I knew his name sounded familiar. I enjoyed Walls's First Things essay, Purgatory for Everyone. The note on the bottom says that it's adapted from his book on Heaven.
Vincent | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 8:30 am | #

Not totally surprising since he teaches a C.S. Lewis seminar. Didn't C.S. Lewis also have the Catholic understanding of purgatory?
Jeff Miller | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 12:47 pm | #

Yes, C.S. Lewis did believe in Purgatory, and he laid out the logical rationale for Purgatory very convincingly.
Jared L. Olar | 01.29.05 - 6:59 pm | #

Now that the methodists are on board with Purgatory, I wonder more and more about what it may actually be like. Of course, the standard vision, compiled from the testimonies of the saints and compiled by Fr Schouppe many years ago, is one of, to be brief, fire and brimstone. Purgatory, to Fr Schouppe, is a place of torment, physical and spiritual, born remorse and just punishment, the end of which is purification.

Given the festival of innovation and creativity that has distinguished AmChurch in its last several decades, however, I wonder if this old, cobwebbed, rather unpleasant and childish vision should not be replaced by something more up to date. I don't want to give the Supreme Being advice on how to conduct these things, but a much more viable construct would be one similar to those USCCB conferences, where so much important work gets done. Sinners could be renamed participants, and given little "HI! I'm _____ from _____" cards, and could sit at conference tables with
ralph roister-doister | 01.31.05 - 11:21 am | #

ctd:

lots of designer water bottles and engage in fruitful dialogue, then adjourn for refreshments, handshaking, backslapping, guffawing, and other heartwarming shows of fellowship. As a sop to the neanderthals who insist on outmoded concepts of "punishment", perhaps the air conditioning could be tweaked a degree or two lower.
ralph roister-doister | 01.31.05 - 11:25 am | #

I wander how the doctrine of pergatory in effect makes a separation between Justification and Salvation, one being "sola gratia" and the other via Sanctification?
Eric Wallace | 02.01.05 - 9:48 pm | #

In short, it doesn't.
Robert Jenkins | 02.02.05 - 7:56 am | #

I comment further on Eric Wallace's and Robert Jenkins's statements in "Purgatory Revisited."
pb | 02.04.05 - 7:55 am | #

Jerry Walls defense of purgatory shows his lack of understanding the gospel and it also denies the sacrifice of Christ. No one is good enough to enter heaven but a million years in purgtory would not make you good enough either. Only the sacrifice of Christ can save you and to deny this is to deny Christ.
Bill Scudder | 12.20.05 - 2:11 pm | #