DOES 2MACABEES 12:39-45 SPEAK OF PURGATORY?
The Catechism of
the Roman Catholic Church, says the following about Purgatory:
1030 All
who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are
indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo
purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of
heaven.
1031 The
Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which
is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated
her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and
Trent. the tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture,
speaks of a cleansing fire:
As for
certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there
is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come.
From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this
age, but certain others in the age to come.
CCC, 1030-1031.
WHAT IT
MEANS
What it says in
a few words, is that those who are not perfectly free of sin at the moment of
death, pass through a ‘purifying fire’ that will consolidate their salvation,
making them pure before entering God’s presence. This imperfection is
understood as being the accumulation of ‘venial sins’ and other minor faults
that will be ‘forgiven’ after death.
Section 1031
speaks of ‘certain texts of Scripture’, and one of them is deuterocanonical book
of 2Macabees 12:39-45, that it is used to support this doctrine.
The text quoted
from this deuterocanonical book written in Greek, it says this:
“39 And
upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas and his company came to take
up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in
their fathers’ graves. 40 Now under the coats of every one that was slain they
found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the
Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were
slain. 41 All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had
opened the things that were hid, 42 Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought
him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides,
that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as
they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those
that were slain. 43 And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to
the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a
sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of
the resurrection: 44 For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should
have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. 45 And
also in that he perceived that there was great favor laid up for those that
died godly, it was a holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation
for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.”
2 Maccabees 12:39-45
ANALYZING
The event
describes how Judas Maccabee goes to bury the bodies of his dead soldiers after
a battle, and it was discovered that these dead men had pagan idols with them.
They had died in idolatry.
Judas and his
men offered prayers to God asking for the forgiveness of these dead soldiers and
sent an atoning offering to Jerusalem for the forgiveness of their sin.
1 – The Jews do
not believe in Purgatory. To alleviate the suffering of their dead countrymen for
the sin committed was not their intention.
2 – The Jews
believe that all men, good and bad reside in Scheol, or grave. Some think that
they are awaiting their final judgement and the resurrection from that grave,
others that men are judged immediately after they die (1)
3 – The prayers
and offering that Judas Maccabee and his men did for their dead countrymen,
were done in the hope of attaining forgiveness for their sin, prior to their
judgement, in Judas’ mind, at the time of the resurrection (2Maccabees
12:43-44).
CONCLUSION
2Maccabees
12:39-45, lacks all the elements that the doctrine of Purgatory claims for
itself.
The offering was
done for the forgiveness of sins after death, for men who otherwise would be
condemned. Purgatory is for ‘not so perfect’ saved men.
The offering was
for forgiveness of sins, not through personal suffering in a conscious state,
but by God’s mercy alone. Purgatory is a purifying conditioning for saved men
through self-suffering.
Purgatory is a
strange idea in Judaism, it was never in their minds when they offered prayers
and offerings for their dead. To say that men can purge their sins through
personal suffering is declaring null the need of the sacrifice of Jesus for the
forgiveness of sins.
Purgatory is a
foreign idea to Christianity.
Omar Flores.
(1) Kaufmann Kohler, Eschatology, Jewish Encyclopedia,
2011.
BBC,
Key Believes in Judaism, Life After Death, Judgement, 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zh9vgdm/revision/2#:~:text=According%20to%20Jewish%20belief%2C%20the,obey%20all%20of%20God's%20rules.
Eliyahu
Kitov, Day of Judgement, Chabad.org, 2020.
Hollye
Dexter, The Jewish Beliefs on Judgment Day, https://classroom.synonym.com/jewish-beliefs-judgment-day-7624.html
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