Bryan Sherwood

Purgatory: Questions Regarding Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism.

Yes, my blog friends, it’s time for a new topic in my new blog series. Our discussions on Mary have been thought-provoking and I hope you’ve found them helpful in some way.

So, what about Purgatory? The subject of purgatory has been a much debated one. Perhaps, it would be appropriate to begin with a couple of sources.

In The Book of Common Prayer, in Article 22 of The 39 Articles, we find:

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

Obviously, it would seem that Anglicans tend to have a different view of purgatory than Roman Catholics.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we find the following:

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

So, I guess the question is this: do you believe that "after death they [Christians] undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven?"

The Immaculate Conception of Mary

In this post, I want to consider the Immaculate Conception of Mary. As I commented in the last post, most of us can share a love for the Blessed Mother. Things become a bit more complicated though as we move into topics like the Immaculate Conception.

You might say, what the heck is the Immaculate Conception any way? Wikipedia defines it this way:

The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus without any stain of original sin, in her mother's womb: the dogma thus says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace. It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin.

To quote directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confessed, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son." The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love."

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia) and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature." By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

Why is this important?

Orthodox teaching affirms that Jesus was sinless. If Jesus was sinless, how could he have been born of a mother with a sin nature? Jesus' divinity came from God. His humanity came from . . . Mary. That means a lot of pressure rides on Mary. Could Jesus, being sinless, be born of a woman with the stain of original sin? Roman Catholic teaching would say Mary from the time of her conception was preserved from the stain of original sin. Many see this in Gabriel's words to Mary in Luke 1:28. "And he came to her and said 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." (NRSV).

Let me throw out a few questions for us all to consider. I'm going to borrow these from Scot McNight because he's smarter than me and I like them.

1. How can Jesus be sinless if Mary was sinful?
2. The virginal conception may have cleansed Jesus from Joseph's sinful nature but what about Mary's?
3. If God could have preserved Mary from original sin by an immaculate conception, why could God not have done it that way with Jesus?

What say ye?