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There is no historical basis for Purgatory in the Church. For at least the first two centuries, there was no mention of Purgatory in the Church.
In all the writings of the Apostolic fathers, Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, there is not the slightest allusion to the idea of purgatory. Rome claims that the early Church nevertheless believed in purgatory because it prayed for the dead. This was becoming a common practice by the beginning of the third century, but it does not, in itself, prove that the early church believed in the existence of a purgatory.
The written prayers which have survived, and the evidence from the catacombs and burial inscriptions, indicate that the early Church viewed deceased Christians as residing in peace and happiness, and prayers offered were for them to have a greater experience of these. As early as Tertullian, in the late second and beginning of the third century, these prayers often use the Latin term refrigerium as a request of God on behalf of the departed Christians, a term which means "refreshment" or "to refresh" and came to embody the concept of heavenly happiness. So the fact that the early Church prayed for the dead does not support the teaching of purgatory, for the nature of the prayers themselves indicates the Church did not view the dead as residing in a place of suffering.
In all the writings of the Apostolic fathers, Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, there is not the slightest allusion to the idea of purgatory. Rome claims that the early Church nevertheless believed in purgatory because it prayed for the dead. This was becoming a common practice by the beginning of the third century, but it does not, in itself, prove that the early church believed in the existence of a purgatory.
The written prayers which have survived, and the evidence from the catacombs and burial inscriptions, indicate that the early Church viewed deceased Christians as residing in peace and happiness, and prayers offered were for them to have a greater experience of these. As early as Tertullian, in the late second and beginning of the third century, these prayers often use the Latin term refrigerium as a request of God on behalf of the departed Christians, a term which means "refreshment" or "to refresh" and came to embody the concept of heavenly happiness. So the fact that the early Church prayed for the dead does not support the teaching of purgatory, for the nature of the prayers themselves indicates the Church did not view the dead as residing in a place of suffering.
