Purgatory

DEATH AND THE INTERMEDIATE STATE: COMPARISON OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC, ORTHODOX, AND PROTESTANT DOCTRINAL VIEWS ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN’S ETERNAL STATE

PAPER TYPE:  Synthesis and Expository

THESIS STATEMENT:  The study will contrast and compare Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant doctrines concerning death and the intermediate state, with the purpose of understanding what happens to the soul upon death, the intermediate state, the resurrection of the body, and how its implications affect the way we live our lives in preparation for our eternal life. 

ABSTRACT:  Death is as much a part of life as life itself.  One day, everyone will die, and until that day, most will encounter the death of a friend or a loved one.  For unbelievers, death is tragic, and yet for Christians, death is the servant who ushers us into God’s presence.  However, erroneous beliefs abound to the point of superstition.  In Kallistos Ware’s article, ‘One body in Christ’: Death and the communion of the saints, he described how little the immanence of death is discussed in Western churches and how we should instead discuss it as a vital part of life, rather than something that hits us when we least expect it. 

When Christians fail to properly understand death, the intermediate state, and the resurrection to come, it minimizes the missional impact of the church on our culture.  In N.T. Wright’s book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, Wright explains the importance of understanding the resurrection in such a way that it influences the way we live in the body and propels us to a greater emphasis on building the Kingdom. 

Different theological views abound when the intermediate state is compared between the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant faiths.  Roman Catholicism teaches Purgatory as the state where the souls are purged from venial sins. Alan Schreck’s book, Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism describes the purging process, not as a second chance, but as an exercise of God’s infinite mercy.  Richard P. McBrien’s book, Catholicism, explains the doctrine from Scripture and its development from its patristic roots. 

Kallistos Ware’s book, The Orthodox Way, describes “A journey into the infinite” (Ware, 137) and how this concept befuddles our “fallen imagination” (Ibid.).  Constantine N. Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology, argues against the doctrine of Purgatory outright, claiming that no eastern or western patristic father taught the this doctrine. 

From an Anglican Protestant perspective, Wright described paradise as the Christian’s state of blissful rest, but not sleep, but in a state of conscious presence with Christ, awaiting the final resurrection.  What we believe about the resurrection, ought to shape the way that we view the mission of the church and the manner in which we live in the body until we meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the veil of death.  Death is the servant who ushers us into the very presence of Christ and is nothing to fear.

This paper presents a study and the first edition from a chapter of the "Anales de los carmelitas descalzos de la provincia de san José en el Principado de Cataluña", work copied by its own author, brother John of St. Joseph (1642-1718), in University of Barcelona Library, Ms. 991. This chapter belonging to the tradition of revenants from purgatory was examined by clergy. It was taken as a true story, proven by statements under oath. The events of this case go back to the city of Vic and its surroundings in 1677-1681, by setting an important precedent of the tale of the priest’s ghost who returns from the other world to say a mass forgotten or not celebrated when alive.

La doctrine du purgatoire est souvent remise en question. L'article donne d'abord un aperçu des problèmes: représentations vulgarisées par la prédication populaire, histoire des doctrines, débats œcuméniques, anthropologie. La seconde partie de l’article présente l'enseignement de l'Eglise catholique romaine sur le purgatoire, en se limitant aux conciles puisque quatre d'entre eux ont traité la question et fournissent l'essentiel de la doctrine catholique: le deuxième concile de Lyon en 1274, le concile de Florence en 1439, le concile de Trente en 1563 et le deuxième concile du Vatican en 1964.

An argument against the rationality of desiring to go to heaven might be put in the form of a trilemma: (1) any state of being that both lasts eternally and preserves me as the person I am would be hellish and therefore would not be a state of being that I could have any reason to desire; (2) any state of being that lasts eternally and yet fails to preserve my personhood by turning me into a non-person would not be a state of being that I (qua person that I am) could have any reason to desire; and (3) any state of being that lasts eternally and yet fails to preserve my personhood by turning me into some other person would not be a state of being that I (qua person that I am) could have any reason to desire. This paper offers defenses of each of the three horns of this trilemma and concludes that there is no rationally compelling reason for any human being to desire to go to heaven.

Монография посвящена opus magnum великого итальянского поэта Данте Алигьери. Исследование впервые ставит вопрос о возможном влиянии дантовской поэмы на процесс формирования догмата о чистилище в Римо-Католической Церкви. Оно строится по трем основным направлениям: роль Данте в создании особой культурно-исторической и религиозно-политической атмосферы Флоренции, его новаторство в концепции Чистилища, косвенное влияние на основных протагонистов Ферраро-Флорентийского Собора. Работа имеет особую актуальность в свете изучения возможного воздействия художественной литературы на вероучительные концепции и, в более широком смысле, для анализа взаимоотношений религии и культуры.

This article examines the position of Joseph Ratzinger with regard to the classical question in the field of the theology of religions, the salvation of non-Christians. In criticism of a recent book by Ambrose Mong, it is argued that Ratzinger is not a soteriological exclusivist but an optimistic restrictivist inclusivist. 0 2 B C

«Божественная комедия» итальянского поэта Данте Алигьери по праву считается одним из величайших произведений мировой литературы. Вергилий в «Энеиде» в загробном мире поместил Катона Утического, или Младшего, среди праведников. У Данте Катон становится стражем Чистилища. В статье предпринята попытка исследовать, в чем причины такого выделения этого политического деятеля-язычника, к тому же покончившего жизнь самоубийством. Делается вывод о том, что Катон олицетворяет собой, с одной стороны, идею справедливости, с другой – идею свободы.

Análisis de las peculiaridades literarias de dos obras en prosa, El Purgatorio de San Patricio y la Historia del virtuoso caballero don Túngano, como ejemplo de la adaptación y traducción al castellano de dos relatos de viajes al Más Allá de enorme tradición en diferentes literaturas medievales, prestando especial atención a los recursos estilísticos desplegados en la espacialización de la geografía del trasmundo, que les asemeja a los relatos de viajes de la época.

This paper examines ways in which identity in the later Middle Ages could have been displayed through the means that paradoxically seemed to dissolve the very idea of identity – the image of the decomposed body. In the following pages it is argued that the transi monuments were considered to represent the true portraits of deceased individuals, emphasizing that those buried beneath were experiencing purgatorial pains. Special attention is devoted to the mechanisms which were employed in order for the transis to be fashioned as individual portraits. Even though cadaver monuments were not part of the experience of Italian art of Trecento and Quattrocento, it is argued that, albeit all the differences from its northern counterparts, the tomb slab of Antonio Amati should be considered as a true transi tomb as well as the true portrait of the deceased.

Chapters:
1. Purifying decay
2. Of flesh and clothes
3. Sum quod eris vs. memento mori
4. Epilogue

Гоголь создавал центральное произведение своего творчества главным образом в Риме. К Италии писатель испытывал особенную любовь. Гоголь прекрасно владел итальянским языком, писал на нем письма, переводил с него и  на него. При создании «Мертвых душ», которые он назвал поэмой, Гоголь ориентировался в том числе на «Божественную комедию» Данте. Это проявилось в разных аспектах: в композиции произведения, в сюжете, в идейном содержании и мелких деталях. Гоголевская поэма по замыслу должна была состоять из трех частей, условно соотносящихся с Адом, Чистилищем и Раем. В итоге завершенной оказалась лишь первая часть. В статье предложена новая гипотеза относительно генезиса фамилии главного героя «Мертвых душ» – Чичикова. Гипотеза тесно увязана с итальянским контекстом жизни автора и также увязывает гоголевское произведение с «Божественной комедией».

Dante’s dependence on scholastic theologians can explain the seemingly peculiar presence of the beatitudes in Purgatorio. In this essay we will first address how the beatitudes are a structural element of Purgatorio, and which theological sources may have inspired their use. This allows us to address the relation between each beatitude and the sin that has been purged. Together, these insights lead to the conclusion that in Purgatorio the beatitudes are markers of the process of moral transformation.

This paper compares modern Advaita (nonduality) Vedānta and Roman Catholic afterlife beliefs, with special attention to the dialogue of Swami Vivekananda, formal Roman Catholic teachings, and the thought of Edith Stein. It draws also on other commentators and includes some brief reference to other forms of Vedānta. It analyzes significant congruences, parallels, differences, and critical issues. The paper begins with a focus on essential similarities

In Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Disagreements, Norman Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie (G&M) have engaged in the concerted effort “to examine some of our common spiritual roots and see if we have any theological or moral bridges upon which we both can travel.”  With many inconsistencies surrounding the topic, it is difficult to separate truth from fiction leading to confusing mischaracterizations such that Protestants indict Catholics as idolatrous Pope-worshippers, and Catholics presume Protestants to be no more than antagonistic pagans. Though both sides have misrepresented the other over their dissimilarities, not all of the controversies are misconceptions, there are some “real and fundamental-sounding differences in interpretation and application, where each side thinks itself right.”  It is here, in the gap between these similar, yet estranged faith traditions that G&M stand, and this book is a product of their labors.

ENGLISH: The paper examines Dante’s canzone “Amor che nella mente mi ragiona”: a) within the corpus of Dante’s work; b) in the light of Cino da Pistoia’s canzone written for Dante as consolation for the death of Beatrice; c) in comparison with the poetry and poetics of Guido Cavalcanti; d) in relation to the poetical experience of Guido Guinizelli. Compared to those literary precedents, including ‘Vita nova’, “Amor che nella mente” shows Dante’s definitive separation from the traditional phenomenology of love in favour of a new conception founded on the primacy of the intellect and the will. Therefore: a) the allegorical interpretation of the canzone later provided by Dante in the third book of ‘Convivio’ is not to be considered a strained reading; b) the mention of “Amor che nella mente” at the beginning of ‘Purgatorio’ (II 112-114) has probably an emblematic function, rather than a palinodic one.

ITALIAN: Il contributo analizza la canzone di Dante “Amor che nella mente mi ragiona”: a) all’interno del corpus dell’opera dantesca; b) alla luce della consolatoria di Cino da Pistoia per la morte di Beatrice; c) a confronto con la poesia e la poetica di Guido Cavalcanti; d) in relazione all’esperienza poetica di Guido Guinizelli. Rispetto ai precedenti, inclusa la ‘Vita nova’, in “Amor che nella mente” lo scarto più rilevante è riconoscibile nel definitivo distacco dalla tradizionale fenomenologia amorosa in favore di una nuova concezione dell’amore fondata sul primato dell’intelletto e della volontà. Ne consegue che: a) l’interpretazione allegorica della canzone fornita da Dante nel trattato terzo del ‘Convivio’ non può essere considerata una pesante forzatura del testo originale; b) la citazione di “Amor che nella mente” al principio del ‘Purgatorio’ (II 112-114) è interpretabile in funzione emblematica, più che palinodica.

Cuando el Maestro Mateo se hizo cargo de las obras de la catedral en el último tercio del siglo XII, éste era perfectamente consciente del cúmulo de significaciones que el monumento románico había adquirido desde sus orígenes. Su intervención en el cuerpo occidental del templo, entre 1168 y 1211, buscó  aumentar y amplificar  parte de esos  contenidos y metáforas, sabedor que el templo, tanto por su estética románica como por su escenificación litúrgica,  se había quedado entonces ciertamente obsoleto

This history of indulgences and purgatory has established itself as a standard summary of the history of the theological development in stages leading to the full orbed view of the 15th century and a praxis that led to split the church. The author follows the further history through the centuries through to the major changes made after the Second Vatican Council. Even though the last chapter of the book contains a detailed Protestant and Orthodox criticism of the dogmatic foundations of indulgences, the book is seen as a fair contribution by many reviewers and has earned the approval of Catholic theologians, who regret, that the planed abolition of indulgences by the Second Vatican Council did not take place finally.

Rimatori e poetiche “da l’uno a l’altro stilo” (Purgatorio XXIV), in Cento canti per cento anni (Lectura Dantis Romana), II/2 (Purgatorio, XVIII-XXXIII), Roma, Salerno, 2014, pp. 712-744.

An interpretation of the famous canto, based on contemporary 14th-century commentaries and on an up-to-date review of the textual transmission of crucial passages, including the famous line 57 "il dolce stil novo ch'i' odo", that - in the light of the most reliable MSS. - is likely to read "il dolce stil, il novo chiodo", drawing on Cicero's famous metaphor (the 'nail' being a new love expelling the old one, an image used also in Petrarch).

The purpose of this article is to present the biblical proof that purgatory exists, that is, to show the ways in which the Bible presents the reality that is hidden from the eyes of those who live on earth. The key research assumption here is not rejecting the biblical images with which God spoke the truth in the language of the old generations of Israel, images that may seem unhelpful because they do not fit the contemporary understanding of posthumous reality as something immaterial. In particular, one will perform a detailed exegetical analysis of the verse Job 26:5, which mentions the dwelling of some of the dead in waters and their great suffering there. The Old Testament revelation of the existence of three spiritual states after death will be shown to be confirmed in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, in His Descent into the Abyss, and Resurrection from it. Analogous to the detailed study of Job 26:5, one will undertake in-depth exegetical analysis of the vision of the Last Judgment in Revelation, including a fragment describing the judgment on those dead who have been released from the sea waters not before but now, to be judged by God.

This paper tries to approach one of the exegetically-hardest Cantos of Dante's Commedia through the hermeneutic perspectives already envisaged by Charles Singleton (the importance of the moral exegesis of the Edenic allegory), Peter Dronke (the dialectics between "macro-cosmic" and "micro-cosmic" worlds in the interpretation of the "occulta" hidden in the Edenic cantos of Purgatory), and Gennaro Sasso (the immanence of Dante-as-poet's political autobiography beside Dante-as-character's moral significance), in order to focus on some previously neglected or not in-depth examined passages of the Canto. In this light, the strong tie between Dante and Adam is once again stressed, by retrieving specific inter-textual matches (par. 1); Beatrice's "ammaestramento" to Dante is explained in a moral way with the support of a Tomistic treaty  (parr. 2 and 3); Beatrice's "superciliousness" is particularly connected with the as-far-unexplored sense of the crucial mention of Pyramus and Thisbe's story (par. 4); the "enigma forte" is deciphered on the basis of the very convincing arguments proposed by Filippo Bognini in his papers (par. 5); the sense of the "maggior cura" tormenting and confusing Dante is lightened by referring to Dante's Epistle VII (a text pivotal for the interpretation of the whole Canto) and to the Psalms (par. 6); the names of the Eunoè river and Matelda are eventually "decoded", by resorting to further biblical and patristic sources, and by focusing on the peculiar roles they function as at the moment of their being named in the final reconciliation of the soul (Dante-as-new Adam) with God (par. 7).

The Old Norse sagas that deal with the stories of medieval Norwegian royalty can make a valuable contribution to thanatology, i.e. the study of attitudes towards death, and to the history of medieval thought. The authors of the so-called Synoptic Histories of Norway seem actually to agree about the importance attached to the moment of death in arriving at a final estimate of their characters. They also show that ideas about the final destiny of particular kings in the afterlife could be made political use of after their deaths. The king's death seems to be considered a very delicate moment not only with respect to questions related to the succession and continuity of government. It might also influence the legitimacy of his successors, the dignity of his dynasty, and following events. The synoptic historians were clearly aware of contemporary discussion about the afterlife, and they were involved in the cultural and religious environment of medieval Europe in which the discussion about Purgatory was being developed and changes in burial customs were taking place.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have many similar points in their teaching on the state of the dead. Both churches share faith in the immortality of the soul and the posthumous retribution in the form of the heavenly bliss or the torments of hell. Moreover, both churches recognize the need for prayer for the dead in order to facilitate their afterlife. Nevertheless, Orthodox theologians strongly rejected the Catholic concept of purgatory on the Ferrara-Florence Council (1438-1439). What factors played a decisive role in this doctrinal conflict? The purpose of the study is to consider and critically analyze the historical and theological factors that led to a polemic on the issue of purgatory between Catholic and Orthodox theologians at the Ferrara-Florence Council.

This paper explores  the main functions  of memorials and how they influenced iconographical aspects of late medieval tomb design, specifically English  brasses and incised  slabs. The  secular  aspects  of  medieval  monuments, with their  emphasis  on  status  and  family  pride,  are  frequently  more  striking  than  the sacred  aspects;  often  they  dominate  the  composition  and  in  many  cases  they  have been more extensively studied. As St. Augustine recognised, as well as being a solace to the living, monuments served the purpose of providing assistance to the dead. Indeed many regarded this as their main  purpose. Once a person was dead and in Purgatory, the sentence could be shortened by prayer and intercession. The value of the prayers of the living to the purification of the dead in Purgatory was a central tenet of medieval faith, and it was therefore vital  to a believer that prayers for his or her soul should be said and masses sung. This aim was reflected in many aspects of tomb design, with attention being drawn to the good works of the person commemorated.

The artefacts within our parish churches can add an important dimension to the archaeological study of the buildings themselves. Many categories of fixtures, fittings and ornaments have received detailed attention from art historians
as to their typology and development, but one aspect that has been neglected is the reasons why so many religious artefacts were provided by pious members of church congregations. They sought commemoration not just by erecting tomb monuments but also through many other forms of memoria. This paper, which covers the period c1300–1558, examines the responses of individuals to the doctrine of Purgatory by carrying out good works to improve their chances
of salvation.

Dalla fine dell’Ottocento, le ricerche e gli studi dedicati alla possibile influenza della cultura dell’India su Dante Alighieri e la sua opera, sono state sporadiche e occasionali. Per il passato, fra pochi altri si distinguono i contributi degli indologi Angelo De Gubernatis e di Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy. Mentre molto ci sarebbe ancora fare, per quanto riguarda la ricerca storico artistica, sulle probabili fonti iconografiche centro asiatiche dell'immaginario di Dante, e specialmente di quello infernale, fra tutte le questioni ancora aperte, resta centrale quella della possibile, specifica influenza indiana sulla sua 'invenzione' del Purgatorio come montagna sacra.

This paper introduces the concept of PROXY PAIN™ in order to describe the relationship between purgatory and self-inflicted punishment  in the 13th and 14th centuries. It analyses the dramatic tension between penitential practice and purgatory highlighting the pivotal force of pain in the Life of Christina von Hane. It also studies the self-inflicted maltreatment of sexual organs against the backdrop of theological and mystical ideas.

This paper focuses on the doctrine of differences among the blessed in heaven: all enjoy the beatific vision of God, but "some more perfectly than others, according to the diversity of merits". The development of this idea is analyzed in the Fathers, and then in Aquinas and Palamas, to underline the differences of perspectives in the West and the East. Particular attention is placed on the ecumenical council of Florence, where this definition was discussed and approved, following the explicit request of the Byzantine participants. The purpose is to explain the reasons and the meaning of such a request, for a correct understanding of the conciliar definition.

The television series “Lost” updates a logical characteristic of the primary phase
of the funeral rites of passage, taking as its subject the role of personal responsibility
in the final destination of the deceased. This determination develops in an
imaginary location conceived as the edge between the world of the living and of
the dead, an intermediary zone whose characteristics would be inspired by the
thematic and narrative repertoire of contemporary Neo-gnosticism and Neoorphism,
particularly from the point of view of New Age esoteric syncretism.
This article attempts a deconstruction of the series, identifying some of the
probable sources that feed it, both theoretical and formal.

Na presente tese está proposta a reflexão sobre a crença no Purgatório por meio de suas
práticas, a exemplo do recurso às indulgências e da requisição de missas pelas almas, entre os
católicos da cidade do Rio de Janeiro setecentista. Promovidas pela crença no Purgatório,
essas ações incidem luz sobre as diversas estratégias existentes para a salvação no período
colonial. Para tal objetivo, dois conjuntos documentais foram analisados: os breves
apostólicos e os testamentos. Os breves eram solicitados à Santa Sé para a aquisição de
indulgências mediante a execução de rituais católicos. Nos testamentos setecentistas
analisados, encontram-se variados pedidos de missas fúnebres com vistas à salvação da
própria alma e da de terceiros. Por meio dessa documentação principal e de outras fontes,
buscou-se observar como os católicos obstinados pela salvação pessoal recorreram às
indulgências e às missas fúnebres para abreviar ou extinguir o tempo de purgação, dado o
medo incutido pela Igreja Católica quanto à terribilidade das penas do Purgatório. Nesse
sentido, verificaram-se variadas estratégias tomadas pelos fiéis frente a um post mortem
incerto e atemorizador.