical. If they claim it is, ask them to show you where it is. Just do it with compassion and out of love. However, if they will not hear you, or you see them getting angry, drop the subject and move on. You planted the seed; allow God to water it.

Peter

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Also just let them know that jesus died and atoned for all of our sins, so no need to go there, as Jesus paid it all at Calvary

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I could be wrong, but I believe Purgatory came from the Jewish concept of Sheol or the Greek concept of Hades. Both were considered the place where the dead reside, regardless of their wickedness or righteousness. Thus Purgatory was born as a pocket hole for everything before Christ’s redemption and for everything that had a question mark over its destination like unborn children etc.

Bwtween 100 to 300 years after Christ, there were a multitude of sects that believed a wide variety of different views about Christ and God and everything else.. There was no unified belief or a unified Bible of collected works to turn to.

After some of these sects were persecuted and killed off by Rome, Rome tasked the leaders of the remaining Sects with forming a unified Church.

So thus these leaders began laying out Doctrine and in this they had to reconcile a lot of differing beliefs held by a number of different people from not only Christianity but also various other religions and cultures that had been absorbed by the Holy Roman Empire.

And they did this in order to make it a Faith for all people so it would be easier to assimilate all the conquered peoples of Rome into one Faith and one Holy Nation. That is why some of the earlier Saints were actually Pagan gods and goddesses. And why we celebrate the birth of Christ around the same time as the Pagan Winter Solstice instead of the summertime. (Christmas in July may be closer to accurate). The seperation of souls to either Heaven and Hell came from Zoroastrianism beliefs. Christianity has many such ties and overlaps with other faiths and traditions, not just Judaism.

In Hinduism, a similar incorporation takes place with the (many) Avatars of Vishnu, or put another way, the numerous incarnations of the god Vishnu into human form. For instance, the Buddha in Buddhism is considered to have been an Avatar of the god Vishnu in Hinduism. Christ may also be considered an Avatar of Vishnu in a similar way by the Hindu people. Which may be facilitated by the fact that we say Christ is God made flesh which aligns somewhat with what they already believe.

But I could be wrong.

From Google AI:

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Purgatory undermines the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement for sin on the cross. The doctrine of purgatory is not stated in the Bible, so Catholicism is forced to appeal to human tradition rather than Scripture.

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Something people tend to forget about the early Christians, up to and including Catholics, is that they were quite confused about what to do as Christians. So many of them did not have access to scriptures but had religious routines. Political leaders of the times did not learn from the lessons in the old testament about keeping pagan practices seperate. The scholarly authorities made things like purgatory cannon because it shut the pagans up so they could in turn keep them in line. Now all this being said, life between death and resurrection is a mystery and there aren’t scriptures that clarify exactly what is going on there. Sure we get all kinds of scenes about the end times that mention the dead, but as far as what they are actually experiencing… who knows? The Catholics/pagans could have been onto something. At the end of the day, just ask yourself if it really matters to you. Have faith that what you can’t control is under the control of God’s creation, which does include heaven/afterlife.

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First, welcome. Second, I think you are making a great point here. Truthfully, we have no clue what lies ahead, either between death and resurrection, or even really heaven and hell.

“But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”– 1 Corinthians 2:9

If we are secure in our salvation and our faith in Christ, then come what may. No worries. No fear.

Peter

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Hello, everyone. I am a new member to this forum, and as a Catholic (not very active, though) and having an Evangelical upbringing, I think I can explain Purgatory and how Catholics have different views of many different topics, to include Purgatory.

Purgatory is hardly discussed any more, and my questions about it almost always got the vague ambiguous response of people who dont really feel comfortable speaking much on the topic. Honestly, I think Evangelicals think more about the Catholic concept of Purgatory than most rank and file laymen, or even most priests. The entire time I took classes about Catholicism, the only time Purgatory was mentioned was if someone asked a question, and that was all and not very common.

Now what I am about to share with you has been OKed by a couple of priests I was discussing various things with. So while it is not the general understanding by laymen, it is closer to what the priests told me in response to my questions.

First, I need to explain what is generally understood about the situation we will find for us after we die. 1) the “particular judgement” by God that sends us on our way to whichever place we will spend our time as spirits without bodies is not our final destination. This time is known as an “intermediate state” since we wont have our bodies yet, but out spirits move on to our judged places to exist till the resurrection. The three places are a) Gehenna, a place of suffering, but not physical suffering since no one will have a body that would allow them to feel pain. But there will be suffering cause by several things; the loss of physical pleasure, the loss of entertainment like watching sports or drinking your favorite soda, etc because none of this is plausible for people in a spirit form. The worst suffering in Gehenna will be that those people will be with souls just like4 themselves. So if you are an angry, jealous person, well you will be among other angry jealous souls as well. Those who are more good natured will have the pleasure of being among other kind souls too, which is b) Paradise where we will be with Jesus.

Jesus spoke in His parables of those who come to the wedding feast unprepared, and who are then sent home to properly clothe themselves. This is as close as New Testament scripture comes to saying anything about Purgatory. But Purgatory is this concept, that many Christians will not be ready for Paradise, not because of sin necessarily, but because of our habits and pleasures we became emotionally dependent on while we had bodies. There is a long list of such things, some bad, but not all of them. I am trying to prepare for life as a spirit by removing such physical pleasures as much as I can short of living in a tent, lol. But yes, I am going to miss Diet Dr Pepper, fried eggs, warming myself by the fire, etc. So this period of getting used to existing as a spirit without a body will take some getting used to.

  1. in the Middle Ages some monks and priests exaggerated the pains of Purgatory in order to raise funds from the friends and relatives of those who had passed on, and I think prayers do help us in that bodiless state to adapt to our new circumstances and sort of “move on”. But Purgatory is not like the fires of Hell, aka Gehenna, it is a place more like a “get ready” camp that people sometimes got to before they are going to a new location different from what they are used to, like college, or military boot camp, etc. We will be sort of depressurizing under the weight of getting used to be a spirit.

It is not going to be easy for must of us.

But I hope this helps to clarify the subject of Purgatory. It is not so much a doctrine as it is a concept most have about how we will adapt to the change of being bodiless spirits.

Hope you all had pleasant Christmas times and will have good New Years as well.

RGCheek

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I always thought purgatory came from Jesus’s death on the cross. he was dead and he went to a prison in the earth where he preached for 3 days. i think that could qualify as purgatory. prison here is the department of corrections. criminals go there to get right according to the system. And then we have Lazarus and the rich man who was conscious in a place only described as a bad place. So I always took it that if you die here without salvation maybe there is a place of correction to atone for your sins and get right. After all there is only one unforgivable sin and his mercy and forgiveness is perfected. the rich man’s sin did not seem to me to be unforgivable.