Purgatory in Early Christian and Patristic Thought
Purgatory in Early Christian and Patristic Thought
This chapter identifies some of the earliest Christian texts to describe purgation as part of the Christian afterlife and examines the interpretation placed on them by patristic authors from Origen to Augustine. Bede’s definition of purgatory is presented. The chapter discusses traditional “proof texts” for purgatory including 2 Maccabees, 1 Corinthians 3:11–15, and the fate of Dinocrates in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. It discusses purgatorial fire, universal salvation, and how ideas about original sin intersected with an economy of pain that was thought to cross the barrier of death.
Keywords: purgatorial fire, Origen, Augustine, Bede, Maccabees, Corinthians, Dinocrates, original sin, universal salvation, pain
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