Program / Course 10: Salvation and Eschatology / Lesson 6.4
What you will learn
- State the Catholic doctrine of purgatory and the Scripture and tradition on which it rests.
- Describe the Orthodox practice of prayer for the dead and why the Orthodox do not teach purgatory in the Catholic form.
- Explain the Protestant objections and the differences among Protestant churches.
- Distinguish the early Christian practice of praying for the dead from the later development of the doctrine.
The big idea
Many Christians have prayed for the dead since the early centuries. The Catholic Church teaches that those who die in God’s grace but are not fully purified undergo a purification called purgatory before entering heaven, and that the prayers and sacrifices of the living can help them. The Orthodox also pray for the dead but do not define a place or process of purification in the Catholic way. Protestant churches generally reject both the doctrine and the prayers, on the ground that Scripture teaches the sufficiency of Christ’s work and gives no clear warrant for them.
Key terms
- Purgatory
- In Catholic teaching, a state of purification after death for those who die in grace but are not yet fully holy. The name comes from the Latin purgare, to cleanse.
- Temporal punishment
- In Catholic teaching, the consequence of sin that remains even after the sin is forgiven. Purification from it can occur in this life or in purgatory.
- Suffrages
- Prayers, Masses and works of mercy offered for the dead.
- Indulgence
- In Catholic teaching, the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven, granted through the Church. Abuses in the sale of indulgences provoked the Reformation.
- Panikhida and memorial services
- Orthodox services of prayer for the departed, held at funerals, on certain days after death and on memorial Saturdays.
- Deuterocanonical books
- Books such as 2 Maccabees that Catholic and Orthodox Churches count as Scripture and most Protestants do not.
- Communion of saints
- The belief, in the Apostles’ Creed, that all who belong to Christ, living and dead, are united in him.
Background
Christians began to remember the dead in prayer very early. Inscriptions in the Roman catacombs ask for peace for the departed. Tertullian, around 200, mentions offering the Eucharist for the dead on the anniversary of their death, and Cyprian speaks of the same practice. Augustine records that his mother Monica asked only to be remembered at the altar of God (Confessions 9). Prayer for the dead was therefore widespread long before the Middle Ages, and it was practiced in both East and West.
The doctrine of purgatory as a distinct teaching developed in the West over several centuries, with roots in Augustine and Gregory the Great and with a fuller formulation in the Middle Ages. The Reformation controversy was acute because of the practice of indulgences. This lesson describes the three positions as their supporters state them, and notes where the churches overlap.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Catholic doctrine
The Catechism teaches that all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are assured of their eternal salvation, but they undergo purification after death so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church calls this purification purgatory. It is not a second chance or a lesser hell. Its fire, in the Catechism’s language, is a purifying one, and the tradition has described its pains in different ways. The doctrine was affirmed at the Council of Lyons II (1274), the Council of Florence (1439) and the Council of Trent (1563).
The Church cites 2 Maccabees 12:41-46, where Judas Maccabeus makes an offering for the fallen soldiers and the author says it is holy and wholesome to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins. It also cites 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, where Paul says that a person’s work will be tested by fire and that the one whose work is burned “shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Matthew 12:32 and the practice of the early Church are adduced as well. Catholic scholars acknowledge that none of these texts alone states the doctrine, and say that it develops from them together with tradition.
Step 2: The Orthodox practice
The Orthodox Church prays for the departed at the funeral, at memorial services on the third, ninth and fortieth days after death, at the one-year anniversary and on Saturdays of remembrance, and in the Divine Liturgy. The Church holds that the departed remain members of the Body of Christ and that love continues across death. The prayers ask for rest, forgiveness and mercy for the departed.
The Orthodox have not accepted the Western doctrine of purgatory. At the Council of Ferrara and Florence in the fifteenth century, Orthodox representatives such as Mark of Ephesus argued against defining a purifying fire and against the legal framework of temporal punishment and satisfaction. They affirmed that prayers help the dead. Many Orthodox theologians speak of a state of waiting and of growth in love, but the Church has not defined it. Opinions vary, and some Orthodox writers see more continuity with the Catholic teaching than others do.
Step 3: The Protestant objection
The Reformers, beginning with Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, attacked the sale of indulgences and then the doctrine of purgatory. They argued from the sufficiency of Christ’s work: if Christ’s blood cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7), no further purification after death is needed. They noted that 2 Maccabees is not in the Hebrew Bible and that 1 Corinthians 3 speaks of a test of works and not of a place of punishment. They pointed to texts such as Luke 16:26 and Hebrews 9:27, which they read as saying that destiny is fixed at death.
Protestant churches differ in detail. The Westminster Confession says that besides heaven and hell, Scripture acknowledges no other place for souls separated from their bodies. The Lutheran Apology of the Augsburg Confession accepts that the ancient church prayed for the dead, but rejects the Mass as a sacrifice applied for the dead and the doctrine of purgatorial satisfaction. Some Anglicans and Lutherans today permit remembering the dead in prayer, and a number of modern Protestant writers have asked whether prayer for the dead can be separated from the doctrine of purgatory.
Step 4: Where the traditions meet
All of the traditions agree that death does not sever those who are in Christ from him, and all affirm the communion of saints in some sense. All agree that believers are saved by the merits of Christ and that no one earns heaven. They differ on whether the living can help the dead by prayer, and whether any process after death completes holiness. C. S. Lewis, an Anglican, wrote that he believed in purgatory and prayed for the dead, which shows that the question is not strictly divided by label.
Step 5: Judging the claims
The student can ask three questions of each position. What is its scriptural basis, and how strong is it? What does the practice of the early church show? And what does it teach about Christ’s sufficiency? Each tradition answers these by its own standard of authority: Catholics appeal to Scripture and tradition together, the Orthodox to the continuous life of the Church, and Protestants to Scripture alone as the final norm.
- Why might the early Christians have prayed for the dead before there was a doctrine?
- What does the claim that Christ’s work is sufficient imply about purgatory, and what do Catholics reply?
- What is the difference between praying for the dead and teaching purgatory?
- How should a reader weigh 2 Maccabees if it is Scripture for some and not for others?
- Why did the sale of indulgences cause such strong reactions?
- What do the traditions share about the love that continues beyond death?
Examples
Monica’s request
As Monica lay dying in Ostia, she told her sons to bury her anywhere and only to remember her at the altar of the Lord. Augustine later wrote prayers for her soul. The story is used by Catholic and Orthodox writers as an early example of prayer for the dead. Protestant readers may see it as a pious custom, and ask whether it counts as an authority.
All Souls Day
On November 2, Catholics observe All Souls Day, praying for the faithful departed. In many Orthodox parishes, memorial Saturdays include a service with boiled wheat (koliva) as a sign of the resurrection. In some Anglican and Lutheran churches, a service of remembrance names those who have died in the past year. The practices differ in meaning, and each expresses care for those who have died.
Different perspectives
Catholic
Those who die in grace but imperfectly purified undergo purification before entering heaven. The living help them by prayer, Masses, almsgiving and indulgences. Purgatory is not a place of second chances but a final cleansing, entirely different from hell. It is an expression of God’s mercy.
Orthodox
The Church prays for the departed, believing that prayer helps them and that they remain in the communion of the Church. The Orthodox do not teach purgatory as defined in the West, and do not hold that a fire or a juridical punishment cleanses souls. They affirm that God’s mercy is the hope of all.
Lutheran
Lutherans reject purgatory and the Mass for the dead as contrary to the sufficiency of Christ’s work and the free gift of justification. Funerals commend the dead to God’s mercy and the living to the comfort of the gospel. Some Lutherans today allow a prayer of remembrance.
Reformed
Reformed churches reject purgatory and prayer for the dead, as not taught in Scripture and as detracting from Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The Westminster Confession says that Scripture acknowledges no other place for souls apart from heaven and hell. Prayer is made for the living.
Arminian and Wesleyan
Wesleyan churches generally reject purgatory. Wesley’s Anglican background included a form of remembrance, and Wesley himself seems to have shown some openness to prayer for the departed, though the churches that followed him did not make it part of their practice.
Why it matters
The question of purgatory and prayer for the dead touches the Reformation’s central concerns and the practice of grief. It tests how each tradition weighs Scripture, tradition and the sufficiency of Christ. It also shows that some traditions share more than their labels suggest, since the Orthodox and Catholics both pray for the dead, and since some Protestants are now rethinking the question.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Purgatory is a second chance after death.
Correction: Catholic teaching says that those in purgatory have died in God’s grace and are assured of salvation. It does not offer a second chance to those who died without grace.
Misunderstanding: The Orthodox teach purgatory.
Correction: The Orthodox pray for the dead, but have not accepted the Western doctrine of a purifying fire and of satisfaction for temporal punishment.
Misunderstanding: Prayer for the dead was invented in the Middle Ages.
Correction: Evidence from the second and third centuries shows prayers and offerings for the dead. The doctrine of purgatory developed later, the practice earlier.
Misunderstanding: Protestants reject all concern for the dead.
Correction: Protestants hold funerals, honor the dead and hope in the resurrection. They differ from Catholics and Orthodox on whether prayer for the dead helps them.
Knowledge check
What is purgatory according to the Catholic Church?
It is a state of purification after death for those who die in God’s grace and friendship but are not yet fully purified. They are assured of salvation but undergo cleansing to attain the holiness needed for heaven. The Church teaches it as defined at Lyons, Florence and Trent, and prays for the souls there.
Which biblical texts are cited for purgatory?
Catholics cite 2 Maccabees 12:41-46, which describes prayer and offering for the dead, and 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, which speaks of works tested by fire and a person saved as through fire. Matthew 12:32 is also cited. The Church also appeals to the practice of the early Christians and the tradition of the Fathers.
How do the Orthodox treat prayer for the dead?
They offer memorial services at funerals, on the third, ninth and fortieth days, at the anniversary and on memorial Saturdays, as well as in the Liturgy. They believe the departed remain members of the Body of Christ. They do not teach the Western doctrine of purgatory or its legal framework of temporal punishment.
What are the main Protestant objections?
Protestants argue that Christ’s work is sufficient for the cleansing of all sin, that Scripture does not clearly teach purgatory, that 2 Maccabees is not part of the canon, and that the abuse of indulgences showed the doctrine’s dangers. They hold that destiny is settled at death and that prayer is for the living.
Think it through
- How do you think the early Christians understood the prayers they offered for the dead?
- Is there a way of remembering the dead in prayer that a Protestant could accept? What would it have to avoid?
- What does your own tradition do at a funeral, and what does that practice say about what it believes?
Independent assignment
Three funeral prayers
In your notebook, write 400 to 600 words. Find the funeral or memorial prayers of three traditions (for example Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran or Reformed) from published service books or hymnals. Copy one short phrase from each, under 25 words. Explain what each phrase assumes about the dead. Then write a paragraph on what the three prayers have in common.
Further study
- Council of Trent (1545-1563), Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Read the decree on purgatory from the twenty-fifth session.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the paragraphs on the final purification, or purgatory.
- Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Read Book 9 on Monica’s death.
- Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches Read the Lutheran Apology and the Anglican Articles on the doctrine of purgatory and the Mass.
- 1 Corinthians 3:15 Saved; yet so as by fire.
- Matthew 12:32 Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
- Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
- 1 John 1:7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.