Why should there be an urge to cause people to pay for masses to be said for their dead relatives? The answer lies in the Romish invention of purgatory.
And on what Scriptures does Rome found this claim? Here is one: " Whoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come " (Matt. 12:3232And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:32)).
They argue that if sins cannot be forgiven in Hell -and there are no sins to be forgiven in Heaven-there must be a third place where people can be purified from their sins, and that must be purgatory. But suppose an American subject were tried for some serious offense in Britain, and the judge addressed him, saying that the crime was so serious that it could not be forgiven in Britain, nor yet in America. It would be nonsensical to argue from the judge's remarks that there must be a third place where it might be forgiven. But not more nonsensical than this argument about purgatory.
Another passage the Romanists use for this purpose: "For other foundations can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: for he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire " (1 Cor. 3:11-1511For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11‑15)). How can this Scripture teach the meaning of a third place in addition to Heaven and Hell? Purgatory, according to Romanists, is a place of literal fire, of exquisite tortures, where screams and shrieks fill the air, fit to rend the hearts of living relatives, inducing them to find money to help a greedy priesthood to procure imaginary relief from an imaginary purgatory.
It is plain that one Scripture cannot contradict another, and here we have a Scripture in the Savior's own words, prefaced by His strong asseveration of a double " Verily," that believers will never come into judgment. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall NOT come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life " (John s: 24). And yet the Romanists have the audacity to affirm that saints will come into judgment, and with these saints they include the very popes of Rome. Whose word shall stand, the Romanists' or the Lord's " Verily, verily "?
Again we read: "By the which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL " (Heb. 10:1010By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)). Does this look like purgatory? Does this not mean what it says, that believers are sanctified once and for all and forever through the atoning sacrifice of Christ?
If subject to Scripture, how can we believe that any one, whose sins have been cleansed away by the precious blood of Christ, will need to be purified from them by the flames of purgatory?
The idea of purgatory, penance, prayers for the dead date no earlier than the 7th century, and were not positively affirmed till 1140.
And yet a Roman Catholic writer says: " Origen in the 3rd century, St. Ambrose and St. Jerome in the 4th, and St. Augustine in the 5th, have interpreted this text of St. Paul as relating to venial sins committed by Christians, which St. Paul compares to wood, hay, stubble,' and thus with this text they confirm the Catholic belief in Purgatory, well known and believed in their time, as it is by Catholics in the present time " (Catholic Belief, pp. 186, 187).
Is it honest to say these Fathers well knew the dogma of purgatory centuries before it was first promulgated? However, we thank these fathers for saying that "wood, hay, stubble," do not stand for actual wood, hay, stubble, but are to be understood symbolically. Why are they not consistent in affirming that the "fire" is likewise symbolic, setting forth God's discriminating judgment in condemning all that is not of His Holy Spirit in the lives of believers? We have seen crude and repulsive pictures, depicting souls in the flames of purgatory in Romish churches.
Note in the text, it is every man's work shall be made manifest, his work tried, but there is no hint that his person comes into judgment, for that would contradict John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24) and Hebrews o: to. Our Lord said emphatically that the believer will never come into judgment. And he never will, of that there is no shadow of doubt.
But all the works of believers will be assessed as good or bad. If good, the product of the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, they will meet with a reward. If bad, the product of the working of the flesh, they will meet with loss. The believer will be saved, yet so as by fire, the "fire," symbolic language, meaning that just as literal fire burns literal wood, hay, stubble, so the judgment seat of Christ will set aside once and forever everything that is reprehensible in the life of the believer. But this passage gives no hint of a third place in addition to Heaven and Hell.
The writer remembers an aged German putting into his hand a box of bank notes. If they could have been negotiated at their face value he would have been a multimillionaire over and over again, and his wealth would have reached astronomical figures, but they were perfectly worthless. The inflation after the great war—1914-1918—had completely destroyed their value. He suffered loss. So shall believers suffer loss if they give license to the flesh in any shape or form.
Perhaps the most shameful record of the moneymaking traffic in indulgences is that of Father Tetzel, of Germany, who toured that country carrying with him a large iron box in which to contain the money entrusted to him for the release of souls from purgatory.
That great man, Martin Luther, opposed him to good purpose, exposing the scandal of his proceedings.
"'Indulgences,' said Tetzel, 'are the most precious and the most noble of God's gifts. This cross [pointing to the red cross, which he set up wherever he came] has as much efficacy as the very cross of Jesus Christ. Come and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, by which even the sins you intend to commit may be pardoned. I would not exchange my privileges for those of St. Peter in Heaven; for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than the apostle by his sermons. There is no sin so great that an indulgence cannot remit, and even if anyone had offered violence to the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, let him pay—only let him pay well—and all will be forgiven him. But more than this,' said he, 'indulgences avail not only for the living, but for the dead. For that repentance is not even necessary. Priest! noble! merchant! wife! youth! maiden! do you not hear your parents and your other friends, who are dead, and who cry from the bottom of the abyss, ' We are suffering horrible torments; a trifling alms would deliver us; you can give it, and you will not? At the very instant,' continued Tetzel, 'that the money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from Purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven ' " (D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, Vol. t, pp. 241, 242).
These notorious sales of indulgences were blessed by the Pope. No wonder the Reformation took place.
Indulgences are connected with medals, scapularies, rosaries and crucifixes. Pope Adrian IV granted a bull of indulgence to certain beads, which he blessed. This bull was afterward confirmed by Popes Gregory XIII, Clement VIII, Urban VIII in the following terms: "Whosoever has one of these beads, and says one Pater Noster and one Ave Maria, shall on any day release three souls out of Purgatory: and reciting them twice on Sunday, or holiday, shall release six souls. Also reciting five Pater Nosters and five Ave Marias upon a Friday, to the honor of the five wounds of Christ, shall gain a pardon of seventy thousand years, and the remission of all sins" (Geddes' Tracts, vol. 4, p. 90).
The spectacle of eminent Popes blessing beads is a puerile sight indeed.