Purgatory: The Topic That Non-Catholics Love to Hate!
A personal narrative
Join me back in 1984 when I was a junior in high school …
Purgatory is one of those topics that stirs up all kinds of reactions—some people get angry, others are just plain confused, and most (even Catholics!) don’t give it much thought at all. Saints have written about it, many Protestants deny it, and yet… if you take a fresh look, you might find it’s not as far-fetched as it seems. In fact, even Protestants might be able to embrace the concept without worrying about being shipped off there for thinking about it. For me, the topic takes me back to my time at Bedstone College, a small boarding school tucked into the hills of Shropshire County, right near the border of Wales.
When I arrived at Bedstone, it felt like stepping into a postcard—all hills and sheep, everywhere you looked. But let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly a warm welcome. I didn’t feel at home, the headmaster seemed to dislike me, and a bout of dehydration led to me fainting in front of the entire school. Nobody rushed to help. It was humiliating. All I wanted was to go home, but instead, I had to stick it out. Looking back, those few months felt a lot like what purgatory is said to be—a painful period of refinement before something better.
Why the Drama Over Purgatory?
If you’ve ever read what some saints have to say about purgatory, it can be pretty unsettling. They paint vivid pictures of fire, suffering, and agony—almost like hell, but with an exit plan. It’s enough to make anyone sweat a little. The idea of getting through all that just to enter heaven feels overwhelming. And for many of us, just dealing with our favorite sports team’s playoff losses year after year is suffering enough!
So why, after a peaceful death, should there be more suffering? More hoops to jump through? Isn’t the whole point of being a good Christian that you get to skip straight to the “good part”? And what about those indulgences? Do they actually shave off time from purgatory? These are the kinds of questions that usually come up when people discuss purgatory, if they even bother to discuss it at all. For most, it’s a hazy, confusing concept that seems easier to avoid.
The Fall That Got Me Thinking
Let’s go back to Bedstone for a minute. Every morning, the entire school gathered in the assembly hall. We sang “Hail to the Queen,” prayed, and listened to announcements. It was all very proper and formal—until the day I made it memorable for all the wrong reasons.
One morning, when the headmaster, Mr. Wilson, was making his grand entrance, I stood up with the rest of the students… and then everything went sideways. I blacked out, toppled over, and took a few chairs with me. The whole hall went silent as I hit the floor.
I felt completely helpless. It happened in an instant, but in my mind, time slowed to a crawl. Decades later, I realized that moment held a lesson about purgatory. At the time, though, I couldn’t have explained purgatory to save my life. It wasn’t something we talked about at the dinner table, and I certainly wasn’t pondering it as I lay sprawled out on that shiny tile floor.
So, What’s the Big Deal About Purgatory?
A lot of non-Catholic Christians insist purgatory doesn’t exist. They believe that when someone dies, they’re immediately in God’s presence—forgiven, transformed, and happy. And honestly? That’s not a bad thing to believe. Even the Catholic Church says not everyone has to go to purgatory. But for those of us who do, well, that’s where the debate kicks in.
Catholics and Protestants actually agree on a lot when it comes to salvation. We both believe that Christ’s sacrifice was enough to open the gates of heaven. Where things get muddled is in how we define purgatory. Many Protestants see it as a second chance or some kind of punishment for sins, which isn’t accurate. The Church teaches it’s more like a purification process—a final “getting ready” before stepping into God’s presence.
The Time Thing… or Lack Thereof
Here’s where it gets tricky: purgatory isn’t a physical place. Better understood, it’s a “state of being,” something outside of time and space. Our earthly brains have a hard time wrapping around that. When we talk about time, it’s always in terms of minutes, hours, or days. But outside of this life, time doesn’t work the same way. That’s why so many descriptions of purgatory use metaphors like “fire” or “waiting.” It’s not a literal fire or a ticking clock the way we know those things here—but it’s a way to describe a process we can’t fully understand with earthly language.
That’s why I keep going back to my fainting incident. To everyone else, it happened in a flash. But for me, it felt like slow motion—frame by frame, second by second. Maybe purgatory is like that. Maybe it happens “instantly” in earthly time, but to those experiencing it, the process feels more like a frame-by-frame experience, slowed down long enough for us to be healed and perfected through the “fires” of purification. Is there physical fire? God’s revelation does not insist one way or the other. Afterall, it’s not a physical place in the same way that earth is a physical place inside time and space. Nor is purgatory a place for torment or punishment; instead, it’s about transformation—letting go of the imperfections and baggage we carried through life.
Bridging the Gap
If we stop trying to explain purgatory with rigid definitions and start looking at it as part of our journey to God, the divide between Catholics and Protestants doesn’t seem so big. We all agree on the basics: we need to be ready to meet God, and Christ’s sacrifice is what makes that possible. Whether that final preparation happens in an “instant” or in what feels like slow motion, the important thing is that it’s God’s love that makes us whole.
Catholics also believe that our prayers on earth can help those in purgatory. It’s a mystery how this works, but we trust that our prayers are never wasted. They’re acts of love that God uses to draw souls closer to Him, and they remind us of the communion we share with all believers, both living and departed.
So maybe the next time purgatory comes up in conversation (if it ever does), we can focus less on the fire and fear and more on the hope. Because in the end, purgatory isn’t about punishment—it’s about love and the final steps toward being with God forever. And if that means a little bit of refinement along the way? Well, it’s worth it.
A Bible Study on Purgatory
The Catholic Church points to several passages in Scripture that support the idea of purgatory as a process of purification. One of the clearest references is found in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, which says:
"Each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (RSVCE)
This passage describes a process where a person is saved but goes through a refining fire—language that aligns with the Church’s teaching on purgatory as a purification of imperfections before entering heaven.
Another important text is 2 Maccabees 12:45-46:
"Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."
While this book isn’t included in the Protestant Bible, it has been part of the Catholic canon for centuries and explicitly mentions prayers for the dead—a practice that presumes some intermediate state where those prayers can be effective.
Matthew 5:25-26 also hints at a temporary state of judgment:
"Make 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; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) further elaborates on purgatory in paragraphs 1030-1032:
"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."
The CCC also encourages prayers for the dead, citing the Church’s long-standing tradition of intercession for souls undergoing this final purification.
Purgatory may be a mystery, but it’s one rooted in hope and God’s love. By reflecting on Scripture and Church teaching, we’re reminded that it’s not something to fear but to trust as part of God’s plan to bring us closer to Him.
Purgatory is a belief by Catholics, not to be feared, but embraced! One good reason to believe in Purgatory is the concept of God’s justice and mercy working together. Purgatory provides a way for souls who have died in God's grace but are not yet fully purified to undergo a process of sanctification before entering Heaven. This belief aligns with the biblical notion that "nothing unclean will enter [Heaven]" (Revelation 21:27) and reflects God’s mercy in offering a final opportunity for purification rather than eternal separation. No one on the face of this earth is free from sinning, making mistakes, or bad decisions. Purgatory, then, is something we all need. Christ Himself said: "Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone at her." (John 8:7) How could we, who most probably have cast many stones, expect to enter Heaven? Simple answer - Purgatory!