Debates discussion

Thanks for this suggestion, Kendra!

I'm not quite sure what you were picturing, so it would be great if you could kind of assistant mod this one, lead the discussion in my stead.

Excited to see peoples' opinions!

Well, I guess I'll start. I have been Roman Catholic since birth and I really love my faith. (I don't know what else to say).

Ooooh tell me more! (sorry Kendra I know I said you could lead this discussion...)
I'm curious! So I'm basically a non-denominational conglomeration of lots of different... wow. I'm going to stop before I start rambling. I'm basically a weird cross between baptist, pentecostal, and Presbyterian creeds and Idk how to describe that.
Sooo tell me about your faith cuz I don' know a whole lot about Catholics!

Denali wrote: "Ooooh tell me more! (sorry Kendra I know I said you could lead this discussion...)
I'm curious! So I'm basically a non-denominational conglomeration of lots of different... wow. I'm going to stop b..."

Lol, that's fine!!
So, I refer to my belief as "whole Bible partaker". I follow the first 5 books, aka the Torah, but also believe Jesus, or Yeshua, died for my sins. I believe it my obligation to follow His commands because He laid down His life for me, and I delight in it. It's not burdensome to me. I don't think the law was "nailed to the cross" so I don't have to obey it anymore. I'm not a typical Jew, or anything though.

Book wrote: "Well, I guess I'll start. I have been Roman Catholic since birth and I really love my faith. (I don't know what else to say)."

I'd also love to hear more about your faith too!

okay wow, this will be a lot to cover. I guess I should start with the creed. The Apostles Creed is a prayer that sums up the basics of Catholicism.
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son out Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost (or Spirit), born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, He descended into Hell (actually it was limbo, but I didn't write the prayer) on the third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thus He shall judge the living and the dead, I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sinners, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen."
Just ask me to clarify anything on here and I shall. I would love to hear more about your faith also.

*sins not sinners. Sinners will be forgiven of course it's just not the wording in the prayer.

So, Book, will everyone go to heaven regardless of their actions in Catholicism?

Yeah, and Kendra, will everyone go to heaven even if they don't follow the law? I'm assuming yes, but I'm just curious. :) And do you believe it's necessary to follow the law or just that the law is important to Christian living? Wow that was a really mangled sentence...
Also, Kaylee, could you communicate to me your beliefs in Mary? I've heard that Catholics believe she was sinless and I'd love to know more about that!

Denali wrote: "Yeah, and Kendra, will everyone go to heaven even if they don't follow the law? I'm assuming yes, but I'm just curious. :) And do you believe it's necessary to follow the law or just that the law i..."

I don't believe so. I think there will be different parts of the kingdom, so those who didn't follow the law but have a heart for God will be just outside the kingdom, but not burning in hell. But those who both didn't follow it and taught against it, will go to eternal damnation, or hell. So yes, I believe following the Law is necessary for eternal life. I'm definitely not judgemental for sure, regardless. I'm still learning and refining my beliefs.

Yes Denali, Catholics, such as myself, believe that Mary was conceived without original sin, which means that Mary could not sin. Before we move on I'll explain what original sin is. When Adam and Eve, the first human beings, lived in the Garden of Eden they were allowed to eat of every tree except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed God and ate from it anyway after the devil tempted Eve into eating it. After that humanity was born with original sin. Original sin is removed when people are Baptised, but now I'm getting off track. Okay so Mary was born without original sin. This means Mary could not sin

Oh dang! I hit the button before I was ready. Ahem.... Moving on!
Wait wait!!! I was wrong!!! Mary was born without original sin, but this doesn't mean that she couldn't sin. She just didn't. Mary had supernatural braces to help her because she was born without the stain of original sin. Okay, glad a corrected myself. Moving on.

*graces not braces.

Hi all, I am Roman Catholic, and will be debating as such. Thank you for making this thread, I've been wanting something like this recently :-)

first of all, as a human, I do not get to say who goes to heaven, I am not almighty, and as the Lord's Prayer goes: 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us'. Our God is a good of infinite love and compassion. He want every single one of his creatures to come to him into eternal life. He does not send anyone to Hell, he lets us choose Hell. if in the end of our life we say 'My will be done', then he treats us with dignity and respects our wish. the torment of Hell is not that we were not let into Heaven, it is that we serve ourselves, and not God, which is the reason we were created, and as St. Augustine states in his Confessions 'Our Hearts are restless till they rest in you.

So back to the original question, the Laws are a very important part of the Christian way of life, but God puts into account all the weakness of our fallen nature, and, if we are TRULY sorry, then he will forgive us.

can we discuss the question of Purgatory? I always wondered what non-Catholic Christians believed happened to our souls if we are not prepared for heaven, but were not going to Hell.

Okay, I will be debating from a non-denominational point of view.
(I'm just laying the groundwork in this post to clarify some stuff in my next post to answer your question Mary-Therese)



As a non-denominational believer, I look only to the scripture for my beliefs. I do not use any other book other than the bible. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't read books from C.S Lewis or R.C Sproul what I mean is that those are just supplemental material to help me grow/understand a topic personally. There is no other book with the same authority as the bible.
I also have multiple bible translations in our home. I like to read different versions and if I'm confused I look at a couple of the different versions to see what they mean.
I believe that the mainstream bible translations KJV, NLT, NIV, etc. all are true because they all speak the same message. The only thing they do is re-word it. Just go and compare them. Sometimes they do that because they look back at ancient greek/Hebrew to see the meaning which can be different than our words/meanings or they make it easier to understand for our current generation. It helped me when I was little because I didn't understand all the words so I was frustrated and never read my bible until my mom baught me an NLT which I studied and understood. As long as it carries the same message It's fine.

I go to a church (raised in it) that is a part of the Christain Missionary Alliance. https://cmalliance.org/
It's like a network or big family of churches that focus a lot on outreach and spreading the good news. If you want to understand more of what I believe just read on the website because it basically sums it up (;

Okay... Now I'm gonna spend some time typing and researching the best way to explain this so see you in a little....
(I should probably be doing my school work 🙄)

Oh, i forgot to add that I believe that we should strive for lawful obedience, but when we sin we will be redeemed I'd we have true repentance. We must have a daily "self-sacrifice" (not literally, just prayerfully) to be cleansed from our sons. And of course, these are just my beliefs! Don't be offended, I'm just sharing.

I don't believe in Purgatory, but I think we will be in a resting place when we die before judgement day, and not go directly to heaven or hell.

Oh yes, I agree with you, Carsie about the great commission. I do think it is our responsibility to spread the word even now.

Okay to answer the question.
what non-Catholic Christians believe happened to our souls if we are not prepared for heaven, but we're not going to Hell?

I will be using the NIV translation in my argument. Feel free to look at other translations.

I’m just trying to explain why anyone who isn’t catholic does not believe in purgatory and what they do believe happens instead. Now, I’m only speaking for myself and others who believe what I believe not everyone who isn’t catholic is the same so take what I say with a grain of salt. Not to mention I’m only 16, not a bible theologian although, I do want to study that in college.

In no way am I making fun of you or saying that your view is wrong I’m just explaining. I totally support you having your own view on stuff so don’t take this the wrong way. Also, if I said anything that is doctrinally incorrect about Catholics just say so, I may have missed something. (:


First off,
let's take a look at what purgatory is. According to the Catholic Answers website

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia...

“Purgatory (Lat., purgare, to make clean, to purify) in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God‘s grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”

Also explained in the dictionary:

“(in Roman Catholic doctrine) a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven.”


So, from my understanding, those who are saved, but sin, and die before they confess the sin, go to purgatory to burn off or purify their souls to go to heaven. Did I understand that right? I’m sorry if I misunderstood.

And if that is true, please explain to me when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was it not enough? Was it not sufficient to cleanse us from all our past, present, or future sins we may commit? Was it only partially cleansing us of the past sins we committed after accepting Christ as Lord and Savior? It says in

Hebrews 10:18, “And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

Our forgiveness is already complete. If you tie purgatory into the final phase of sanctification then you say that either that person’s sin was so great God could not forgive it without punishment or that Christ did not take on our full punishment. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb that took on ALL the wrath God had planned for us. It happened all at once when the veil in the high temple separating ourselves from God’s righteousness was torn. Our forgiveness is complete in Christ and because of Christ's one offering, this is possible.

Romans 4:7
“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

1 John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin.

Purgatory doesn’t purify us, Jesus does.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Hebrews 10:17 - And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10: 26-28, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

As you can see in this last passage, those who hear the good news but choose not to listen to it go to hell. They made the choice to ignore it and continue in their evil ways. God gives us each a choice, Choose God or choose ourselves. Once we kneel before God and submit ourselves to him, we are cleared of our transgressions. It is by faith alone we are saved. Just because we are saved does not mean we are perfect; it does not mean will not sin anymore. We are only human, and we were all born with sin.

Ecclesiastes 7:20
Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.

psalms 58:3
Even from birth, the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

Once we submit ourselves (heart, body, mind, and spirit) to God and love him with all of our being we are cleared of our sins.
It is a daily heart posture that we have in submission to him that we must undertake to remind ourselves of his superiority in our life. The process of taking up our cross and following him.
But once we are saved, it is a done deal.
If we REALY are Christians, you only have to ask to be saved once. If you are a real Christian, you love God, and if you love God, you will try to please him which ties into good works. They don't save you, but they are a fruit that comes forth in showing your love. It is something you do because you love God, not because you want to be saved.
You don’t have to sit around and wonder “Idk am I saved? Have I been good enough?” The answer would yes if you have made the decision to follow God you are saved, and no you're never going to be good enough we are all born in sin. It Is by grace alone you are saved, you can’t work for it. God forgave you of your sin, so you are justified in Christ because of his righteousness. You don’t lose your salvation because you made a mistake.

I'M SORRY IT'S SOOO LONG!!
I hope that helps.... if not i'm sorry 😓

Really good and thorough answer, Rose! So, I have a question for ya: In the Hebrews 10:26-28 verse you gave, it says we should obey the law Moses presented to be saved, and any willful disobedience would cause us to die without mercy. Do you think then that we should be following the law?

Carsie wrote: "I'm so interested in this thread, and so excited to learn about what everyone believes!
I am a Christian and a protestant Southern Baptist. (Baptists are called Baptists because they believe in fu..."

I believe everything you just said except I do not think you need to be baptized to be a Christian. I was baptized as a baby because of the Lutheran origins in my family but I don't feel like it really counts. I was a baby, I didn't make the decision what's the point? I believe you are truly baptized when you are baptized by the spirit at conversion. I remember feeling His presence when I was giving my life to him. I think that water baptism is a statement of faith for your church family, like "you guys I'm a Christian and I want you to come alongside me in my walk with christ and hold me accountable." I'm planning to get baptized at 18 as a statement of faith as an adult and entree into my grown life and walk with God.

Pianissimo wrote: "Really good and thorough answer, Rose! So, I have a question for ya: In the Hebrews 10:26-28 verse you gave, it says we should obey the law Moses presented to be saved, and any willful disobedience..."
yay a question! :D
Can you explain a bit... What do you mean by law? The old testament?

Carsie wrote: "I totally agree with that statement about baptism Rose. I wasn't baptized until several years after my conversion, because my parents wanted to make sure I wasn't doing it our of peer pressure. I d..."

Oh okay, okay I see now. (:
Oh, wow, you seem really spiritually mature for 14

What I mean is, well, most of the 14-year-olds in my life don't take their faith seriously (same with some of my friends at 16-17) and it's super nice to see you and others on this group who seem deeply committed. It's really encouraging.

Yes, Rose. The old testament law.

Carsie wrote: "I'm so interested in this thread, and so excited to learn about what everyone believes!
I am a Christian, and a protestant Southern Baptist. (Baptists are called Baptists because they believe in fu..."

This is also what I and my family believe in :D

the Catholic doctrine on Purgatory is that it is not a punishment, it is a purification. Revelation 21:27 says 'Nothing unclean will enter Heaven'. Purgatory is the way for sinners to purify themselves for the perfection of heaven. Think of it this way: if you were going to meet the queen of England you would get clean and dressed up first, right? God gave us Purgatory to get spiritually cleaned and dressed up.

you all believe in sola scriptura, and that you are saved by faith alone, right?

So, did Catholics make up purgatory?

Mary-Therese, I do believe we are saved by faith, but faith without works is dead, so I think that means we should obey God's laws.

...and that shows our faith.

wow this thread is really interesting! i'm enjoying looking through everyone's comments!

i am a christian and i go to a church of God. i believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins, and that whoever believes in Him and repents will spend eternal life in Heaven.

i've been raised in a christian home, with christian family members, but i didn't make the decision to ask Jesus into my heart until 3 years ago. i got baptized last year and i feel the presence of the Lord more since i've been baptized.

i believe that without Jesus in my life i'd be lost. i need him, i need his love, i need his forgiveness, and his mercy every single day. his love is unconditional and everlasting, and he will always forgive you when you repent. i love Jesus and can't wait to see him one day!
❤❤❤

@Carsie, I am confused by that. The Bible says 'See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone... so also faith without works is dead'(James 2:24, 26). so scripture stats that you cannot be saved by faith alone. Can you explain this?

Pianissimo wrote: "Yes, Rose. The old testament law."


Okay, thx (:
well, when we look at the laws in the Old Testament there are a lot of them.
One of the reasons there were so many laws was to show you God’s high standards of perfection. There were so many hoops you had to jump through, and I can bet you not a single person got every law just right. God wanted us to see WHY we needed him for salvation. If we don’t understand how broken we are, then how could we be expected to know or understand how much we needed help.

Some of the laws were clearly replaced by the new covenant through Christ. Like the food and sacrificial laws. Not to mention how paul (I think it was paul??) said that the new Christians shouldn’t fight over whether the newly converted gentiles should be circumcised or not. It didn’t matter anymore because Jesus was our new hope of salvation.

Matthew 15:11
What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, is what defiles them.

Matthew 15:17-20
“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”


See in these verses Christ explains that eating with unwashed hands, or a certain type of food isn’t necessary or preferred for salvation. Salvation is by faith alone no one can boast about how clean they are, for everyone is dirty from the filth of sin.
Same with the sacrificial lamb or another offer. We no longer have to do that because Jesus was our offering on the cross. He chose his fate on the mount willingly and his blood-covered our sin for all of the time. He was our sacrificial lamb, and his blood was sufficient for all of our sins. He took the place of our punishment, and the place of any animal we would have to slotter.

I also read an article that explained some things. It said there were…

1. “Civil Laws, which governed the nation of Israel”

2. “Ceremonial Laws about “clean” and “unclean” things, about various kinds of sacrifices, and other temple practices.”

3. “Moral Laws, which declared what God deemed right and wrong—the 10 Commandments, for instance.”

In the first “Civil Law” category those laws (like circumcision) made Israel distinct from other countries and set apart God’s chosen people. Now that God has invited everyone to follow him these laws are no longer necessary.

The “Ceremonial laws” about cleanliness aren’t necessary either because God has deemed all food available to us to eat on our own accord. Things that were considered “Unclean” like your Bacon sandwich lol are fine now because God has made a sacrifice and washed us in his grace and blood. The only unclean thing we must avoid is sin. Sin is the real thing we must avoid. Not your BLT sandwich.


And last “Moral Laws” in the 10 commandments are still in place today. They tell us what is good and bad and we have all sinned against God in this way. It is by grace alone we are saved and in my last long post, we are saved through submission/love/following of God.

Also, in the verse I mentioned with the last part, notice the past tense. When I selected it for my earlier argument I chose it for verses 26 and 27. I left 28 in there to show context.

Hebrews 10: 26-28, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

(: hope this helps!!

Mary-Therese wrote: "the Catholic doctrine on Purgatory is that it is not a punishment, it is a purification. Revelation 21:27 says 'Nothing unclean will enter Heaven'. Purgatory is the way for sinners to purify themse..."

Idk if you read my comment earlier but in my comment answering your question of why we don't believe it and what we do believe I said this.

"So, from my understanding, those who are saved, but sin, and die before they confess the sin, go to purgatory to burn off or purify their souls to go to heaven. Did I understand that right? I’m sorry if I misunderstood."

Much like how a sword is purified in the fire?? Did I miss something? I don't think I said it was a punishment...

No, Catholics did not make it up, it is in the Bible. Most clearly in Maccabees 12:40-46.
'For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin'.(verses 44-45)
The pre-Christian Jews offered reparations and prayer for the dead who had clearly violated the Law. Such a practice presupposes purgatory, since those in heaven wouldn't need any help, and those in hell are beyond it. Maccabees covers the time about a century before Christ (I.e. before the Christian faith) so it is evident that the Catholic church did not make up purgatory.

@Rose, in your comment, you asked if Catholics believed that God couldn't forgive without making one suffer. The forgiveness is already there, now all that's left is to make ourselves perfect through holy suffering. You are exactly right about the sword purified in fire

many non-Catholics misunderstand purgatory as a second chance (I.e. will you be good enough this time?) this is not what it is at all. If you get to purgatory, you are going into heaven

@Rose, in your earlier comment about purgatory. Purgatory is the place a soul goes when it has been saved, but is not ready to enter Heaven. Even though going to confession erases some of the punishment due to sin, it does not get rid of all of it. Therefore even if I go to confession before I die, I still have to go to purgatory to get rid of all traces of sin. Souls don't go to purgatory because of some unconfessed sin. If I die without confessing a mortal sin then I will go to Hell. Mortal sins kill the life of grace in a person's soul. I hope I didn't confuse anyone, I'm just stating what I believe. Is Catholicism the only religion with confession? Now I'm curious.

Oy, reading through all of this made my head hurt XD....in a good way.

Ok so my family is kinda a mix of Baptist and Presbyterian...I guess... i don't know hahaha. We kinda just go by Evangelical Christians. Like we believe God sent His only Son to die and rise again for our sins. And that by Grace and Faith alone are we saved. We go to a Mission Alliance Church, and our logo is:
CHRIST-Centered Teaching
BIBLE-Saturated Community
PRAYER-Filled Dependence
This pretty much sums of what we believe. :)

There is one God, (1) who is infinitely perfect,(2) existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.(3) ([1] Deuteronomy 6:4, [2] Matthew 5:48, [3] Matthew 28:19)

Jesus Christ is the true God and the true man. (4) He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.(5) He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust,(6) as a substitutionary sacrifice,(7) and all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.(8) He arose from the dead according to the Scriptures.(9) He is now at the right hand of Majesty on high as our great High Priest.(10) He will come again to establish His kingdom, righteousness and peace.(11) ([4] Philippians 2:6–11, [5] Luke 1:34–38, [6] I Peter 3:18, [7] Hebrews 2:9, [8] Romans 5:9, [9] Acts 2:23–24, [10] Hebrews 8:1, [11] Matthew 26:64)

The Holy Spirit is a divine person, (12) sent to dwell, guide, teach, empower the believer,(13) and convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.(14) ([12] John 14:15–18, [13]John 16:13, Acts 1:8, [14] John 16:7–11)

The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.(15) ([15] 2 Peter 1:20–21, 2 Timothy 3:15–16)

Man was originally created in the image and likeness of God: (16) he fell through disobedience, incurring thereby both physical and spiritual death. All men are born with a sinful nature,(17) are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.(18) The portion of the unrepentant and unbelieving is existence forever in conscious torment;(19) and that of the believer, in everlasting joy and bliss.(20) ([16] Genesis 1:27, [17] Romans 3:23, [18] 1 Corinthians15:20–23, [19] Revelation 21:8, [20] Revelation 21:1–4)

Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men; and those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God.(21) ([21] Titus 3:4–7)

It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly,(22) being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service.(23) This is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion.(24) ([22] 1 Thessalonians 5:23, [23] Acts 1:8, [24] Romans 6:1–14)

Provision is made in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ for the healing of the mortal body. (25) Prayer for the sick and anointing with oil are taught in the Scriptures and are privileges for the Church in this present age.(26) ([25] Matthew 8:16–17, [26] James 5:13–16)

The Church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church, (27) which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations.(28) The local church is a body of believers in Christ who are joined together for the worship of God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.(29) ([27] Ephesians 1:22–23, [28] Matthew 28:19–20, [29] Acts 2:41–47)

There shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust; for the former, a resurrection unto life;(30) for the latter, a resurrection unto judgment.(31) ([30] 1 Corinthians 15:20–23, [31] John 5:28–29)

The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent (32) and will be personal, visible, and premillennial.(33) This is the believer’s blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.(34) ([32] Hebrews 10:37, [33] Luke 21:27, [34] Titus 2:11–14)


sorry this was pretty long.

Mary-Therese wrote: "many non-Catholics misunderstand purgatory as a second chance (I.e. will you be good enough this time?) this is not what it is at all. If you get to purgatory, you are going into heaven"

Ok, so here are my thoughts on Purgatory :)
(I do not mean any offense in anything I say. )
So in Genesis, when Satan talks to Eve right? He says:
"And the serpent said unto the woman: You shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4) yk? so that was a lie, because God clearly said no not eat the fruit because you will die. It is very interesting that Satan’s first recorded words in the bible are a lie, indicating his dominant nature. Purgatory is based upon the serpent’s lie of life after death because punishment requires you to be alive. Otherwise, its purpose is defeated. Therefore, since God cannot be the author of purgatory, it must come from Satan. Here's another reason why purgatory can't exist: after you die, your soul is dead and ceases to exist in any form in any location in the universe. Therefore, there is no need for purgatory. Its useless. In Hebrews 9:27, it says:
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" It doesn't mention a place where you go after death and before heaven/hell. It just says after you die, there will be judgement.
The second reason purgatory can't exist is very quick and simple: the word “purgatory” or any of its derivatives are never mentioned even once in the entire bible. More importantly, the concept of purgatory is never mentioned anywhere in God’s word.
@Mary please correct me if I'm wrong but from what my Mom has told me (she grew up Catholic) that the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified”. Yet it contradicts multitudes of scriptures, the laws of logic, the laws of justice and it defeats the purpose of forgiveness.
“temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.” If we are still punished in purgatory after our sins have already been forgiven and forgotten, then that defeats the purpose of forgiveness in the first place! That contradicts and violates God’s forgiveness of us.
Isaiah 43:25
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Hebrews 8:12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more

When Jesus came to Earth, died, and resurrected, He washed us with His blood. For all those who believe in Him, and believe He died and resurrected and Faith in Him then we ARE washed in His blood. That is His purification. If God has already purified us, why do we need more purification??

I John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(Though I will note, this does not mean that we can just go around KNOWING and sinning ON PURPOSE. We need to try to not sin, but when we do, we immediately and repent to God. If that makes sense)

Psalms 103: 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

We will never be pure or perfect on Earth, that's how our sin nature works. God will judge everyone on Judgement day. No one is more pure than others you know? My point is that if Purgatory is where we go to be purified before we get into Heaven then everyone is going to go there. You know?
Confessing sins to a priest is legalism & bondage based on old testament laws that were already fulfilled by Jesus Christ.As born again believers, we are already holy in God’s sight, so no more purification or holiness is needed or can be achieved after death.
The third reason purgatory can't exist is because Jesus Christ will present to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Once again, there is no need for purgatory.

Romans 5
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Look at the definition of justified in verse one!!!

Strong’s Concordance #1344
dikaioó: to show to be righteous, declare righteous
Part of Speech: Verb
Phonetic Spelling: (dik-ah-yo’-o)
Definition: to show to be righteous, declare righteous
Usage: I make righteous, defend the cause of, plead for the righteousness (innocence) of, acquit, justify; hence: I regard as righteous.
The definition of justified destroys the lie of purgatory.
I Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Reason #4: At the return of Christ, our spiritual bodies will be incorruptible!!! Therefore, no cleansing or purification in purgatory will ever be needed. So if Purgatory is real, will it just disappear when God comes back? or will He bring the people who need to go to Purgatory there, and then once their pure bring them to heaven?
Reason #6: The practice of praying for the dead comes from a pagan, counterfeit religious book that was inspired by devil spirits that was designed to deceive us, distract us, and distort the truth of God’s word. At least that's what I've heard. so when people say pray for those in purgatory, I just don't get it. Soo...if you can answer that please do. I'm curious your stand on that :D
Gosh this is really long, I'm so sorry

Carsie wrote: "Kara wrote: "Ok so my family is kinda a mix of Baptist and Presbyterian...I guess... i don't know hahaha. We kinda just go by Evangelical Christians. Like we believe God sent His only Son to die an..."

Lol yeah. I may or may not have copied that from our church "what we believe" page so...lol

Book wrote: "@Rose, in your earlier comment about purgatory. Purgatory is the place a soul goes when it has been saved, but is not ready to enter Heaven. Even though going to confession erases some of the punis..."

Ah, okay... I think I understand a bit better. I'm so grateful for ya'll making me understand even when you do research it just gets confusing. Although it's really hard to make sense here too. (;

Yea I think so because other denominations don't do confession. But I'm curious... Do you go directly to God to confess at all? or just to a religious leader? And if you only confess there, why don't you go to God?
I'm not trying to be rude or anything!! I'm just curious 😅

Mary-Therese wrote: "@Rose, in your comment, you asked if Catholics believed that God couldn't forgive without making one suffer. The forgiveness is already there, now all that's left is to make ourselves perfect throu..."

Ah okay, I think I understand what your saying about purgatory as a cleansing preparation. Thank you for being so patient and helpful with all of us!! (:
although I actually don't remember asking that about forgiveness and suffering lol?? We have Catholic friends and I know for a fact they don't believe that God couldn't forgive without making some suffer.

Do you mean my question from asking whether his sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient in cleansing us of our sin?

Confession is confessing your sins to God, but He is acting through the priest who listens to you and gives you absolution. The priest is not allowed to ever tell anyone or right down what he hears in confession. There is a saint who was tortured to death by a king, after refusing to tell the king what the queen said in confession. Why don't we just go to God? Well, we are going to God. We just can't see Him, because He is acting through the priest. I hope this doesn't confuse you.

@Book that makes sense and that's absolutely right. God is approachable. I was doing a Genesis Bible Study and one thing I noticed was God wasn't just this Big Guy Somewhere Up There Who's Going To Strike You Down If You Come To Close. He was personal. You can come to Him, so if you can pray to Him and have Faith in Him why can't you confess to Him if that makes sense

@Rose, yes, that's what I ment, sorry if I misunderstood