Purgatory

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Purgatory. According to Catholic teaching, the place or state in which those who have died in the grace of God expiate their unforgiven venial sins, by undergoing due punishment before being admitted to the beatific vision. Scriptural warrant is claimed in 2 Maccabees 12. 39–45; Matthew 12. 31 f.; 1 Corinthians 3. 11–15. The doctrine of purgatory was openly rejected at the Reformation, and Protestants deny it as unscriptural and a denial of the complete forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ's saving work.

For a Buddhist equivalent, see YAMA.

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