Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ctdonath@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Carl T. Donath) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Purgatory Message-ID: Date: 12 Feb 90 09:29:42 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Lines: 27 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu What little study I have done on purgatory (I am Protestant) indicates that there is no such place. The only mention of it is apparently in the books of the Apocrypha which is generally rejected by non-Catholics (please, no flame war on this for now). I searched specifically for the "it is good to pray for the dead" quote without success. Instead, there is much indicating that death leads to heaven or hell - no middleground. I can search for more specific references if you want.... Remember Jesus' parable of the wedding feast where outsiders were brought in to participate. When one was found to be unworthy to be there (no wedding clothes), he was bound and thrown outsides "to where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth", i.e. he was given sufficient opportunity to prepare (repent), but when he did not, and the last chance passed by, no further opportunity was given. [As a Protestant, my tradition is also against both Purgatory and prayers for the dead. I'm not going to comment on Purgatory here. But prohibiting prayers for the dead seems to me to be unjustifiable, and in some cases amazingly inhumane. After a loved one has died, we are naturally concerned about them. We are told to bring all of our concerns to God in prayer. Praying for loved ones seems an obviously Christian response. We are told in Protestant tradition that those who have died in in God's hands, and do not need our prayers. But people who are alive are in God's hands as well. Prayer serves many purposes, and praying for someone who has died need not indicate any lack of faith in God's dealing with them. --clh]