What happens between death and the final judgment to those who die in faith but not fully purified, and can the living help them?
a passage states it a passage rules it out
Common ground
These are affirmed by more than one position, so a passage saying only this counts for none of them.
- The souls of the dead live on and await the resurrection
- The faithful departed are at rest or with Christ
- Remembering the departed by name at worship, without asking that they be helped
- Final judgment and resurrection of the body
Purgatory
Catholicthere is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altarCouncil of Trent, Session 25, Decree concerning Purgatory (1563)
What sets it apart: The passage says saved souls are purified or punished for a time after death for sins already forgiven, before entering heaven.
Formally defined: Council of Lyon II (1274); Council of Florence (1439); Council of Trent (1563)
No early passage in the library states it yet.
Prayer for the dead, purification not defined
Orthodoxare delivered by the Supreme Goodness, through the prayers of the Priests, and the good works which the relatives of each do for their Departed; especially the unbloody Sacrifice benefiting the mostConfession of Dositheus (Synod of Jerusalem), Decree 18 (1672)
What sets it apart: The passage prays or offers for the departed and says they are helped or released, without describing a purifying punishment for forgiven sins.
Formally defined: Synod of Jerusalem, Decree 18 (1672)
No early passage in the library states it yet.
No purification or help after death
Reformed Anglican Baptist LutheranBesides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.Westminster Confession of Faith, 32.1 (1646)
What sets it apart: The passage says there is no place or state after death besides heaven and hell, or that the living cannot help the dead.
Formally defined: Thirty-Nine Articles XXII (1563/1571); Westminster Confession 32 (1646)
No early passage in the library states it yet.
Every deciding passage, earliest first
Origen of Alexandria, c. 254
And blessed is the one who has a part in the first resurrection, who has kept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Who is the one saved in another resurrection? The one who needs the baptism from fire, when he comes to that fire, and the fire tests him, and that fire finds wood, hay, and stubble, so as to burn them. Therefore, these things being said, gathering as far as we can the words of the Scriptures, let us store them in the heart and try to live according to them, if perhaps we may be able to become clean before the departure, and, having prepared our works for the departure, going out may b…
- Rules out: No purification or help after death
Translation in progress