Purgatory, prayers for the deceased and the Jewish tradition

Purgatory is a state of the soul after dying, where the same soul goes through a purification (purging) process because it is not perfectly purified yet, therefore, since nothing impure can enter the kingdom of heaven, it is necessary a process to clean the soul.

The website catholic.com defines purgatory in this way:

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” (CCC 1030). It notes that “this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

This teaching is accepted by some Christians and rejected by others mainly in the Protestant circle. But is this a false teaching? Or can we find it roots in the writings of the first Christians? Or can the Jewish people have some sort of purgatory tradition that can be dated in the time of Jesus or before Christ?

For many years I believed, if we could find a tradition in Judaism about what later will become the teaching of Purgatory in Christianity then this will demonstrate that this was not an invention of the Catholic Church but actually a Jewish tradition that the apostles passed through an oral form, something similar to what we know about St. John the Apostle passing to his disciples in an oral form a tradition to celebrate the Passover on Nissan 14th, which was the reason why is recorded that St. Polycarp went to Rome to visit Pope St. Anicetus to speak about this topic.

The problem was that I had never wanted to research because of fear of losing my faith as protestant, but if you really want to know the truth, it is necessary to do it with an open mind and recognize that whatever comes out from the research and if this is aligned with what the first Christians believed, then, you have to accept the evidence and change your theology like it or not, otherwise you are falling into pride.

Thus, in this work I will write what I found about Purgatory in the History of the Church and Jewish tradition, but to make it short I will go directly to the sources and make brief comments about them.

In the gospel of St. John, we can read that Jesus was at Jerusalem following the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah (Feast of the dedication).

John 10:22–23 (D-R)

22 And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

The establishment of this celebration is not found in the Old Testament, clearly this is part of the Jewish tradition and Jesus is following tradition and at the same time doing his ministry. But you can ask, what does this have to do with Purgatory? Well, this feast is a commemoration of the Jewish revolt from the Seleucid empire, and the story is found in the first and second book of Maccabees and in this event, we will find something interesting and useful for the development of this work.

Wikipedia says the following about this celebration:

Hanukkah[a] (/ˈhænəkə/, /ˈhɑːnəkə/; חֲנֻכָּה‎ Ḥănukkā) is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from November 28 to December 27 in the Gregorian calendar.

In the first book of Maccabees is described the eight days of rededication of the Temple, and in the second book we will find the event that will prove true two traditions that I believe were passed from the Apostles to the first Christians which are the prayers and offerings for the dead and what is called Purgatory.

2 Maccabees 12:32–46 (D-R)

32 And after Pentecost they marched against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea.

33 And he came out with three thousand footmen and four hundred horsemen.

34 And when they had joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews were slain.

As we can read, in this battle some Jews were slain, Judas one of the characters of this historic account will find out why they were slain.

35 But Dositheus, a horseman, one of Bacenor’s band, a valiant man, took hold of Gorgias: and when he would have taken him alive, a certain horseman of the Thracians came upon him, and cut off his shoulder: and so Gorgias escaped to Maresa.

36 But when they that were with Esdrin had fought long, and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to be their helper, and leader of the battle:

37 Then beginning in his own language, and singing hymns with a loud voice, he put Gorgias’s soldiers to flight.

38 So Judas having gathered together his army, came into the city Odollam: and when the seventh day came, they purified themselves according to the custom, and kept the sabbath in the same place.

These are Jews who were observers of the law, Judas and those with him are not pagan Jews.

39 And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.

40 And they found under the coats of the slain, some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.

Here is revealed the reason why those men were slain, they were found with idols giving us the account that those who died were not observers of the law, they became pagans. So, what took my attention is what Judas is going to do from now on.

41 Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.

42 And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.

43 And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.

This confirms the Jewish tradition of praying and giving offerings for the dead, Judas here is sending to Jerusalem twelve thousand drachms of silver for sacrifice exclusively for the sins of the dead, those Jews who died and turned to paganism. Also, it reveals that they were thinking religiously concerning the resurrection of these men that their sin may be forgiven. Let’s continue reading.

44 (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

45 And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

46 It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

The book of Maccabees is explaining the tradition of praying for the dead and giving offerings for their sin already practiced already for those Jews who observed the law and were righteous, the verse forty six says that “It is therefore a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead (in this case Jews who died in a sinful state) that they might be delivered from their sin” and how Judas “sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead” according to the verse forty three. This can be compared to the Christian tradition of praying for the deceased and making offerings for the people who have left this earthly body, for those in the state of purgatory.

Now that we have read and confirm that at least two hundred years before Christ, there was already a Jewish tradition of praying for the dead, giving sacrifices as an offering for their sins thinking in the resurrection, which clearly states that they believed sins can be affected in a positive way when doing that, and how this is connected with the tradition of the purification of souls after we die, I am sure that these traditions were passed by the apostles in an oral form to their disciples and these ones to their own disciples until becoming a normal practice in the Church of the first five hundred years and later.

Some scholars allude that the Purgatory could be found in an implicit way in the New Testament, while others deny this. For example, when Jesus taught about anger in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:25–26 (RSV2CE)

25Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

For some scholars this prison could be an allusion to the purgatory state. There is also another verse that some scholars claim is talking about purgatory in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 3:15 (RSV2CE)

15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Let’s remember that Jesus himself said that when he comes again, he will pay everyone according to the works they did in the flesh. In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul is saying that “if any man’s work” or deed is “burned up”, he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved, which is the belief about those in purgatory state, they will be saved at the end... So, Paul continues saying “he himself will be saved, but only as through fire”, the word fire is describing the purifying process that the soul of the person suffers in purgatory state before entering to heaven.

In his second letter to St. Timothy, St. Paul prays for mercy for St. Onesiphorus (the same thing we saw in the book of Maccabees), giving an example not only of prayer for the dead but also that there would be no reason to ask for mercy if only heaven and hell existed or if salvation were earned only by believing, that is, as if we were not going to be judged on Judgment Day.

2 Timothy 1:18 (RSV2CE)

18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

The book of Hebrews also alludes to the event in 2 Maccabees and a clear interpretation can be done that is referring to what we know with the name of Purgatory.

Hebrews 11:35 (LEB)

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. But others were tortured, not accepting release, in order that they might gain a better resurrection.

But let’s pretend that we don’t know about the possible interpretation of those verses, is there someone in the first five hundred years of the Church who wrote about purgatory?

Saint Agustine of Hippo (A.D. 354 – 430) and Saint Gregory according to Haydock on Matthew 12:32:

Matthew 12:32 (D-R)

32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the world to come.

St. Augustine (The City of God. l. xxi. c. 13)

But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of those who suffer temporary punishments after death, all are not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow that judgment; for to some, as we have already said, what is not remitted in this world is remitted in the next, that is, they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the world to come.

St. Augustine, De Civ. I. Xxi. C. 13 - https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120121.htm

St. Gregory the Great (Dialogues. Iv, c. 39)

for when St. Paul saith, that Christ is the foundation: and by addeth: And if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: the work of every one, of what kind it is, the fire shall try. If any man's work abide which he built thereupon, he shall receive reward; if any mans work burn, he shall suffer detriment, but himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.67 For although these words may be understood of the fire of tribulation, which men suffer in this world: yet if any will interpret them of the fire of Purgatory, which |234 shall be in the next life: then must he carefully consider, that the Apostle said not that he may be saved by fire, that buildeth upon this foundation iron, brass, or lead, that is, the greater sort of sins, and therefore more hard, and consequently not remissible in that place: but wood, hay, stubble, that is, little and very light sins, which the fire doth easily consume. Yet we have here further to consider, that none can be there purged, no, not for the least sins that be, unless in his lifetime he deserved by virtuous works to find such favour in that place.

Dial. iv, c. 39 - https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_04_dialogues_book4.htm#C39

Haydock Commentary

S. Augustine (De Civ. I. Xxi. c. 13) and S. Gregory (Dial. iv, c. 39.) gather, that some sins may be remitted in the world to come; and consequently that there is a purgatory, or a middle place. Ch.—S. Aug. says these words would not be true, if some sins were not forgiven in the world to come; and S. Gregory says, we are to believe from these words in the existence of the fire of purgatory, to expiate our smaller offences, before the day of judgment. S. Isidore and Ven. Bede say the same. S. Bernard, speaking of heretics, says, they do not believe in purgatory: let them then inquire of our Saviour, what he meant by these words.—It is well known that Ven. Bede, on his death-bed, bestowed several small tokens to the monks who were present, that they might remember to pray for his soul in the holy sacrifice of the mass. A.

George Leo Haydock, Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary (New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1859), Mt 12:32.

As we can read in the previous commentary, St. Augustine and St. Gregory confirm that the words of Christ Jesus and St. Paul could also allude to a purgatory state of the soul in a way that closely relates to what was already believed by the Jewish communities of the Second Temple, of course, they don’t use the word purgatory, but the concept is the same.

But you can tell me, this is too late in the history of the Church, is there more evidence of this belief before the four hundreds?

Tertullian (A.D. 155 – 220)

“After a few days, whilst we were all praying, on a sudden, in the middle of our prayer, there came to me a word, and I named Dinocrates; and I was amazed that that name had never come into my mind until then, and I was grieved as I remembered his misfortune. And I felt myself immediately to be worthy, and to be called on to ask on his behalf. And for him I began earnestly to make supplication, and to cry with groaning to the Lord. Without delay, on that very night, this was shown to me in a vision.4 I saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid colour, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. - Tertullian, “Ad Martyres,” in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. S. Thelwall, vol. 3, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 701.

Then, again, should you be disposed to apply the term “adversary” to the devil, you are advised by the (Lord’s) injunction, while you are in the way with him,” to make even with him such a compact as may be deemed compatible with the requirements of your true faith. Now the compact you have made respecting him is to renounce him, and his pomp, and his angels. Such is your agreement in this matter. Now the friendly understanding you will have to carry out must arise from your observance of the compact: you must never think of getting back any of the things which you have abjured, and have restored to him, lest he should summon you as a fraudulent man, and a transgressor of your agreement, before God the Judge (for in this light do we read of him, in another passage, as “the accuser of the brethren,” or saints, where reference is made to the actual practice of legal prosecution); and lest this Judge deliver you over to the angel who is to execute the sentence, and he commit you to the prison of hell, out of which there will be no dismissal until the smallest even of your delinquencies be paid off in the period before the resurrection. - Tertullian, “A Treatise on the Soul,” in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Peter Holmes, vol. 3, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 216.

Although other Church Fathers did not write about this topic, their silence about it makes us understand that they were not believing differently from their brothers.

Why Tertullian is referring to hell as the place where Christian people can pay off their sins before the resurrection?

The Jewish tradition defines that the place of the dead had different levels, the site myjewishlearning.com says the following:

While this vision of Sheol is rather bleak (setting precedents for later Jewish and Christian ideas of an underground hell) there is generally no concept of judgment or reward and punishment attached to it. In fact, the more pessimistic books of the Bible, such as Ecclesiastes and Job, insist that all of the dead go down to Sheol, whether good or evil, rich or poor, slave or free man (Job 3:11-19).

Only truly righteous souls ascend directly to the Garden of Eden, say the sages. The average person descends to a place of punishment and/or purification, generally referred to as Gehinnom.

The site chabado.org says the following about Gehinom:

Indeed, the Ramban, in his commentary on the Book of Iyov (Job),3 states that even if a person were to suffer, G‑d forbid, like Job for a period of 70 years, this would be insignificant compared to even a brief period of suffering that the soul feels in Gehinnom.

Gehinnom refers to the spiritual realm in which the soul undergoes a period of cleansing and correction after it leaves our material world. In some texts, this process of cleansing and correction is referred to as punishment. The term is somewhat misleading, for the intent is not, Heaven forbid, to punish; we are speaking about a process of refinement and correction. But it is a painful process, far greater than any pain of which we can conceive.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/88582/jewish/Chapter-4-Expanding-Our-HorizonsExpanding-Our-Horizons.htm

The Jewish virtual library gives the following definition of Gehinom:

GEHINNOM (Heb. גֵּי בֶן־הִנֹּם, גֵּי בְנֵי הִנֹּם, גֵּיא בֶן־הִנֹּם, גֵּיא הִנֹּם; Gr. Γέεννα; "Valley of Ben-Hinnom, Valley of [the Son (s) of] Hinnom," Gehenna), a valley south of Jerusalem on one of the borders between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, between the Valley of Rephaim and En-Rogel (Josh. 15:8; 18:16). It is identified with Wadi er-Rababi.

During the time of the Monarchy, Gehinnom, at a place called Topheth, was the site of a cult which involved the burning of children (II Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31; 32:35 et al.; see *Moloch). Jeremiah repeatedly condemned this cult and predicted that on its account Topheth and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom would be called the Valley of the "Slaughter" (Jer. 19:5–6).

In Judaism the name Gehinnom is generally used as an appellation of the place of torment reserved for the wicked after death. The New Testament used the Greek form Gehenna in the same sense.

We have read, that there is a place for the righteous, there is a place in Gehinom for those who are not wicked but need purification, and there is a place in Gehinom where the wicked after death will be tormented. It seems this is the base for the Christian development of heaven, hell for the wicked and purgatory.

Let’s continue with the prayers for the dead:

Does Archaeology support the claim that the Prayers for the dead which is attached to the belief of a purgatory state was a belief in during the first two centuries A.D.?

St. Abercius of Hieropolis (died ca. 167 A.D.)

Probably the bishop of Hieropolis successor of St. Papias. He lived and died at the time of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The name Abercius may be identified with Avircius Marcellus mentioned by St. Eusebius as the author of a work against Montanism.

There is archaeological evidence of the inscription of St. Abercius, a greek epitaph (short text honouring a deceased person) that says the following:

The citizen of a chosen city, this [monument] I made [while] living, that there I might have in time a resting-place of my body, [I] being by name Abercius, the disciple of a holy shepherd who feeds flocks of sheep [both] on mountains and on plains, who has great eyes that see everywhere. For this [shepherd] taught me [that the] book [of life] is worthy of belief. And to Rome he sent me to contemplate majesty, and to see a queen golden-robed and golden-sandalled; there also I saw a people bearing a shining mark. And I saw the land of Syria and all [its] cities; Nisibis [I saw] when I passed over Euphrates. But everywhere I had brethren. I had Paul ... Faith everywhere led me forward, and everywhere provided as my food a fish of exceeding great size, and perfect, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain and this it [faith] ever gives to its friends to eat, it having wine of great virtue, and giving it mingled with bread. These things I, Abercius, having been a witness [of them] told to be written here. Verily I was passing through my seventy-second year. He that discerneth these things, every fellow-believer [namely], let him pray for Abercius. And no one shall put another grave over my grave; but if he do, then shall he pay to the treasury of [the] Romans two thousand pieces of gold and to my good native city of Hieropolis one thousand pieces of gold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inscription_of_Abercius

Conclusion

This evidence tells us that the practice of praying for the deceased which like I said before, it is attached to the belief of purgatory and also to the prayers to the saints, so, it is evident to me that these beliefs were passed from Jewish tradition from the Apostles to the Christians in the first centuries, and through this work I believe there is enough evidence which also states that was already known and practiced by Christians in the beginning of the second century A.D. We have written evidence from Church Fathers and archaeological evidence confirming that the teaching of the Catholic Church about praying for the dead and purgatory are based not only in Biblical text but also supported by external sources.

Leo Ramirez - BTh.