The topic I’m dealing with on this destined-to-be-a-very-long thread seems to me to be particularly important. Most of my scholarship is of interest mainly to people concerned about the life and teachings of Jesus, the New Testament, the history of Christianity, and so on; but this is of interest to *all* of us. What happens when we die? Or more specifically, what happens to *me* when I die?
My current discussion of purgatory may be of little interest to people, until they think about it for a second. Do most people have to go through horrible suffering after death, even if they are not destined for the eternal flames of hell? I for one don’t look forward to getting a tooth ache or ending up in the hospital. What if there are years, decades, centuries of physical torment ahead for me? Shouldn’t I want to know about that and, well, make some preparations?
But it’s a topic most of us don’t think about. Those of us raised in a Protestant tradition simply don’t buy it (whether we’re Christian or not); many Catholics do buy it, but don’t devote a lot of thought to it. But either way, is it true?
I have no way of knowing of course, so I’m not going to give you an answer. But I do want to pursue the question of where the idea came from. Is it taught, for example, in the New Testament? Supporters of the doctrine claim that it is, deniers say it isn’t. What’s the evidence?
I’ll mention four passages that seem most relevant. Actually, the first I’ll mention seems the least relevant of the four, but it’s the one that appears to have been cited most frequently, from what I can tell, by later supporters of the reality of Purgatory. It comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5-7).
In his famous “Antitheses” Jesus states a Jewish law/tradition and then gives his own more radical interpretation of it. The law says: Don’t murder. Jesus says: don’t even get angry with someone. In that context he urges people to get along even with their enemies, and says: “Be reconciled with your enemy quickly, while you are still with him on the street. Otherwise your enemy will hand you over to the judge and the judge will hand you over to the guard and you will be taken off to prison. Truly I tell you, you won’t come out of there until you have paid the last penny” (Matt. 5:25-26)
I will say up front that, at least as I read Matthew, he’s not at *all* talking about the afterlife. He’s telling people how to live in this present life. Don’t have enemies, and if you do have enemies, do what you need to do to be reconciled with them, otherwise there will be a heavy price. We all know this is right. There are some people you don’t want to be enemies with. They can make life miserable for you. The way to avoid that is simply to be reconciled with them ahead of time.
Later readers of Matthew’s Gospel, though, saw a much deeper meaning behind all this. They saw it as a reference to the afterlife. And they had some contextual evidence for their view. Immediately before this, in the antithesis itself (an antithesis is a “contrary statement”: Jesus states the Jewish law/tradition then gives his contrary statement), Jesus says “You have heard that it was said to the people of old, ‘Do not murder’ and whoever murders will be liable to the judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with another is liable to the judgment; and whoever says to another, “You idiot” will be liable to the council; and whoever says “you fool,’ will be liable to the Gehenna of fire.” (Matt 5:21-22)
It’s hard to know how to translate those last three words. Most English translations give them as “hell of fire,” and so most people naturally think Jesus is talking about being cast into the eternal flames of hell to suffer everlasting torment. But the word Jesus uses is “Gehenna,” which is a reference to a trash heap in a valley outside of Jerusalem, a site where garbage was burned and, according to some accounts, where unwanted human corpses were tossed. That is where Jesus says “the worm never dies and the fire never ceases” (Mark 9:48). It’s no wonder if that’s the case if there’s always garbage and cadavers being burned and gnawed there.
Jesus actually never talks about eternal torment in the New Testament. Even in Gehenna, it is not that the corpses that get tossed in there never die but experience everlasting pain. On the contrary, the corpses are dead. And they have no hope of returning to life. They’ll always be consumed with fire and eaten by worms. It is the fire and worms that never cease, not the conscious experience of torment.
When Jesus refers to judgment in the antithesis of Matt. 5:21-22 he is saying that you could get the death sentence (from God) for voicing your anger at another (not just for murdering him or her). So don’t do that. Be reconciled. Later readers, though, maintained that he was talking about the last judgment where sinners would be cast into hell.
If that’s the case, then what does it mean that you might be in danger not of being cast into Gehenna/hell but delivered over to prison “until you pay the last penny”? That is not as a severe a penalty, but it also comes from God “the judge,” who hands you over to another (“the guard”) who punishes you for a time (“in prison”), until you’ve paid your final debt for whatever it is you’ve done wrong (“until you pay the last penny”).
This passage was taken, that is, as a reference to punishment for Jesus’ own followers after death if they did not lead perfect lives in the present. And who can go through life without having enemies, without venting their animosity toward another by calling them an idiot, without even getting angry at another? None of us can. And that means all of us will suffer punishment in the afterlife until we have paid our debt for sinning.
And there we have it. Purgatory!
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Does Jesus’ threat of your corpse being thrown in a garbage heap (Gehenna) make such an impact because of the Jewish believe in resurection of the body? Since there was no belief in separate soul, if your body is burned and worm eaten, there won’t be anything left to be resurected!
No, it wasn’t that so much — since every corpse ends up decaying anyway. It’s that ancient people were highly intent as a rule in having proper burial rites and were concerned that their bodies not be abuesed when dead; this was the worst fate one could imagine, denied proper burial and having your corpse mistreated and defamed.
Bart: “But the word Jesus uses is “Gehenna,” which is a reference to a trash heap in a valley outside of Jerusalem, a site where garbage was burned and, according to some accounts, where unwanted human corpses were tossed.”
Elsewhere you’ve rejected or at least doubted this idea of the 13th century Rabbi David Kimhi. Perhaps you’re quoting an earlier post before you rejected this interpretation?
Ah, I wrote that a long time ago before I saw the light. Missed it when I edited the text for a reprint. Editorial fatigue…
This logic is why I think Jesus believed in universal reconciliation. Sinners had to be transformed to be fit for the Age to Come.
Does our time in purgatory take place before or after the bodily resurrection? Or to put it another way doesn’t the doctrine of purgatory presuppose some period of disembodied existence since a bodily resurrection is itself the reward for righteousness, right?
thanks
Those who came up with the doctrine of purgatory were not thinking much of a future bodily resurreciton; it was all about what happened to your soul at death.
Perhaps Jesus believed in a purgatory system, which seems more fair than throwing a significant percentage of humankind into eternal punishment for simply having human flaws. But once the disciples developed the idea that Jesus was a sacrifice for sins, then purgatory became a problem – did Jesus’ sacrifice work or not? Why then the need to purge people of their sins if Jesus died for them? So I can see the early Christians writing purgatory out of their doctrines, only to have it reappear later in the Roman Catholic church.
IT’d be great if there hints in that direction! But, alas…
Very interesting! You said, “Jesus never talks about eternal torment in the New Testament.” Does he ever talk about a place of torment in the afterlife?
Nope. Not the hisotrical Jesus. I devote a lot of attention to thi sin my book Heaven and Hell, if you want to see the reasons for thinking so…
Great post. Off topic but would love to hear your thoughts on Ross Douthat’s NYT column on the Gospels. Might make an interesting subject for a post or a podcast episode.
I”m afraid I didn’t read it.
Thank you for this thread. It is fascinating. I see this issue as part and parcel of early Christians dealing with the dissonance of Christ dying with the end times failing to occur. The earliest Christians would seem to not have to worry about purgatory or much of any post-baptism forgiveness because the end of the world was imminent. Once the end didn’t come, they had to deal with many “now what?” issues – including what happens to people if they die with sin but are still confessed members of the community. Early confusion about any kind of post-baptism sinning had to be cleared up in favor of forgiveness, at least in this life, or the bar to salvation would be impossibly high. After life purgation/forgiveness seems like a natural extension – with the issue of whether a deceased “soul” could achieve purgation somehow by itself, through the passage of time or through prayers or intervention of the living. It took the middle ages to assign a place to this process and the Renaissance to charge a fee through indulgences.
Dear Bart
I have been following you like so many who want to know more about the New Testament.
In an interview with Megan you talked about Jesus wanting to keep secret his words and miracle. I was intrigued. At the end of the podcast you mention one of your books about the New Testament where you go into detail about the what the NT really says.
Can you please name the book?
Many thanks. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy and value your work. If ever you come to Ontario Canada, I will be there!!
Donn Ritch
fan and blog listener
I was probably referring to my book The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. I go book by book to describe what it’s about, with bibliogrpahy, wiht a full chapter on Mark (it’s designed as a textbook but can be used without being enrolled in a university! No final exam that way!)
Is there any veracity to the account of Gehenna being a burning trash heap outside of Jerusalem? I have read conflicting reports.
No, that was invented in the middle ages by a Jewish rabbinic scholar.
Is there a solid statement in the NT saying that suffering is necessary to resolve sin. I have encountered a variety of beliefs about purgatory even among clergy. Some say that in purgatory the purification is by ecstatic bliss.
The teaching of the NT is that afterlife entails a resurrection of the dead — bodies will come back to life — not that the soul will depart for reward/punishment/something else.
I can’t speak to what individual people, even clergy, may think about purgatory, just what the doctrine itself is. And it ain’t bliss! It is torment until sins are atoned for. If you look up any academic discussion of the doctrine, you’ll see.
The teaching of the NT is that afterlife entails a resurrection of the dead — bodies will come back to life — not that the soul will depart for reward/punishment/something else.
I can’t speak to what individual people, even clergy, may think about purgatory, just what the doctrine itself is. And it ain’t bliss! It is torment until sins are atoned for. If you look up any academic discussion of the doctrine, you’ll see.
“whoever says to another, “You idiot” will be liable to the council; and whoever says “you fool,’ will be liable to the Gehenna of fire.”
I guess calling someone a fool was much worse than calling them an idiot 2,000 years ago.