The wide range of differences between the three branches of Christianity — Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism — includes such an important concept for Catholics, but fundamentally rejected by other Christian teachings, as purgatory. What do the followers of the Roman church mean by it, and is it possible to find any analogue of it in Orthodoxy?
What is purgatory? The meaning of this term in Catholicism
To avoid possible errors, formulating this concept, we turn to the original source. The definition of what purgatory is given in the Catholic catechism, containing the main provisions of this Western Christian doctrine. According to his interpretation, purgatory is an intermediate stage between hell and paradise, at which the souls of people who died in union with the church, but for one reason or another fail to bring repentance for all sins committed during life, abide.
Often the question arises of what the word "purgatory" is and what its origin is. It should be noted that in Russian it is an exact translation of the Latin Purgatorium, meaning, literally, purification by fire. The use of this term can be traced in theological literature from the XII century.
The balance of sins and good deeds in Catholicism
In Catholicism, unlike Orthodoxy, the achievement of the Kingdom of Heaven depends, first of all, on the mathematical correlation of good deeds and sins committed by the deceased in the days of earthly life, and not cleansed by repentance and atoning sacrifice. Everything is simple and clear. If there are more good deeds that are considered to be his merits before God - it means to heaven, if sins are outweighed - straight to hell.
But what about those who lived their lives in the bosom of the church, tried to obey the commandments, but because of their weakness, they at times fell into temptations, and before death did not bring repentance for all that they managed to do? In addition, sins are voluntary, that is, committed intentionally, and involuntary, in which a person falls into unintentionally, sometimes without knowing it. And finally, small household sins are often forgotten, and are not mentioned in confession. Not to condemn the good Christian to eternal torment due to such misunderstandings.
According to Western scholars, purgatory exists precisely for these cases. Once there, the deceased can be cleansed of sins that are superior in number to the good deeds they have committed. To do this, he will have to suffer for some time, thereby bringing proper redemption, and after that he goes to heaven. How long this can last depends on the difference in the number of sins and merits.
The emergence of the dogma of purgatory
For the first time the concept of cleansing fire appears in the writings of the famous religious figure of the 6th century Grigory Dvoeslov, but the definition of what purgatory is in Catholicism was finally formulated much later. This happened only in the XII century, when the Catholic philosopher-scholastic Peter Lombard wrote his theological treatise, called the "Maxim".
A century later, his follower Saint Thomas Aquinas proposed this idea as a well-defined religious doctrine, but only the Florence Cathedral of 1439 dogmatically fixed it as an integral element of Catholic doctrine.
More than a hundred years later, and in 1563 the Council of Trent finally confirmed what purgatory is. The ruling issued during its meetings is recognized to this day by the Western Church. Only Protestants who split in the 16th century from the Catholic Church categorically deny it.
Hebrew concept of purgatory
It is known that even the Old Testament Jews had an idea of what purgatory, hell and heaven are. Relying on the books of the prophets, they reasoned something like this: if the soul of the deceased should be made atoning sacrifices, therefore, after death it does not go to heaven, otherwise why then the sacrifice if it is already saved. And not to hell, since in this case all the victims would be useless. In this case, there must be some intermediate stage, during which it is still possible to influence the subsequent fate of the deceased.
Propitious victims
However, this theory did not receive wide development from them, and only Catholics gave an answer to the question of what purgatory is. They, in particular, developed the doctrine of the "propitious" victim. According to this teaching, right up to the Last Judgment, with the advent of which the purgatory will be abolished, sinful souls will be in a state of purifying torment.
However, their suffering can be reduced. To do this, they should do good deeds pleasing to God for their sake, offer prayers, order memorial services and donate money by buying indulgences. All these deeds are called “propitious sacrifices” offered to God.
The concept of "super merit"
In Catholicism, there is such a concept, completely alien to Orthodoxy, as "super merit before God." It was mentioned above that the good deeds performed by the Catholic are considered as his merits to the Almighty, and if their number is not inferior to the number of sins, then they provide him with an unhindered path to paradise.
But after all, a person leading a righteous life, and in no way departing from the commandments of God, can accumulate much more than is required to cover his sins. It is these good deeds, exceeding the required number, that are called beyond merit, which, it turns out, can be shared with others and help them reduce their stay in the cleansing fire.
In this regard, the difference between the Orthodox prayers addressed to the holy saints of God with a request for their intercession for us before God, and the prayers of the Catholics in which they ask the saints to share their extra merits with them, and thereby help to avoid cleansing torments, should be noted.
Orthodox path to salvation
Having made a general idea of how the followers of Catholicism imagine the transition to another world, it is interesting to understand what purgatory is in Orthodoxy. It should be noted right away that there is no such concept in Eastern Christianity. The very idea of “merit” before God, which can outweigh his sins, is rejected.
The reason for this is a completely different approach to the concept of the relationship of man and God. According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church fathers, the task of man is to cleanse the soul in this life for its subsequent union with the Creator. To this end, he is obliged to fight the passions that bind him to the material world and turn him away from thoughts of the coming eternity. It is they who bind man to the sensual world, and push on the path of departure from God.
The malignancy of the sin of pride
Continuing the theme of differences in the theological approach to saving the soul in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, it should be emphasized that the Eastern churches, in principle, reject the idea of merits before God. Moreover, the Holy Fathers in their writings warn believers from the danger of falling into the gravest sin of pride, which often affects people who think they are righteous as a result of good deeds.
Even people who are weakly sophisticated in theology know that pride is one of the gravest mortal sins. It leads a person to destructive conceit, which is based on the belief in their own self-sufficiency. Contrary to the gospel words of Jesus Christ that without Him we are incapable of anything, it seems to a person struck by this sin that he is not like others and can do without God, and this leads to a break with the Creator and inevitable death . Therefore, the Orthodox Church teaches that, when doing good deeds, it is necessary to do this with humility and the consciousness that the forces and reason for their fulfillment are sent down by God, which means that they cannot be regarded as our merit to Him.
Love is the only way to the kingdom of God
According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, the Lord, having perceived human nature damaged by original sin, healed it with His godmothers, and gave people the opportunity, by uniting with him in the sacrament of holy communion, to become heirs to eternal life. But this does not require Catholic bookkeeping, in which merit is recorded in the asset, but sins passive, and the sincerity of repentance, and the consciousness of one's own powerlessness in isolation from the Almighty. God is love, and therefore only a soul filled with this feeling in relation to the Creator and His creation - to people, is able to enter into union with Him and gain paradise.
Air ordeals - the purgatory of the Orthodox soul
However, there is a definite answer to the question of what purgatory is for an Orthodox person? According to the teachings of Eastern Christianity, its analogue is the ordeal, which the soul passes in the first days after leaving the body of the deceased.
This is a kind of obstacle that she is destined to pass on the way to God, who is creating a court of justice, as a result of which her place of residence until the Last Judgment will be determined. There are twenty such ordeals, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, and each of them corresponds to a certain type of sins generated by the very passions that the holy fathers call for the fight against.
Human acts on the scales of unforgiving judges
This is what purgatory is and its interpretation in the Orthodox vision. Along the ordeal, two angels lead a soul that has left its body. On their way, demons await them, trying at each stage to take possession of the soul and to lead it to hell. But the guardian angel, persistently present at the same time, opposes them.
The main attribute that this “Orthodox purgatory” cannot do without is the book, which records all the sins committed by a person during his lifetime, and which serves in the hands of demons as indictment. The guardian angel also presents a list, but already of charitable deeds. It is this comparison of the pros and cons that provides the basis for drawing a certain parallel between what the ordeal in Orthodoxy is and what purgatory is among Catholics.
Inappropriate use of the term "purgatory"
It should be noted that in modern language the word purgatory has also been used in a figurative sense. Often they denote certain trials that have fallen to one or another people on the way to achieving the intended goal. But, in addition, there are cases of a rather arbitrary use of this term.
An example is the Ukrainian site that appeared relatively recently on the Internet, specializing in the prevention of crimes against the state. It is called the Peacemaker. Purgatory is a term often used by them. But its website editors use it to indicate a list of persons who, in their opinion, pose a potential danger to the regime existing there.
Without going into discussions about the validity of their choice and the legitimacy of actions, we only note the liberties that one allows himself in dealing with the religious terminology “Peacemaker”. Purgatory, like any other religious term, is appropriate to use only in its own meaning.