Augustine, bishop of Hippo, is said to be the first who suggested the doctrine of a middle state, but his opinions are vague and uncertain. It was not formally received as a dogma of the church of Rome until the time of Gregory the Great, A.D. 600. He has the reputation of being the discoverer of the fires of purgatory. In discussing the question of the state of the soul after death, he distinctly says, "We must believe that for some slight transgressions there is a purgatorial fire before the day of judgment." But as the growth of this doctrine for hundreds of years is extremely difficult to trace, we will refer at once to the decrees of the Council of Trent, the great and undisputed authority on the subject.
"There is a purgatory," says the Council, "and the souls detained there are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, but especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the Mass. This holy council commands all bishops diligently to endeavor that the wholesome doctrine concerning purgatory, delivered unto us by venerable fathers and sacred councils, be believed, held, taught, and everywhere preached by Christ's faithful In the fire of purgatory the souls of just men are cleansed by a temporary punishment, in order to be admitted into their eternal country, into which nothing that defileth entereth The sacrifice of the Mass is offered for those that are deceased in Christ, not entirely purged."
Roman Catholic writers attempt to support this dreadful dogma from various passages of scripture, but chiefly from the Apocrypha and tradition. With the two latter we have nothing to do. Anything men please may be proved from such uncertain sources; but nothing can be more daring, and at the same time more futile, than their misapplication of scripture on this subject. Take two texts as an example: 1. "Thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." (Matt. 5:2626Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. (Matthew 5:26).) Here the Catholics are inconsistent with themselves; for if venal sins are forgiven in purgatory, the passage speaks of the uttermost farthing being paid. Surely we cannot speak of a debt being forgiven, and at the same time paid to the last farthing. 2. "Quickened by the Spirit, by which [clearly, 'by which Spirit'] also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." (1 Peter 3:18, 1918For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; (1 Peter 3:18‑19).) This passage can have no reference to the supposed prison of purgatory, for those who are guilty of mortal sin do not go there. And, strangely inconsistent, according to the Douay version of the passage, the antediluvians were "incredulous," unbelievers, guilty of mortal sin. And, as we have seen in our extracts, purgatory is only for "those that are deceased in Christ, not entirely purged." The passage also teaches that Christ did not preach in person. He preached by the Spirit in Noah to the antediluvians who are now in prison. So little to the point are the texts alleged in favor of purgatory, that thoughtful Roman Catholics endeavor to support the dogma by the authority of the church alone.
There is much vagueness with Romish writers, and even with the Council of Trent, as to where purgatory is, and what it actually is. The general opinion seems to be, that it is under the earth, and adjoining to hell—that it is a middle place between heaven and hell, in which the soul passes through the fire of purification before it enters heaven.
But how material fire can purify a spirit, Catholic writers have been careful enough not to define. Those in the middle state, says the Council of Florence, A.D. 1439, are in a place of torment, "but whether it be fire, or storm, or anything else, we do not dispute." Still the general voice seems to be that it is a prison, in which the soul is detained, and tortured as well as cleansed; and that, not by mental anguish or remorse, but by a real fire, or what fire produces. And yet so varied are the opinions of their best theologians, that some have represented the torments as a sudden transition from extreme heat to extreme cold. But the vague speculations of Augustine, and the adventurous dogmas of Gregory, were soon authenticated by dreams and visions. In the dark ages there were many travelers to those subterranean regions, who inspected and reported the secrets of purgatory. Take one report as an example, and that the mildest and the least offensive we can choose.