The Plausibility of Catholicism via the Consideration of Purgatory

Stephen Kershnar

The Mystery of Purgatory

Dunkirk-Fredonia Observer

April 2, 2018

Passover and Easter provide a good opportunity to consider whether the major religions in the U.S. are true. If they aren’t, then it’s hard to see why they should influence people’s lives.    

During some Easter gatherings, the issue comes up as to where Jesus went after he died but before he arose from the dead. Christianity holds that the resurrection of Jesus is a foundation of Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:17-19) and connected to his role in atonement for man’s sins. A common view is that he descended into the earth.   

Catholic doctrine holds that unlike Jesus, right after death, people are judged and sent to heaven (unending bliss), Hell (unending torment), or purgatory. The judgment depends on the dead man’s sins. Those who have committed a mortal sin go to Hell. A person commits a mortal sin if he deliberately performs a grave wrongdoing with full knowledge of what he is doing and its consequences. On some accounts, mortal sins include abortion, desecrating the Eucharist, and renouncing one’s faith. These sins are so serious that God lacks the power to save them even through his Herculean forgiveness. It is unclear whether divorce, masturbation, and premarital sex are grave enough to be mortal sins.

Those who have merely committed venial (forgivable) sins are still capable of having a friendship with God and, although having a moral disorder, still merit heaven. On a side note, it is an interesting issue as to whether priests who have molested children have committed mortal sins. It would be odd if renouncing one’s faith merits hell, but raping a child does not.  

Among those who have committed venial sins, they must spend time in purgatory before going to heaven. Purgatory purifies someone of his past sins through suffering. There is a debate as to whether souls are literally purified by fire is or whether this is a metaphor. There is also debate as to whether purgatory is a physical place or merely a state of being. It is also unclear whether the suffering in purgatory is punishment or merely a sinner’s regretting what he did.

On a side note, in general, Protestantism rejects the notion of purgatory, whereas some Jewish doctrine supports it.  

The notion that people go to purgatory is mysterious. One reason it is mysterious is that there is no evidence that purgatory exists. There is neither scientific evidence nor reliable observations of it. In addition, there is no conceptual reason as to why people have to be purified through suffering. God could purify people of their sins without making or allowing them to suffer in a way similar to how, in theory, brainwashing, neurosurgery, or hypnosis can change people without making them suffer. We normally don’t accept that people or places exist without evidence. Consider, for example, the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods.   

Further, consider whether purification involves actual fire or only pain similar to that caused by fire. Such a debate can’t be decided by evidence. Rather, it involves speculation.   

A second reason purgatory is mysterious is that on some accounts, including an interpretation of Pope John Paul II’s comments, purgatory is a state of being rather than a location. Intuitively, though, it seems that all objects are located in space. This is similar to how all objects are located in time. It is an interesting question why souls have be located in time, but not in space. The idea here is wildly speculative and, worse, hard to understand.  

A third mysterious aspect of purgatory is its relation to Hell. One might think that the fire and suffering of Hell are tailor-made for purification. It’s odd that they’re separate. It is even odder if Hell were to have a location and purgatory not to have one.

A fourth reason purgatory is mysterious is that the different purported aspects of purgatory appear to be in tension with one another. It is unclear why purification must come about through punishment and suffering. One might think that acceptance of God’s infinite love could purify and do so via a joyful and transcendent experience. If it is punishment, then this conflicts with the notion, which Pope Benedict XVI appears to back, that suffering comes about because a sinner deeply regrets her sins. 

Fifth, it is unclear why everyone doesn’t go to purgatory, even those who commit mortal sins. The Catholic Church holds that people who commit mortal sins can go to heaven via perfect contrition. This involves confessing all of one’s mortal sins, acting from the love of God, and so on. Given the possibility of mortal sinners being saved, it is unclear why all sinners don’t all go to purgatory.

Sixth, purgatory makes human justice odd. If evildoers are going to be punished by God for their sins, it is less important that people spend a lot of time and energy hunting them down and punishing them. By analogy, if the federal government will punish a criminal for injuring someone, it is less important for a state to spend a large amount money doing the same. This is true even if God and man punish evildoers for different things because the crime against a fellow man and associated sin are usually intertwined even if distinct.

The question is why anyone would accept this doctrine. This is especially true for people who work in evidence-based fields such as law, medicine, and science. It is hard to understand why people might be adamant in requiring evidence in their professional lives, but not in their religious lives. What makes things worse is that the doctrine of purgatory is far more plausible than sister doctrines, such as atonement, transubstantiation, and the trinity. Even if one finds these doctrines familiar and reassuring, it is hard to understand how they would not make it feel strange to sit at a Catholic service or Easter dinner. Ditto for those at a Passover table.