These arguments are going nowhere so I'm going to summarise my points and then leave it.
1. I showed what the Catholic Church actually teaches about Purgatory rather than the fanciful ideas some people have - see posts #34 & #86
2. I showed these ideas are also present in Judaism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism - see post #34 & #75
3. I showed that the early Church also believed in Purgatory and praying for the dead - see post #56 & #57
4. I showed that there is much scriptural evidence for Purgatory - see posts #40, #47, #58, #59.
God bless
Stephen
I will also summarize:
1. The quote is a fair summary of what the RCC has historicaly taught about Purgatory but no longer does.
2.These "ideas" are NOT also present in Judaism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, although if you create a statement as broad as that one, there probably is going to be some degree of similarity in some respects, not that this means Purgatory is believed by any of those other faiths.
3. The Early church did NOT believe in Purgatory but it has believed in praying for the dead. You've combined the two issues inaccurately.
4. There is virtually NO Scriptural evidence for Purgatory. In the Apocrypha, some Jews were seen to be praying for the dead in the belief that this might loose them from their sins, but this is not even to scratch the surface of what "Purgatory" means...and in addition, the passage gives no hint that such a practice was approved of or is correct, but just that those people were observed doing this. As for other verses, "penny be paid' and "fire" appear here or there, but those references do not go anywhere near to proving a concept like Purgatory.
