(January 29, 2018 at 4:33 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(January 29, 2018 at 4:26 pm)SteveII Wrote: It seems the confusion comes from your understanding heaven/hell as components in a rewards system. It is not. If God is perfectly holy, he cannot have a relationship with us because of our sin. He has provided a way to overcome this barrier. Going to heaven means you took him up on his offer to overcome the barrier. Hell you did not.
For the record, I do agree that Heaven is a state of perfect holiness and we cannot be in that state until our hearts are completely pure.
Steve, what are your thoughts on Purgatory? Purgatory makes sense to me, personally. It allows the person to transition into a state of perfect holiness before reaching Heaven, since I assume the vast majority of us are not there yet when we die.
I'm not sure any Protestant group believes in Purgatory. Almost all doctrine in Protestant churches is supported directly with the Bible (sola scriptura) and I don't think there is a reading of the Bible that gives us Purgatory.
Most don't realize the most significant difference between the two main branches of Christianity is that the Catholic Church follows the doctrine that the Catholic Church (via the Pope--the direct spiritual successor of the Apostle Peter) continues to be a conduit for new revelation from God that can add to the NT with the authority of Christ himself. The protestant branch believes that nothing should be added to the NT. Understanding this helps in understanding why there are added layers that Catholics believe.
