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1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="vii.ii" class="div2">
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2 <a href="summa.AP1_Q2_A6.html"></a>
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3 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1.html"></a>
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4 <h2 id="vii.ii-p0.1">Appendix 2</h2>
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5 <div id="AP2_Q1" class="div3">
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6 <a href="summa.vii.ii.html"></a>
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7 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A1.html"></a>
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8 <h3 id="AP2_Q1-p0.1">TWO ARTICLES ON PURGATORY</h3>
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9 <div id="AP2_Q1_A1" class="div4">
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10 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1.html"></a>
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11 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A2.html"></a>
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12 <h4 id="AP2_Q1_A1-p0.1">Whether there is a Purgatory after this life?</h4>
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13 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p1"></p>
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14 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p2">
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15 <b>Objection 1:</b> It would seem that there is not a Purgatory after this life. For it is said (
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16 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A1-p2.1" href="./asv.html#Rev.14.13" target="asv">Apoc. 14:13</a>): "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors."
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17 Therefore after this life no cleansing labor awaits those who die in the Lord, nor those who do not die in the Lord, since
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18 they cannot be cleansed. Therefore there is no Purgatory after this life.
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19 </p>
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20 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p3">
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21 <b>Objection 2:</b> Further, as charity is to an eternal reward, so is mortal sin to eternal punishment. Now those who die in mortal sin are
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22 forthwith consigned to eternal punishment. Therefore those who die in charity go at once to their reward; and consequently
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23 no Purgatory awaits them after this life.
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24 </p>
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25 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p4">
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26 <b>Objection 3:</b> Further, God Who is supremely merciful is more inclined to reward good than to punish evil. Now just as those who are in
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27 the state of charity, do certain evil things which are not deserving of eternal punishment, so those who are in mortal sin,
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28 at times perform actions, generically good, which are not deserving of an eternal reward. Therefore since these good actions
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29 are not rewarded after this life in those who will be damned, neither should those evil
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30 actions be punished after this life. Hence the same conclusion follows.
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31 </p>
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32 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p5">
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33 <b>On the contrary,</b> It is said (
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34 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A1-p5.1" href="./asv.html#iiMacc.12.46" target="asv">2 Macc. 12:46</a>): "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." Now there is no need to pray
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35 for the dead who are in heaven, for they are in no need; nor again for those who are in hell, because they cannot be loosed
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36 from sins. Therefore after this life, there are some not yet loosed from sins, who can be loosed therefrom; and the like have
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37 charity, without which sins cannot be
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38 loosed, for "charity covereth all sins" [*
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39 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A1-p5.2" href="./asv.html#Prov.10.12" target="asv">Prov. 10:12</a>]. Hence they will not be consigned to everlasting death, since "he that liveth and believeth in Me, shall not die for ever"
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40 [*
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41 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A1-p5.3" href="./asv.html#John.11.26" target="asv">Jn. 11:26</a>]: nor will they obtain glory without being cleansed, because nothing unclean shall obtain it, as stated in the last chapter
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42 of the Apocalypse (verse 14). Therefore some kind of cleansing remains after this life.
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43 </p>
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44 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p6"> Further, Gregory of Nyssa [*De iis qui in fide dormiunt] says: "If one who loves and believes in Christ," has failed to wash
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45 away his sins in this life, "he is set free after death by the fire of Purgatory." Therefore there remains some kind of cleansing
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46 after this life.
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47 </p>
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48 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p7">
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49 <b>I answer that,</b> From the conclusions we have drawn above (
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50 <a id="AP2_Q1_A1-p7.1" shape="rect" href="summa.TP_Q86_A4.html">TP, Q[86], AA[4]</a>,5;
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51 <a id="AP2_Q1_A1-p7.2" shape="rect" href="summa.XP_Q12_A1.html">XP, Q[12], A[1]</a>) it is sufficiently clear that there is a Purgatory after this life. For if the debt of punishment is not paid in full after
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52 the stain of sin has been washed away by contrition, nor again are venial sins always removed when mortal sins are remitted,
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53 and if justice demands that sin be set in order by due punishment, it follows that
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54 one who after contrition for his fault and after being absolved, dies before making due satisfaction, is punished after this
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55 life. Wherefore those who deny Purgatory speak against the justice of God: for which reason such a statement is erroneous
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56 and contrary to faith. Hence Gregory of Nyssa, after the words quoted above, adds: "This we preach, holding to the teaching
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57 of truth, and this is our belief; this the universal Church holds, by praying for the dead that they may be loosed from sins."
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58 This cannot be understood except as referring to Purgatory: and whosoever resists the authority of the Church, incurs the
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59 note of heresy.
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60 </p>
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61 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p8">
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62 <b>Reply to Objection 1:</b> The authority quoted is speaking of the labor of working for merit, and not of the labor of suffering to be cleansed.
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63 </p>
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64 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p9">
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65 <b>Reply to Objection 2:</b> Evil has not a perfect cause, but results from each single defect: whereas good arises from one perfect cause, as Dionysius
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66 asserts [*Div. Nom. iv, 4]. Hence each defect is an obstacle to the perfection of good; while not every good hinders some
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67 consummation of evil, since there is never evil without some good. Consequently venial sin prevents one who has charity from
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68 obtaining the perfect good, namely eternal life, until he be cleansed; whereas
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69 mortal sin cannot be hindered by some conjoined good from bringing a man forthwith to the extreme of evils.
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70 </p>
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71 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p10">
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72 <b>Reply to Objection 3:</b> He that falls into mortal sin, deadens all the good he has done before, and what he does, while in mortal sin, is dead: since
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73 by offending God he deserves to lose all the good he has from God. Wherefore no reward after this life awaits him who dies
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74 in mortal sin, whereas sometimes punishment awaits him who dies in charity, which does not always wash away the sin which
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75 it finds, but only that which is contrary to it.
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76 </p>
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77 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p11"></p>
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78 <p id="AP2_Q1_A1-p12"></p>
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79 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1.html"></a>
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80 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A2.html"></a>
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81 </div>
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82 <div id="AP2_Q1_A2" class="div4">
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83 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A1.html"></a>
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84 <a href="summa.viii.html"></a>
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85 <h4 id="AP2_Q1_A2-p0.1">Whether it is the same place where souls are cleansed, and the damned punished?</h4>
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86 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p1"></p>
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87 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p2">
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88 <b>Objection 1:</b> It would seem that it is not the same place where souls are cleansed and the damned punished. For the punishment of the damned
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89 is eternal, according to
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90 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A2-p2.1" href="./asv.html#Matt.25.46" target="asv"> Mat. 25:46, </a> "These shall go into everlasting punishment [Vulg.: 'fire']." But the fire of Purgatory is temporary, as the Master says
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91 (Sent. iv, D, 21). Therefore the former and the latter are not punished together in the same place: and consequently these
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92 places must needs be distinct.
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93 </p>
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94 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p3">
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95 <b>Objection 2:</b> The punishment of hell is called by various names, as in
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96 <a class="scripRef" id="AP2_Q1_A2-p3.1" href="./asv.html#Ps.10.7" target="asv">Ps. 10:7</a>, "Fire and brimstone, and storms of winds," etc., whereas the punishment of Purgatory is called by one name only, namely
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97 fire. Therefore they are not punished with the same fire and in the same place.
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98 </p>
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99 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p4">
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100 <b>Objection 3:</b> Further, Hugh of St. Victor says (De Sacram. ii, 16): "It is probable that they are punished in the very places where they
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101 sinned." And Gregory relates (Dial. iv, 40) that Germanus, Bishop of Capua, found Paschasius being cleansed in the baths.
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102 Therefore they are not cleansed in the same place as hell, but in this world.
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103 </p>
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104 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p5">
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105 <b>On the contrary,</b> Gregory says [*The quotation is from St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei i, 8)]: "Even as in the same fire gold glistens and straw
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106 smokes, so in the same fire the sinner burns and the elect is cleansed." Therefore the fire of Purgatory is the same as the
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107 fire of hell: and hence they are in the same place.
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108 </p>
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109 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p6"> Further, the holy fathers; before the coming of Christ, were in a more worthy place than that wherein souls are now cleansed
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110 after death, since there was no pain of sense there. Yet that place was joined to hell, or the same as hell: otherwise Christ
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111 when descending into Limbo would not be said to have descended into hell. Therefore Purgatory is either close to, or the same
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112 place as, hell.
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113 </p>
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114 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p7">
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115 <b>I answer that,</b> Nothing is clearly stated in Scripture about the situation of Purgatory, nor is it possible to offer convincing arguments
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116 on this question. It is probable, however, and more in keeping with the statements of holy men and the revelations made to
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117 many, that there is a twofold place of Purgatory. one, according to the common law; and thus the place of Purgatory is situated
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118 below and in proximity to hell, so that it is the same fire which torments the damned in
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119 hell and cleanses the just in Purgatory; although the damned being lower in merit, are to be consigned to a lower place. Another
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120 place of Purgatory is according to dispensation: and thus sometimes, as we read, some are punished in various places, either
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121 that the living may learn, or that the dead may be succored, seeing that their punishment being made known to the living may
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122 be mitigated through the prayers of the Church.
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123 </p>
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124 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p8"> Some say, however, that according to the common law the place of Purgatory is where man sins. This does not seem probable,
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125 since a man may be punished at the same time for sins committed in various places. And others say that according to the common
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126 law they are punished above us, because they are between us and God, as regards their state. But this is of no account, for
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127 they are not punished for being above us, but for that which is lowest in them, namely sin.
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128 </p>
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129 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p9">
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130 <b>Reply to Objection 1:</b> The fire of Purgatory is eternal in its substance, but temporary in its cleansing effect.
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131 </p>
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132 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p10">
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133 <b>Reply to Objection 2:</b> The punishment of hell is for the purpose of affliction, wherefore it is called by the names of things that are wont to afflict
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134 us here. But the chief purpose of the punishment of Purgatory is to cleanse us from the remains of sin; and consequently the
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135 pain of fire only is ascribed to Purgatory, because fire cleanses and consumes.
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136 </p>
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137 <p id="AP2_Q1_A2-p11">
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138 <b>Reply to Objection 3:</b> This argument considers the point of special dispensation and not that of the common law.
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139 </p>
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140 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A1.html"></a>
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141 <a href="summa.viii.html"></a>
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142 </div>
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143 <a href="summa.vii.ii.html"></a>
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144 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1_A1.html"></a>
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145 </div>
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146 <a href="summa.AP1_Q2_A6.html"></a>
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147 <a href="summa.AP2_Q1.html"></a>
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148 `
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149 </div> |
