24) On Purgatory

Purgatory is a rather (in my opinion) convenient concept, accepted by the Catholic church as a crucible of sorts before heaven is entered. The idea is that because nothing impure can enter heaven (Rev. 21:27) man must be first cleansed of his sinful nature. Purgatory is not recognized as an actual place, but rather a spiritual cleansing. The convenience of this notion is that it allows for an impure life followed by a cleansing outside of this life. Now, I am not saying that it is an absolutely terrible notion, and I hope that no one's faith would fundamentally change based on the existence of Purgatory. However, I am saying that it is a purely human notion and is not divinely revealed through the Bible. This leads to a further question of whether it should or should not be considered. If not accepted as absolute fact, I believe that it is an interesting enough notion to merit study. However, let us not allow the idea to overshadow other Christian ideas. The question of purgatory is open, but should not be overanalyzed.