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On Purgatory: The Members of the Church Suffering
In the De Controversiis, St. Robert Bellarmine defends the doctrines and teaching of the Church against all comers, starting from Scripture, the Church Fathers and also reason. His work was widely read and commented on by both Catholics and Protestants and quickly became one of the standard texts in Catholic theology for centuries.
In On Purgatory, Bellarmine defends what is one of the more difficult doctrines to understand in his characteristic style beginning with Scripture and the Fathers, stopping at every step of the way to answer the objections of all the major Protestants of his day, not only Luther and Calvin, but also those less known to us such as Brenz and Peter Martyr.
Dividing his work into two books, Bellarmine shows that there is such a place as Purgatory by copious exegesis on Old and New Testament passages, and the clear consensus of the Church Fathers who witness the fact that prayer was made for the dead in the early Church.
Then, in book 2, he examines questions about the specifics of Purgatory, what souls there suffer, where it is located, how the faithful can assist the souls of Purgatory, and other questions.
This treatise, translated into English for the first time, is the best and most in depth treatise on this subject available, and is just as relevant today as when it was first penned.
In On Purgatory, Bellarmine defends what is one of the more difficult doctrines to understand in his characteristic style beginning with Scripture and the Fathers, stopping at every step of the way to answer the objections of all the major Protestants of his day, not only Luther and Calvin, but also those less known to us such as Brenz and Peter Martyr.
Dividing his work into two books, Bellarmine shows that there is such a place as Purgatory by copious exegesis on Old and New Testament passages, and the clear consensus of the Church Fathers who witness the fact that prayer was made for the dead in the early Church.
Then, in book 2, he examines questions about the specifics of Purgatory, what souls there suffer, where it is located, how the faithful can assist the souls of Purgatory, and other questions.
This treatise, translated into English for the first time, is the best and most in depth treatise on this subject available, and is just as relevant today as when it was first penned.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2017
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About the author
Robert Bellarmine
360 books37 followersSaint Robert Bellarmine, SJ was an Italian bishop, cardinal, theologian, and an influental figure of the Counter-Reformation. He was canonized a saint in 1930 by Pope Pius XI and named a Doctor of the Church in 1931. He is also known as Roberto Bellarmino.
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March 27, 2025
I’m probably one of the few Protestants that actually accepts the doctrine of purgatory; admittedly, my position would almost certainly differ from a traditional Catholic position.
That being said, Bellarmine cites most of the scriptural and ecclesiastical sources I would also cite. Of course, Robert Bellarmine was also a grand inquisitor. In fact, he was one of the judges that sent Bruno to the stake. Do I agree with Bruno’s beliefs? Nope. Absolutely not at all. Do I think execution eradicates error? Absolutely not! It just buries error until it arises with the same violent force that tried to eradicate it. Falsehood can only ever be combated by truth—never violence: all who take the sword will die by the sword. That’s the standard set by Christ.
Bellarmine has that Pharisaic affliction that is often found in the church and in church history: haughtiness, pride, religiosity, murderousness, tyranny, etc. Cyril of Alexandria and Jean Calvin were cut from that same cloth. I want no association with Christians of this type. They might as well be radical Islamicists as far as I’m concerned.
I give 3 stars for citing the right scriptural and ecclesiastical sources. I deduct two for the Pharisaism.
That being said, Bellarmine cites most of the scriptural and ecclesiastical sources I would also cite. Of course, Robert Bellarmine was also a grand inquisitor. In fact, he was one of the judges that sent Bruno to the stake. Do I agree with Bruno’s beliefs? Nope. Absolutely not at all. Do I think execution eradicates error? Absolutely not! It just buries error until it arises with the same violent force that tried to eradicate it. Falsehood can only ever be combated by truth—never violence: all who take the sword will die by the sword. That’s the standard set by Christ.
Bellarmine has that Pharisaic affliction that is often found in the church and in church history: haughtiness, pride, religiosity, murderousness, tyranny, etc. Cyril of Alexandria and Jean Calvin were cut from that same cloth. I want no association with Christians of this type. They might as well be radical Islamicists as far as I’m concerned.
I give 3 stars for citing the right scriptural and ecclesiastical sources. I deduct two for the Pharisaism.
August 10, 2025
On Purgatory by St. Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was born in 1542 and died in 1621. He was canonized in 1930 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1931. He was a judge in the trial of Giordano Bruno and was involved in the Galileo affair. He received votes for the election to the papacy in 1605 and 1621, but his Jesuit affiliation was a hindrance. Between 1581 and 1593, Bellarmine wrote a series called “Disputationes de controversiis christianae fidei,” also known as Controversiae, that attempted to systematize the religious disputes that had arisen between Protestants and Catholics.
One of the Controversies written by Bellarmine involved the doctrine of Purgatory. Purgatory had been a long-established doctrine of the Catholic Church. St. Augustine had affirmed the doctrine as an essential Christian doctrine in the fifth century. Protestantism, however, denied the doctrine on a variety of grounds. Bellarmine sought in this text to thoroughly canvass the issues pertaining to Purgatory. Accordingly, Bellarmine addressed the support for Purgatory found in scripture, the councils, and reason, and addressed practical difficulties such as who went to purgatory, how they suffered, whether they are assisted by prayers, and where Purgatory is located.
Bellarmine’s text ranges from sublime scriptural and historical analysis to what we would consider to be fairly leaden ignorance of the natural world. In the latter category, Bellarmine discusses his view that Purgatory, limbo, and hell can physically be found below the surface of the Earth. Bellarmine cites the fact that volcanoes give off lava as proof that a Hellish environment can be found below the Earth’s surface. It isn’t clear how Bellarmine squares a physical location with the spiritual nature of the soul, but he also affirms that souls in Purgatory are burnt with a corporeal fire while admitting that he does not know how this is possible.
Bellarmine offers this definition of Purgatory:
Therefore, 3) Purgatory is called a certain place in which, like a prison, souls which were not fully purged here on earth are purged after this life, so that they may undoubtedly avail to enter heaven, in which nothing tainted will enter. On this is the whole controversy. (On Purgatory (OP).)
The denial of Purgatory was a mainstay of various heresies prior to Protestantism. Epiphanius (haer. 75) and Augustine (haer. 53) identify Aerius as teaching against praying for the dead. The Waldensians, Apostolics, and Albigensians also taught against praying for the dead with the Albigensians also abolishing hell. Luther initially accepted Purgatory in the Catholic sense, but later conformed to the Waldensian position. According to Bellarmine, the Lutherans abolished the idea of “satisfaction” and the distinction between mortal and venial sins, which conceptually eliminated Purgatory.[1]
Bellarmine finds support for Purgatory in the Old Testament, specifically 2 Maccabees 12[2]:
The first passage is contained in 2 Maccabees 12, where after the Scripture says that Judas Machabaeus sent 12,000 silver drachmas to Jerusalem for sacrifices to be offered for the dead, it adds: “Therefore it is a holy and beneficial thought to pray for the dead, that their sins would be forgiven.”
Hence it follows: 1) After this life the dead can have their sins forgiven and so there is Purgatory. 2) The sacrifices and prayers of the living benefit the dead. 3) Not all the remnants of sins are expiated in death, as Luther says, since those for whom he commanded prayers to be offered died a violent death, and for religion; nevertheless Judas still believed they were not fully cleansed; 4) a man can die in a holy and pious manner and still have some debt to pay, either on account of venial sins that were not remitted in this life or on account of incomplete satisfaction for mortal sins that were forgiven, as the Scripture says about all those for whose sins Judas commanded prayers to be offered, when he obtained their rest by piety; 5) This is de fide. (OP)
Bellarmine answered the standard objection that the Book of Maccabees is not canonical as follows:
I say to the first, the book of Maccabees is not canonical with the Jews, but it is with the Christians. Accordingly, the universal Church reads this book in Mass and read it in former times, as is clear from the epistle of Peter of Cluny against the Petrobrusians, notwithstanding that it was forbidden in the third Council of Carthage (c. 47) for any book to be read in the Church under the name of the divine books unless they were canonical. Besides, the same canon of that Council numbers the book of Maccabees among the divine books, as well as the epistle of Innocent I to Exuperius, and from the fathers, St. Augustine in his de Civitate Dei, lib. 18, ch. 36, where he says: “The books of the Maccabees are not held for canonical by the Jews, but by the Church.” (OP)
Bellarmine also points out to those who still refuse to accept Maccabees as canonical that it is evidence of a practice or rite of the Jews[3]:
To the seventh, I say the argument is not taken from the example of one man but partly from the ancient and solemn rite of the Church of the Old Testament and partly from the infallible testimony of Sacred Scripture. That this was a solemn rite of the Old Testament Church is proven when it is said in this passage: “All those who were with Juda turned to prayers,” and then: “he took up a collection,” i.e. each man gave something, a great deal of money was collected, and sent by Juda in the name of all of them to Jerusalem, for sacrifices for the dead; and this indeed is a great argument; but what is greater, establishing the Catholic faith, is what is taken from the words of Scripture praising the prayer made on behalf of the sins of the dead as holy, pious and religious. (OP)
Supporting New Testament passages include Matthew 12:32 (a certain sin will not be remitted in the coming age)[4], 1 Corinthian 3:15 (saved by fire)[5], 1 Corinthians 15:29 (Baptized for the dead)[6], Mattew 5 (consent unto your adversary or be thwon in prison and not released until you pay the last farthing), (See Luke 12)[7], Matthew 5 (Anyone who says “you fool” will be liable to the Gehenna of fire)[8], Luke 16 (Make friends from the mammon of iniquity.)[9], Luke 23:42 (Remember me when you come into your kingdom)[10]. Acts 2:24 (Christ raised up having loosed the pains of hell.)[11], Philippians 2:10 (Every knew will bend in heaven, on earth, and in hell.)[12]
Bellarmine argues from reason that Purgatory exists. The first reason is based on a recognition of different sins. Mortal sins are eternally punished. There are sins that are less egregious than mortal sins that deserve less than eternal punishment. The Bible recognizes such sins, e.g., James 1, 1 Cor 3:15. Bellarmine explains:
Therefore, it remains that there are certain venial sins that are worthy of merely temporal punishment. Moreover, the fact that some men die with venial sins, and hence they need temporal purgation in another life is proven in this way. Someone can, while he dies, have a will to remain in venial sin, therefore such a sin cannot be blotted out in death. Furthermore, “the just man falls seven times a day” (Proverbs 24:16), and many die immediately, so how credible is it that some men do not die with venial sin? This is the first reason. (OP)
This kind of thinking is alien to modernity, which has been substantially influenced by the Reformation. The modern idea is that Christ has paid for all of our sins and taken on all of our punishment, but this kind of thinking was foreign to Bellarmine’s world and to the Bible. Bellarmine asks, if Christ satisfies why do we still suffer after our sins have been remitted? Bellarmine observes:
I respond: First by turning the argument on its head, for if Christ satisfies for all of our sin and punishment, why do we still suffer so many things after our sins have been remitted, and at length also die? Should they say that they are paternal castigations to remedy future sin, we can ask why do infants get sick, who do not have the capacity for actual sin? Therefore, I say the merit of Christ suffices to take away all sin and punishment, but it must be applied to be efficacious, otherwise all men would be saved.
Furthermore, the application happens through our acts and the Sacraments. God willed that after Baptism the merit of Christ would be applied with contrition, and confession with the absolution of the priest to abolish sin, and further, be applied by satisfying works to take away temporal punishment, for eternal punishment is commuted totemporal when sin is remitted. This is because, when sin is remitted friendship is restored, and consequently the right to glory is given, and hence, he ought not be punished forever because in that mode, the soul would never attain to eternal glory and yet justice be exacted, since sin should be punished in some mode, thus eternal punishment is changed into temporal punishment. Something about the reason for it was said above, and more will be said in the disputation on satisfaction. (OP)
Bellarmine’s second reason is based on the idea that not all punishment is remitted. This is also based on Biblical examples:
2) The second reason: When sinners are reconciled to God, the whole temporal punishment is not always forgiven, but it can happen and often does, that in someone’s whole life he will not make satisfaction fully for those temporal punishments: therefore, necessarily he ought to be put in Purgatory. The major proposition is briefly proven since it is expressly shown in other places: 2 Kings 12:13, when David said: “I have sinned against the Lord,” and the prophet said, “The Lord has also taken away your sin, you will not die. Just the same, because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme on account of this word, the son that was born to you will die.” Numbers 12:10, when Miriam murmured against the Lord, she was punished with the plague of leprosy, by when Moses prayed for her, her sin was forgiven and still God wanted to punish her so that she would suffer punishment for one week. (OP)
For Bellarmine, punishment was not solely to deter, but also to serve justice, which involved punishment. This is not “paternal correction” because death is imposed as punishment, “one who dies can no longer be corrected.” Bellarmine mentions instances where forgiveness by God was filled with violent death, e.g., Exodus 32:14 (God spared the people at Moses’ request but ordered many thousands to be killed in vengeance for sin.); Number 14:45 (Murmuring in the desert.); 3 Kings 13:24 (Prophet of the Lord killed by lion because he disobeyed the voice of the Lord.); 1 Cor 11:30, 32 (Persons who took communion died although sin was remitted.)
Bellarmine’s third reason is the “common opinion of mankind.” Jews, Muslims, and Pagans confess a middle place between heaven and hell for those who are not so bad as to merit hell and not good enough for heaven. Bellarmine cites Josephus’s On the Jewish War, c. 19, and the Gorgias by Plato.[13]
Bellarmine’s fourth reason is based on the apparitions of souls who declared they were from purgatory. There seem to be two problems with this one. The first is epistemological: do we believe that these stories are true? The second is theoretical: How do empirical facts fit into revealed religious doctrine? Clearly, doctrinal developments are influenced by empirical knowledge. We no longer view the Bible’s cosmology as compelling; we are more likely to work in the Big Bang.
After proving the existence of Purgatory, Bellarmine turns to the operation of Purgatory. Souls in Purgatory know their eternal destiny, but they cannot merit or demerit for themselves. They are helped by the prayers of the Church:
The reasoning is of Peter the Cluniac (contra Petrobusianos): The whole Church is one body, the head is Christ; therefore it ought to have communication, both of the head with the members and of the members among themselves, as it is said in 1 Cor. 12:24, the members are anxious for one another, and if one member suffers something, all the members do likewise. But the just dead are members of this body, seeing that they are gathered with us and with God in faith, hope and charity. This is why St. Augustine (de civitate Dei, lib. 20 c. 9) says: “The souls of the faithful departed are not separated from the Church, which is the kingdom of Christ.” Consequently, they may and must help the dead just as members of the same body.
Besides, Christ, because he is the head, benefitted the living while he was alive on earth, when dead he benefitted the dead, when living he benefitted the dead, and while he was dead he benefited the living. Therefore, it is also fitting that the members should so act among themselves so that just men who are alive would help the living, the dead would help the dead, the living the dead and the dead benefit the living. (OP, p. 213)
The connection leads to the following formula: “So, if the living benefit the living, the dead benefit the dead, and the dead benefit the living, why couldn’t the living benefit the dead?” (OP, p. 217.)
The souls in Purgatory may leave Purgatory with the permission and according to the purposes of God. For Bellarmine, Purgatory is a definite physical place, which is probably deduced from the stories of souls coming back from Purgatory to issue warnings.
Bellarmine speculates that the punishments of purgatory are corporal, and are based on the person’s sins. The punishment of Purgatory may decrease over time.
This is not your father’s view of Purgatory. It is more like what your great-great-grandfather’s understood. That doesn’t make it wrong. Bellarmine was going back to the Bible and the Early Church Fathers. He was not reading the Bible through Luther. There is a lot to ponder here.
Footnote:
[1] Interestingly, Bellarmine claims that Luther admitted Purgatory in a Catholic sense during the Leipzig debate and that Purgatory was mentioned in Scripture. Luther also believed that expiation of venial sins could be accomplished at death. These were Luther’s early positions. In 1530, Luther rejected Purgatory in Revocation of Purgatory.
[2] Bellarmine also finds references to Purgatory in the counsel of praying for the dead found in Tobias 4:18, 1 Samuel 31;13, 2 Samuel 1:12, 2 Kings 3:35, and 2 Kings 12:20. Other passages suggesting a purgatorial fire are Psalm 37, Psalm 65(66):11, Isaiah 4:4, Isaiah 9:18, Micah 7:8, Zachariah 9:12, Malachi 3:3
[3] Bellarmine writes:
“St. Augustine says in his book De Cura Pro Mortuis, ch. 2: “In the books of the Maccabees, we read that a sacrifice was offered for the dead, but even if no such thing were read at all in the Old Testament Scriptures, the authority of the universal Church, which is well known for this custom, is no small thing; where in the prayers of the priest which are poured forth to God at his altar, the commendation of the dead also has its place.” (OP)
[4] Interestingly, Bellarmine explains the “Synoptic Problem” on the basis that Mark wrote something “like a compendium” and thus Mark should be explained by Matthew because “Matthew uses many more words.”
[5] Bellarmine believes that the text is most directly referring to the burning up of bad teachings by pastors, but he says that this applies to other works and is not limited to preaching.
[6] This is a famously obscure passage. Bellarmine thinks that the best meaning is that the “baptism for the dead” refers to the good works that one performs for the benefit of departed souls. This baptism is the “Baptism of tears and penance,” which is received by praying, fasting, and almsgiving. This is the interpretation of St. Ephraim, Peter of Cluny, Dennis the Carthusian, Hugh of St. Victor, and others. Bellarmine notes that Scriptures and Fathers use “baptize” for “afflicted” as in Mark 10, “Can you drink the chalice which I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am going to be baptized.” (See also Luke 12.) St. Gregory Nazianzen wrote about a “fifth” baptism of “tears and penance.”
[7] For Bellarmine, “adversary” did not mean “the devil” but the “law of God or God himself.” This is the interpretation of Ambrose, Bede, and Bonaventure. The judge is Christ, the jail is “hell.” The “until” in “until you pay the last farthing gets this interesting treatment:
Secondly, it is proved because it does not seem possible to rightly say, “Until you shall pay the last penny,” unless at some point there will be an end of the payment. The examples of St. Augustine do not satisfy, for when it is said: “He did not know her until she gave birth,” it is indeed not lawful to infer that therefore, later he did, but it is lawful to infer that therefore, she gave birth at some point. Likewise, when it is said: “Sit at my right until I will place, etc.” it is rightly inferred that therefore at some point all the enemies of Christ will be put beneath his feet; otherwise that: “Until” would be said ineptly. So therefore when it is said: “You will not go out until you have paid the last farthing,” we rightly infer: Thus at some point he will pay the last farthing, and consequently he will go out from there. (OP).
[8] Augustine (de serm. Domini in monte, cap 19) understood all three punishments as being about penalties after this life, with punishments graduated based on the severity of the sins. Since the last – the “Gehenna of Fire” – is eternal damnation, there must be some punishment after this life that is not Hell.
[9] “Friends” means the “saints.” The counsel is to engage in almsgiving; “when they die are saved on account of the good works they did.” Bellarmine notes that Augustine held there were three kinds of people – the holy who go straight to Heaven, the very bad who go to Hell, and, in the middle, those who die in a state “neither worthy of eternal death, nor do their own merits suffice for them to enter into salvation.” I am currently reading a book on ghosts in ancient Mesopotamia, which says that the land between the rivers had a similar “salvation scheme” in 3,000 BC.
[10] This one surprised me. It is usually used by “faith alone Christians” as evidence of faith alone. Bellarmine cites Augustine (Julian, lib 6, c. 5) to show that sins can be forgiven after death: “The good man, instructed by the Holy Spirit, would never have said this unless he believed that after this life his sins could be forgiven, and that souls need help and can be helped.” This seems to be consistent with Maccabees.
Bellarmine also uses the Good Thief to explain expiation of sins:
6) The sixth objection is from Luke 23:43; Christ tells the thief that converted
Robert Bellarmine was born in 1542 and died in 1621. He was canonized in 1930 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1931. He was a judge in the trial of Giordano Bruno and was involved in the Galileo affair. He received votes for the election to the papacy in 1605 and 1621, but his Jesuit affiliation was a hindrance. Between 1581 and 1593, Bellarmine wrote a series called “Disputationes de controversiis christianae fidei,” also known as Controversiae, that attempted to systematize the religious disputes that had arisen between Protestants and Catholics.
One of the Controversies written by Bellarmine involved the doctrine of Purgatory. Purgatory had been a long-established doctrine of the Catholic Church. St. Augustine had affirmed the doctrine as an essential Christian doctrine in the fifth century. Protestantism, however, denied the doctrine on a variety of grounds. Bellarmine sought in this text to thoroughly canvass the issues pertaining to Purgatory. Accordingly, Bellarmine addressed the support for Purgatory found in scripture, the councils, and reason, and addressed practical difficulties such as who went to purgatory, how they suffered, whether they are assisted by prayers, and where Purgatory is located.
Bellarmine’s text ranges from sublime scriptural and historical analysis to what we would consider to be fairly leaden ignorance of the natural world. In the latter category, Bellarmine discusses his view that Purgatory, limbo, and hell can physically be found below the surface of the Earth. Bellarmine cites the fact that volcanoes give off lava as proof that a Hellish environment can be found below the Earth’s surface. It isn’t clear how Bellarmine squares a physical location with the spiritual nature of the soul, but he also affirms that souls in Purgatory are burnt with a corporeal fire while admitting that he does not know how this is possible.
Bellarmine offers this definition of Purgatory:
Therefore, 3) Purgatory is called a certain place in which, like a prison, souls which were not fully purged here on earth are purged after this life, so that they may undoubtedly avail to enter heaven, in which nothing tainted will enter. On this is the whole controversy. (On Purgatory (OP).)
The denial of Purgatory was a mainstay of various heresies prior to Protestantism. Epiphanius (haer. 75) and Augustine (haer. 53) identify Aerius as teaching against praying for the dead. The Waldensians, Apostolics, and Albigensians also taught against praying for the dead with the Albigensians also abolishing hell. Luther initially accepted Purgatory in the Catholic sense, but later conformed to the Waldensian position. According to Bellarmine, the Lutherans abolished the idea of “satisfaction” and the distinction between mortal and venial sins, which conceptually eliminated Purgatory.[1]
Bellarmine finds support for Purgatory in the Old Testament, specifically 2 Maccabees 12[2]:
The first passage is contained in 2 Maccabees 12, where after the Scripture says that Judas Machabaeus sent 12,000 silver drachmas to Jerusalem for sacrifices to be offered for the dead, it adds: “Therefore it is a holy and beneficial thought to pray for the dead, that their sins would be forgiven.”
Hence it follows: 1) After this life the dead can have their sins forgiven and so there is Purgatory. 2) The sacrifices and prayers of the living benefit the dead. 3) Not all the remnants of sins are expiated in death, as Luther says, since those for whom he commanded prayers to be offered died a violent death, and for religion; nevertheless Judas still believed they were not fully cleansed; 4) a man can die in a holy and pious manner and still have some debt to pay, either on account of venial sins that were not remitted in this life or on account of incomplete satisfaction for mortal sins that were forgiven, as the Scripture says about all those for whose sins Judas commanded prayers to be offered, when he obtained their rest by piety; 5) This is de fide. (OP)
Bellarmine answered the standard objection that the Book of Maccabees is not canonical as follows:
I say to the first, the book of Maccabees is not canonical with the Jews, but it is with the Christians. Accordingly, the universal Church reads this book in Mass and read it in former times, as is clear from the epistle of Peter of Cluny against the Petrobrusians, notwithstanding that it was forbidden in the third Council of Carthage (c. 47) for any book to be read in the Church under the name of the divine books unless they were canonical. Besides, the same canon of that Council numbers the book of Maccabees among the divine books, as well as the epistle of Innocent I to Exuperius, and from the fathers, St. Augustine in his de Civitate Dei, lib. 18, ch. 36, where he says: “The books of the Maccabees are not held for canonical by the Jews, but by the Church.” (OP)
Bellarmine also points out to those who still refuse to accept Maccabees as canonical that it is evidence of a practice or rite of the Jews[3]:
To the seventh, I say the argument is not taken from the example of one man but partly from the ancient and solemn rite of the Church of the Old Testament and partly from the infallible testimony of Sacred Scripture. That this was a solemn rite of the Old Testament Church is proven when it is said in this passage: “All those who were with Juda turned to prayers,” and then: “he took up a collection,” i.e. each man gave something, a great deal of money was collected, and sent by Juda in the name of all of them to Jerusalem, for sacrifices for the dead; and this indeed is a great argument; but what is greater, establishing the Catholic faith, is what is taken from the words of Scripture praising the prayer made on behalf of the sins of the dead as holy, pious and religious. (OP)
Supporting New Testament passages include Matthew 12:32 (a certain sin will not be remitted in the coming age)[4], 1 Corinthian 3:15 (saved by fire)[5], 1 Corinthians 15:29 (Baptized for the dead)[6], Mattew 5 (consent unto your adversary or be thwon in prison and not released until you pay the last farthing), (See Luke 12)[7], Matthew 5 (Anyone who says “you fool” will be liable to the Gehenna of fire)[8], Luke 16 (Make friends from the mammon of iniquity.)[9], Luke 23:42 (Remember me when you come into your kingdom)[10]. Acts 2:24 (Christ raised up having loosed the pains of hell.)[11], Philippians 2:10 (Every knew will bend in heaven, on earth, and in hell.)[12]
Bellarmine argues from reason that Purgatory exists. The first reason is based on a recognition of different sins. Mortal sins are eternally punished. There are sins that are less egregious than mortal sins that deserve less than eternal punishment. The Bible recognizes such sins, e.g., James 1, 1 Cor 3:15. Bellarmine explains:
Therefore, it remains that there are certain venial sins that are worthy of merely temporal punishment. Moreover, the fact that some men die with venial sins, and hence they need temporal purgation in another life is proven in this way. Someone can, while he dies, have a will to remain in venial sin, therefore such a sin cannot be blotted out in death. Furthermore, “the just man falls seven times a day” (Proverbs 24:16), and many die immediately, so how credible is it that some men do not die with venial sin? This is the first reason. (OP)
This kind of thinking is alien to modernity, which has been substantially influenced by the Reformation. The modern idea is that Christ has paid for all of our sins and taken on all of our punishment, but this kind of thinking was foreign to Bellarmine’s world and to the Bible. Bellarmine asks, if Christ satisfies why do we still suffer after our sins have been remitted? Bellarmine observes:
I respond: First by turning the argument on its head, for if Christ satisfies for all of our sin and punishment, why do we still suffer so many things after our sins have been remitted, and at length also die? Should they say that they are paternal castigations to remedy future sin, we can ask why do infants get sick, who do not have the capacity for actual sin? Therefore, I say the merit of Christ suffices to take away all sin and punishment, but it must be applied to be efficacious, otherwise all men would be saved.
Furthermore, the application happens through our acts and the Sacraments. God willed that after Baptism the merit of Christ would be applied with contrition, and confession with the absolution of the priest to abolish sin, and further, be applied by satisfying works to take away temporal punishment, for eternal punishment is commuted totemporal when sin is remitted. This is because, when sin is remitted friendship is restored, and consequently the right to glory is given, and hence, he ought not be punished forever because in that mode, the soul would never attain to eternal glory and yet justice be exacted, since sin should be punished in some mode, thus eternal punishment is changed into temporal punishment. Something about the reason for it was said above, and more will be said in the disputation on satisfaction. (OP)
Bellarmine’s second reason is based on the idea that not all punishment is remitted. This is also based on Biblical examples:
2) The second reason: When sinners are reconciled to God, the whole temporal punishment is not always forgiven, but it can happen and often does, that in someone’s whole life he will not make satisfaction fully for those temporal punishments: therefore, necessarily he ought to be put in Purgatory. The major proposition is briefly proven since it is expressly shown in other places: 2 Kings 12:13, when David said: “I have sinned against the Lord,” and the prophet said, “The Lord has also taken away your sin, you will not die. Just the same, because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme on account of this word, the son that was born to you will die.” Numbers 12:10, when Miriam murmured against the Lord, she was punished with the plague of leprosy, by when Moses prayed for her, her sin was forgiven and still God wanted to punish her so that she would suffer punishment for one week. (OP)
For Bellarmine, punishment was not solely to deter, but also to serve justice, which involved punishment. This is not “paternal correction” because death is imposed as punishment, “one who dies can no longer be corrected.” Bellarmine mentions instances where forgiveness by God was filled with violent death, e.g., Exodus 32:14 (God spared the people at Moses’ request but ordered many thousands to be killed in vengeance for sin.); Number 14:45 (Murmuring in the desert.); 3 Kings 13:24 (Prophet of the Lord killed by lion because he disobeyed the voice of the Lord.); 1 Cor 11:30, 32 (Persons who took communion died although sin was remitted.)
Bellarmine’s third reason is the “common opinion of mankind.” Jews, Muslims, and Pagans confess a middle place between heaven and hell for those who are not so bad as to merit hell and not good enough for heaven. Bellarmine cites Josephus’s On the Jewish War, c. 19, and the Gorgias by Plato.[13]
Bellarmine’s fourth reason is based on the apparitions of souls who declared they were from purgatory. There seem to be two problems with this one. The first is epistemological: do we believe that these stories are true? The second is theoretical: How do empirical facts fit into revealed religious doctrine? Clearly, doctrinal developments are influenced by empirical knowledge. We no longer view the Bible’s cosmology as compelling; we are more likely to work in the Big Bang.
After proving the existence of Purgatory, Bellarmine turns to the operation of Purgatory. Souls in Purgatory know their eternal destiny, but they cannot merit or demerit for themselves. They are helped by the prayers of the Church:
The reasoning is of Peter the Cluniac (contra Petrobusianos): The whole Church is one body, the head is Christ; therefore it ought to have communication, both of the head with the members and of the members among themselves, as it is said in 1 Cor. 12:24, the members are anxious for one another, and if one member suffers something, all the members do likewise. But the just dead are members of this body, seeing that they are gathered with us and with God in faith, hope and charity. This is why St. Augustine (de civitate Dei, lib. 20 c. 9) says: “The souls of the faithful departed are not separated from the Church, which is the kingdom of Christ.” Consequently, they may and must help the dead just as members of the same body.
Besides, Christ, because he is the head, benefitted the living while he was alive on earth, when dead he benefitted the dead, when living he benefitted the dead, and while he was dead he benefited the living. Therefore, it is also fitting that the members should so act among themselves so that just men who are alive would help the living, the dead would help the dead, the living the dead and the dead benefit the living. (OP, p. 213)
The connection leads to the following formula: “So, if the living benefit the living, the dead benefit the dead, and the dead benefit the living, why couldn’t the living benefit the dead?” (OP, p. 217.)
The souls in Purgatory may leave Purgatory with the permission and according to the purposes of God. For Bellarmine, Purgatory is a definite physical place, which is probably deduced from the stories of souls coming back from Purgatory to issue warnings.
Bellarmine speculates that the punishments of purgatory are corporal, and are based on the person’s sins. The punishment of Purgatory may decrease over time.
This is not your father’s view of Purgatory. It is more like what your great-great-grandfather’s understood. That doesn’t make it wrong. Bellarmine was going back to the Bible and the Early Church Fathers. He was not reading the Bible through Luther. There is a lot to ponder here.
Footnote:
[1] Interestingly, Bellarmine claims that Luther admitted Purgatory in a Catholic sense during the Leipzig debate and that Purgatory was mentioned in Scripture. Luther also believed that expiation of venial sins could be accomplished at death. These were Luther’s early positions. In 1530, Luther rejected Purgatory in Revocation of Purgatory.
[2] Bellarmine also finds references to Purgatory in the counsel of praying for the dead found in Tobias 4:18, 1 Samuel 31;13, 2 Samuel 1:12, 2 Kings 3:35, and 2 Kings 12:20. Other passages suggesting a purgatorial fire are Psalm 37, Psalm 65(66):11, Isaiah 4:4, Isaiah 9:18, Micah 7:8, Zachariah 9:12, Malachi 3:3
[3] Bellarmine writes:
“St. Augustine says in his book De Cura Pro Mortuis, ch. 2: “In the books of the Maccabees, we read that a sacrifice was offered for the dead, but even if no such thing were read at all in the Old Testament Scriptures, the authority of the universal Church, which is well known for this custom, is no small thing; where in the prayers of the priest which are poured forth to God at his altar, the commendation of the dead also has its place.” (OP)
[4] Interestingly, Bellarmine explains the “Synoptic Problem” on the basis that Mark wrote something “like a compendium” and thus Mark should be explained by Matthew because “Matthew uses many more words.”
[5] Bellarmine believes that the text is most directly referring to the burning up of bad teachings by pastors, but he says that this applies to other works and is not limited to preaching.
[6] This is a famously obscure passage. Bellarmine thinks that the best meaning is that the “baptism for the dead” refers to the good works that one performs for the benefit of departed souls. This baptism is the “Baptism of tears and penance,” which is received by praying, fasting, and almsgiving. This is the interpretation of St. Ephraim, Peter of Cluny, Dennis the Carthusian, Hugh of St. Victor, and others. Bellarmine notes that Scriptures and Fathers use “baptize” for “afflicted” as in Mark 10, “Can you drink the chalice which I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am going to be baptized.” (See also Luke 12.) St. Gregory Nazianzen wrote about a “fifth” baptism of “tears and penance.”
[7] For Bellarmine, “adversary” did not mean “the devil” but the “law of God or God himself.” This is the interpretation of Ambrose, Bede, and Bonaventure. The judge is Christ, the jail is “hell.” The “until” in “until you pay the last farthing gets this interesting treatment:
Secondly, it is proved because it does not seem possible to rightly say, “Until you shall pay the last penny,” unless at some point there will be an end of the payment. The examples of St. Augustine do not satisfy, for when it is said: “He did not know her until she gave birth,” it is indeed not lawful to infer that therefore, later he did, but it is lawful to infer that therefore, she gave birth at some point. Likewise, when it is said: “Sit at my right until I will place, etc.” it is rightly inferred that therefore at some point all the enemies of Christ will be put beneath his feet; otherwise that: “Until” would be said ineptly. So therefore when it is said: “You will not go out until you have paid the last farthing,” we rightly infer: Thus at some point he will pay the last farthing, and consequently he will go out from there. (OP).
[8] Augustine (de serm. Domini in monte, cap 19) understood all three punishments as being about penalties after this life, with punishments graduated based on the severity of the sins. Since the last – the “Gehenna of Fire” – is eternal damnation, there must be some punishment after this life that is not Hell.
[9] “Friends” means the “saints.” The counsel is to engage in almsgiving; “when they die are saved on account of the good works they did.” Bellarmine notes that Augustine held there were three kinds of people – the holy who go straight to Heaven, the very bad who go to Hell, and, in the middle, those who die in a state “neither worthy of eternal death, nor do their own merits suffice for them to enter into salvation.” I am currently reading a book on ghosts in ancient Mesopotamia, which says that the land between the rivers had a similar “salvation scheme” in 3,000 BC.
[10] This one surprised me. It is usually used by “faith alone Christians” as evidence of faith alone. Bellarmine cites Augustine (Julian, lib 6, c. 5) to show that sins can be forgiven after death: “The good man, instructed by the Holy Spirit, would never have said this unless he believed that after this life his sins could be forgiven, and that souls need help and can be helped.” This seems to be consistent with Maccabees.
Bellarmine also uses the Good Thief to explain expiation of sins:
6) The sixth objection is from Luke 23:43; Christ tells the thief that converted
April 9, 2020
An intellectually challenging read
If you ever had questions about Purgatory, whether you are Catholic or Protestant, this is the book for you. St. Robert Bellermine rigorously defends the existence of Purgatory from both a Catholic and Protestant perspective. It is a book that will make you rethink this existence of this mysterious place.
If you ever had questions about Purgatory, whether you are Catholic or Protestant, this is the book for you. St. Robert Bellermine rigorously defends the existence of Purgatory from both a Catholic and Protestant perspective. It is a book that will make you rethink this existence of this mysterious place.
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