Search

This article examines current perceptions of purgatory among young people and its role in society. Architecture students' visual material explores the evolving concept of purgatory and its importance today. The study analyses how ideas of purification and hybridity are understood in contemporary secular society. Using a structured visual research framework, the study incorporates participatory seminars, art-based methodologies and innovative AI techniques. It investigates young people's views on purgatory and their understanding of the cosmos, considering contemporary interpretations and the concept of presentism. By combining creative and conventional research approaches, this text aims to enhance understanding and generate new insights. The analysis uncovers how purgatory and transitional spaces are understood in today's society, revealing individual interpretations of religious teachings. It also highlights the importance of creative research methods in understanding complex religious ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gabriel Said Reynolds developed his idea on the "Immediate retribution of Martyrs after Death" based on his interpretation of some Quranic verses and narrations and the opinions presented in Tabari's commentary. He believed that martyrs immediately ascend to eternal heaven without experiencing the intermediate state Barzakh (purgatory). Reynolds credited the Church Fathers, particularly the Syriac Fathers and selected verses from the Bible as inspiration for this idea. This study examined Reynolds' viewpoint and supporting documents using descriptive and analytical methods. This hypothesis was initially criticized based on Quranic and narrative evidence. It has been subsequently demonstrated that Reynolds has misunderstood Tabari's interpretation. Moreover, the claim that this doctrine, in addition to the Syriac Fathers, can also be found among church fathers in the West, such as Tertullian, who has been called the father of Latin Christianity and the founder of Western theology, was deemed a misinterpretation. Based on research on Tertullian's views about this idea, early scholars' reading of Tertullian's views revealed that martyrs, like other souls, remain in the place of deceased souls (Hades) until the Day of Resurrection. Furthermore, analyzing the context and revising some of the terms in the Bible verses cited by Reynolds suggested that martyrs do experience the Barzakh period Barzakh (purgatory) according to the Bible's teaching. If this idea is proven, the commonality of this concept in Christian theology and Islamic theology can be explained by the belief in the unique origin of divine revelation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

»He punishes us; then he shows us mercy. He sends us down to the world of the dead (Sheol), then brings us up from the grave« (Tob 13:2). The Old and New Testament theology of Sheol (hereinafter: Šəʾōl) follows the logical sequence of human living and dying. A person enters Šəʾōl the way he built himself during his lifetime, meaning, in Šəʾōl, the fundamental human determination and nature do not change. In Šəʾōl, it cannot happen that a righteous person turns into a wicked person, and a wicked person becomes a righteous person. However, the key characteristic of Šəʾōl is not the immutability of the set position but the impossibility of expressing praise to God. This virtue characterises the life of a righteous person who glorifies God with his righteousness. Therefore, the righteous man, by his nature, does not belong to that place because the one who praised and blessed God during his life cannot stop glorifying him even in Šəʾōl. The wicked, however, who does not glorify God during his lifetime is suited to the postmortem environment of Šəʾōl, in which God's name is not invoked. Thus, we conclude that Šəʾōl belongs exclusively to sinners or to those who do not praise God. The theology of Šəʾōl reached its peak in the teaching that Šəʾōl is not the eternal abode of the righteous. The righteous indeed descends to Šəʾōl, but his soul does not rot there, nor does he become part of the impersonal substance of Šəʾōl. Since it cannot remain in Šəʾōl, the justified soul, after freeing itself from its habits that led it to sin during its lifetime and having been set in holiness, rises to heaven, and God himself delivers it and rewards it with a happy eternity. Therefore, for the dominant biblical theology, it is not questionable that the righteous will see the face of God, but what privileges one over the other is the time of stay in the place of the dead, i.e. Šəʾōl. The elaborate Christian theology calls that time of souls' stay in the place of the dead the purgatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of purgatory or what is known as purification is one of the concepts that the Catholic Church believes as a truth for those who during their lifetime had a close relationship with God, but were still not pure enough to enter heaven, so a purification process is needed. The Catholic Church provides the basis of Bible verses and Deuterocanonics to support its teachings and the process will take place according to the sins that have been committed while living in this world. This research uses qualitative methods with a library approach. Using the literature method, the researcher will explain the concept of purgatory in the teachings of the Catholic Church from accurate sources, originating from Catholic circles themselves which will be reviewed theologically-critically to find that the concept of purgatory is contrary to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. In the end, the concept of purgatory is not in accordance with what God has stated in His Word and has implications for soteriology, namely: Jesus is the only way of salvation, salvation is a grace, and praying for the dead is not Biblical. BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT: Konsep api penyucian atau yang dikenal dengan istilah purifikasi merupakan salah satu konsep yang diyakini Gereja Katolik sebagai sebuah kebenaran bagi mereka yang semasa hidupnya memiliki hubungan yang dekat dengan Tuhan, namun masih belum cukup murni untuk masuk surga, sehingga diperlukan proses pemurnian. Gereja Katolik memberikan dasar ayat-ayat Alkitab dan Deuterokanonika untuk mendukung ajarannya dan prosesnya akan berlangsung sesuai dengan dosa yang telah dilakukan selama hidup di dunia. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan kepustakaan. Dengan menggunakan metode kepustakaan, peneliti akan menjelaskan konsep api penyucian dalam ajaran Gereja Katolik dari sumber-sumber yang akurat, yang berasal dari kalangan Katolik sendiri yang kemudian akan ditinjau secara teologis-kritis untuk menemukan bahwa konsep api penyucian bertentangan dengan karya penebusan Yesus Kristus di kayu salib. Pada akhirnya, konsep api penyucian tidak sesuai dengan apa yang telah Tuhan nyatakan dalam Firman-Nya dan berimplikasi pada soteriologi, yaitu: Yesus adalah satu-satunya jalan keselamatan, keselamatan adalah anugerah, dan mendoakan orang mati tidak Alkitabiah.

Despite the growing acceptance of the notion of a "long" Reformation, studies of the cult of remembrance continue to use the Reformation, and the abolition of purgatory in particular, as a convenient boundary for study. The evidence of the Cave family of Stanford-on-Avon suggests that, although disorientating, the doctrinal change of the mid-sixteenth century was not necessarily a moment of breach in the community of the living and the dead. In studying the range of commemorative practices within one family, the retention and renegotiation of traditional practices becomes clear. Alongside the lingering significance of the temporal framework of intercession, the Caves relied upon domestic goods, with reformed households continuing to honor mementos associated with traditional religion. Throughout the Reformation period, funeral monuments emphasized the significance of the corpse in remembrance, while testators sought to fashion select communities of remembrance that would ensure the survival of their memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I review the dispute between Ribeiro (2011) and Brown (2021) over whether the radical transformation which a human self would need to undergo in order to be heaven-admissible would be such that it leads to a loss of self. Ribeiro thinks it would; Brown thinks it wouldn't. My primary intention here is to advance the debate by trying to better understand what's in dispute between these disputants. From this better understanding of what's in dispute, we can see what would be needed to substantively advance the debate, and one claim I defend here is that in order to substantively advance this debate, a disputant would need to have a compelling defense of his side's view on (at least) one of the two main issues that my analysis herein identifies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possible connections between the monstrous inhabitants of the 'fourth' continent or Antipodean Land and the tormented spirits of Purgatory, as they are represented in three of the most famous thirteenth century mappae mundi: the Hereford Map, the Ebstorf Map, and the Psalter Map. Addressing all the peculiar species resulting from diverse body hybridization, this 'continent' situated at the age of the oikoumene could accommodate all the exotic peoples or polymorphic creatures of the classical imagination and infuse them with a Christian spirit. As a land with an excessively hot climate that was incongruous with human survival, this land was also perfect for housing repentant sinners on their path toward final absolution. Hence, as I will argue, the liminality of the Antipodean Land and the ambiguous anthropomorphism of those who inhabited it may demonstrate an early Purgatorial localization in the southern hemisphere, opaque to human inspection, and identify the monstra populating it as the impure souls who hoped the cleansing fires would burn off their sins and restore their likeness to God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Death and the afterlife have always evoked both fear and hope among people. Consequently, they have endeavoured to gain a deeper understanding of what lies beyond life’s earthly realm. Christian teachings and the official doctrine of the Church offer a broad overview of this reality, leaving room for an expectation of a more detailed explanation of the fate that awaits individuals after death. Female mystics, particularly those who lived during the late Middle Ages, played significant roles in elucidating these destinies. Their visions and subsequent writings contain a wealth of details concerning the nature of eternal life, providing meticulous descriptions of the places and events that unfold after death. This article delves into their visions of purgatory and hell, examining their relationship with the official Catholic doctrine.

In her well-known essay written in 1984, Maria Chiavacci Leonardi noted that the beatitudes proclaimed at the end of each frame of Purgatory are generally considered by literary critics to be a marginal element in the realm. Her study questioned this type of approach, suggesting it does not allow us to fully understand the reason why Dante chose to insert the “speech on the mountain” in his imaginary path of purification. According to Leonardi, the beatitudes should instead be considered the real backbone of the cantica, and this interpretation leads to analyzing the entire structure and atmosphere of Purgatory from a different point of view, as closely interconnected with the beatitudes. I therefore propose a brief analysis concerning the proclamation of the beatitudes and their relationship with their narrative context, also taking into account the thematic cores of the cantos in which the beatitudes are inserted and suggesting some possible structural implications.

»He punishes us; then he shows us mercy. He sends us down to the world of the dead, then he brings us up from the grave« (Tob 13:2). The Old and New Testament theology of Sheol (hereinafter šeᵓôl) follows the logical sequence of human life and death. Man enters šeᵓôl as he has built himself during his lifetime. In other words, in šeᵓôl the basic human determination and nature does not change. It cannot happen in šeᵓôl that a righteous person turns into a wicked and a wicked person becomes a righteous. However, the key characteristic of šeᵓôl is not the immutability of the basic position but the impossibility of expressing praise to God. This virtue characterizes the life of a righteous person who glorifies God with his righteousness. Therefore, the righteous man by his nature does not belong to that place because the one who praised and blessed God during his life cannot stop glorifying him even in šeᵓôl. The wicked man, however, who does not glorify God during his lifetime is suited to the postmortem environment of šeᵓôl in which God's name is not invoked. Thus we come to the conclusion that šeᵓôl belongs exclusively to sinners, or to those who do not praise God. The theology of šeᵓôl reached its peak in the teaching that šeᵓôl is not the eternal abode of the righteous. The righteous indeed descends to šeᵓôl but his soul does neither rot there nor does he become a part of the impersonal contents of šeᵓôl. Since it cannot remain in šeᵓôl, the justified soul after freeing itself from its habits that led it to sin during its life and having risen in holiness, rises to the heights and it is God himself who delivers it and who rewards it with a happy eternity. Therefore, for the dominant biblical theology it is not questionable that the righteous will see the face of God but what privileges one over the other is the time of stay in the place of the dead, i.e. šeᵓôl. The elaborate Christian theology calls that time of souls' stay in the place of the dead the purgatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on Christian East–West relations usually centres on the "usual suspects": papal primacy, the filioque and core doctrine in general, the interpretation of Scripture, ecclesiology, and so on. This review article of Edward Siecienski's Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory explores other issues that divide East and West, particularly those that may be approached via material ecologies: Fire, Beards, and Bread. "Bread" as in the debate on the Azymes, following Siecienski's 2023 book; "Beards" as in the beardfullness or beardlessness of clerics; and "Fire" as in ignis purgatorius, yet at an even wider scale, the very fire of Gehenna: the question of the hereafter and the location of the dividing line between doctrine and theologoumena. Thus, a wider spectrum of the debate emerges, with which the present review article aspires to familiarize its readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the difficulty of working with testaments, they have been the subject of study for many years, providing a window into the economic, social, and spiritual life of local communities throughout medieval Christendom. The religious significance of testaments has also attracted some attention; however, few have put thirteenth-century testamentary practice in conversation with the complex theology of penance developing in that time. Claims that making a testament was an act of charity, an exchange of earthly for heavenly goods, or a guarantee of memorialization, while valid to a certain extent, do not take into account the nuances of the penitential system. Based on the writings of thirteenth-century canonists such as Raymond of Peñafort and theologians such as Thomas Aquinas, and wills from the Franciscan convent of Bologna, this article argues that testaments can be seen as penitential instruments, much like indulgences, creating a real change in the spiritual state of the testator. Testaments worked in the penitential realm through the mechanism of suffrages. Good works of satisfaction were believed to be transferable from one person to another through the intention of the actor. The testament uses money to facilitate this transaction, exchanging coins for substitutionary penance, which can be exchanged for time in purgatory. In this framework, the long lists of pious bequests to various religious houses not only reflect personal loyalties or spiritual preferences of testators but also individualized solutions to penitential problems. Thus, making a testament involved much lay agency, but a spiritually adept executor was also vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pagan judge in Saint Erkenwald explains that he remained in limbo after Christ's harrowing of hell. Theologians, especially Aquinas, wrestled with the vexed question of the salvation of virtuous pagans, and Dante and Langland, as well as the author of Erkenwald, expressed their views on the subject, coming to differing conclusions. On learning of the judge's history, Bishop Erkenwald assumes that such an exemplary figure must have a place in heaven and is distressed to learn that he, like Virgil in Dante's Commedia, remains in limbo. The article explores the reasons why both poets should have adopted such an unorthodox position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study searches for the characteristic features of religious healing in three phenomena of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: veneration of miraculous images, apparitions from Purgatory, and vampire incidences. All the examples originate from the Czech lands, and all were in some way related to the Catholic renewal or strengthening the Catholic faith in this region. Individual cases have been analyzed with regard to the social relevance of religious remedies, their connection to social problems, and the interaction between the actors involved. The authors draw attention to the link between physical and mental healing and show the key role of local spiritual authorities, especially members of religious orders and parish priests, in spreading practices of spiritual healing. The study reveals that, however theologically sensitive they might have been, the practices analyzed were apparently encouraged by the clergy and the social elites in the local communities, therefore they can hardly be associated only with the so-called popular piety of the rural folk.

The votive shrines are a non-liturgical variant of worship that avoids ecclesiastical mediation in the relationship with the Sacred. The main subjects of the following discussion are the street-shrines of Naples dedicated to the dead as well as the worship that underlies them, the cult of souls in Purgatory. This devotion was initially limited to offering of prayers, almsgiving and suffrage masses in favour of dead relatives. However, the cult underwent considerable modulation over time. Indeed, already at the beginning of the 17th century the pietas of the Neapolitans extended the devotion to all suffering souls in Purgatory, especially neglected souls, believed to be particularly in need of help. Since then, these souls became the major protagonists of the cult in Naples. They comprised those who died without receiving the proper rituals of passage - considered of fundamental importance to reach the afterlife, and accomplished through the practice of double burial - as well as the forgotten and abandoned dead. Without the memory and help of the living, these souls were stuck in an eternal transition which prevented their ascent to Heaven. An ultimate modification of the cult took place in the second half of the 19th century, when an autonomous form of devotion was born based on the adoration of unknown skulls. This worship variously intertwined and merged with the previous cult, thus constituting a real specificity of Naples. The skulls were regarded as representatives of anonymous souls, whose abandonment and marginality would continue forever without the intervention of devotees who take care of them. The cult of Purgatory and the intermediate nature of their protagonists is effectively represented by miniatures of the souls that still today populate the numerous street-shrines. The great diffusion of these shrines is the direct testimony of the liveliness and strength that the cult of the dead had in Naples. They are certainly worthy of attention, care and protection as they are part of the cultural heritage of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through analysis of written sources, architectural evidence, excavation reports and antiquarian records this paper argues that charnelling of human skeletal remains was more common in medieval England than has hitherto been fully recognized. It became increasingly widespread following formalization of belief in Purgatory in the late 13th century, and charnel houses can be found both at the better-documented greater churches and at parish churches, for which churchwardens' accounts are important sources. Charnel houses are mainly freestanding buildings in churchyards, or crypts within the body of the church, and both forms are often semi-subterranean, with the carefully maintained charnel visible through windows high in the charnel house walls. There was typically a chapel located above the charnel room, in which prayers for the dead were offered, similar to chantries. The paper presents the first detailed exploration of the potential liturgical contexts for charnelling. It is argued that the most likely form of rite to accompany the translation and deposition of charnel would have comprised a re-enactment of the Office of the Dead followed by an adapted version of the burial service, with possible secondary uses of the charnel house in the days leading up to Easter, the most solemn part of the Christian year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to interpret the use of infernal imagery in Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo. The defended hypothesis argues that the symbolic realm of Comala is a hellish purgatory, one without hope. Thus, the novel implies a contravention of the hopeful connotations associated with the so-called Mexican Miracle, not only because infernal despair is the antithesis of the optimism linked to the capitalist development that Mexico pursued, but also because this hopelessness is the result of the abandonment by a series of administrations that favored industrial interests at the expense of the educational needs of large segments of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Media Report Overseas is the property of Edmondson Intercultural Enterprises and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article, as a section of our book Some Thoughts on Total Being and the Limits of Human Comprehension, contrasts two representative religions, Eastern Hinduism, and Western Christianity in various aspects such as the origin of the universe, time and space, life, and the meaning of human existence...It argues that Christianity, like Hinduism and science, has yet to provide a completely satisfactory and comprehensive explanation of overall existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study searches for the characteristic features of religious healing in three phenomena of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: veneration of miraculous images, apparitions from Purgatory, and vampire incidences. All the examples originate from the Czech lands, and all were in some way related to the Catholic renewal or strengthening the Catholic faith in this region. Individual cases have been analyzed with regard to the social relevance of religious remedies, their connection to social problems, and the interaction between the actors involved. The authors draw attention to the link between physical and mental healing and show the key role of local spiritual authorities, especially members of religious orders and parish priests, in spreading practices of spiritual healing. The study reveals that, however theologically sensitive they might have been, the practices analyzed were apparently encouraged by the clergy and the social elites in the local communities, therefore they can hardly be associated only with the so-called popular piety of the rural folk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "Southern Irish Protestant" encompasses a three-dimensional notion of geography, national consciousness—and religion. Southern Protestants were often reviled as having "an alien creed, an alien culture and alien aspirations." While only 7 percent of the population of the Irish Free State at independence in 1922, they were economically prominent and educationally privileged. As such, this elite generated an extensive literature of memoir, novels, autobiography, plays, and poetry out of proportion to their numbers. This essay explores the Southern Irish Protestant experience and identity in this new, but still old, Ireland through literary representation, hearing hostile voices as well as empathetic ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In search for understanding the ancient Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife, most modern Egyptologists tend to focus on either the search for heaven and its variety of bliss or the search for hell and its many types of torments, but they have not searched for purgatory. Hence, this paper deals with a hypothesis that sinners and evildoers were purified in the underworld by being punished in areas of torment for some time until they got rid of their sins and mistakes; afterwards, they went to eternal the bliss that was known in ancient Egypt, and which is echoed in the ideas that we find in the Old Testament, Catholic denominations, and Islamic beliefs. Did the ancient Egyptians really believe in purification of the souls of sinners before they departed from the areas of torment to the eternal life of bliss? Did textual sources specify a certain place for the purgatory? Were its concept, conditions for entry, types, and duration clearly defined in the sources? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These four lyrics give voice to different intersections of solitude and community, this world and whatever lies beyond or within it. They are propelled and animated, they are done and undone, by desire. Solitude, here, is above all an erotic question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Riwayat: Educational Journal of History & Humanities is the property of Riwayat: Educational Journal of History & Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study I examine Joyce's complex and often contradictory relationship to purification rituals.1 On the one hand, he rebelled against such rituals insofar as they equated sexuality with defilement and virginity with purity. On the other, as Beckett pointed out, there is a continual purgatorial process at work throughout the Wake, often involving the purgation of the sin of pride. Joyce also exploited the ambiguity of such substances as blood that alternately defile and purify. In addition, he alludes to many rituals in which those who were supposed to be protected and purified become victimized and defiled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the viewpoints of Abul-Hasan Ameri regarding the concepts of purgatory and resurrection. While Ameri does not directly address these topics, an indirect analysis of his works suggests that he perceives the world of purgatory as an intermediate state between earthly life and resurrection. Regarding resurrection, Ameri maintains that while humans cannot fully comprehend its essence, individuals can acquire knowledge of it based on their own understanding. This implies that people possess varying levels of understanding when it comes to the concept of resurrection. Ameri's beliefs on both the physical and spiritual aspects of resurrection are influenced by religious texts, philosophers, and theologians. However, due to the limited availability of Ameri's works, it is challenging to draw a definitive conclusion about his perspectives on purgatory and resurrection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares modern Advaita (nonduality) Vedānta and Roman Catholic afterlife beliefs, with special attention to the dialogue of Swami Vivekananda, formal Roman Catholic teachings, and Edith Stein. It draws also on other commentators and includes some brief reference to other forms of Vedānta. It analyzes significant congruences, parallels, differences, and critical issues. The article begins with a focus on essential similarities and contrasts in theological anthropology, situates these within the spiritual ideals of modern Advaita Vedānta mokṣa and Catholic Christian redemption, and relates them to conceptions of heaven, purgatory, hell, and reincarnation, between the two traditions. It also draws into the dialogue a view of rebirth espoused in the modern Christian Hermeticism of Valentin Tomberg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purgatory is a place, state, or stage in the Christian afterlife where, after death, the soul is purged of minor, unexpiated sin so that it can be fit for heaven. ‘Purgatory’ derives from the Latin purgare (to purge) and hence as the noun purgatorium it is a place of purgation and purification. Purgatory is also (and earliest) referenced in adjectival form as in, for example, ignis purgatoriis, purging fires. In modern scholarship, a distinction can be made between capitalized ‘Purgatory’ that references official Roman Catholic doctrine, and lower-case ‘purgatory’ that references a place or space of purgation in a non-specific doctrinal or denominational context. In Catholic theology, Purgatory is a temporary abode; a soul in Purgatory is considered ‘saved’ and destined for heaven at, or sometimes before, the Last Day, the Day of Judgment. Historically, sources differed on the degree to which the soul’s pain in Purgatory was divine retribution, psychological torment, penance, and education. Traditionally, the soul’s torment in Purgatory is described as physical pain in early sources, but it is the soul that is understood to be cleansed. The duration and intensity of pain reflects the quality and degree of human sin that must be expunged before the soul can enjoy the beatific vision. Purgatory’s place and function in Christian belief and teaching is complex and has evolved over the centuries. Modern Catholic teaching on Purgatory rests on both scripture and tradition as articulated at the Second Vatican Council (Denzinger-Hünermann 2012: 4212). Thus, in addition to scriptural proof, modern believers give authority to theological and historical interpretation in asserting the existence of Purgatory and its salvific efficacy. However, the idea of postmortem purgation is ancient and is attested widely in many religious systems. Purgatory’s origins and history in Christian thought continues to be debated in modern scholarship. Sources for understanding the theology and practices associated with a belief in Purgatory include: scriptural interpretation, theological argument and speculation, visionary literature and apparitions, cultural traditions, anti-heretical affirmations, and papal and conciliar pronouncements. Belief in Purgatory involves the believer in intercessory practices aimed at establishing a continuing and beneficial relationship with the dead, and encourages a close connection between the believer and the liturgical services and pastoral guidance that the church provides. Yet even within Catholic theology there is a longstanding note of caution about claiming knowledge of the afterlife. As expressed in the ‘Letter on Certain Questions Concerning Eschatology’ published by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1979, confirmed by Pope John Paul II, ‘[n]either Scripture nor theology provides sufficient light for a proper picture of life after death’ (Denzinger-Hünermann 2012: 4659). For this reason, Purgatory’s existence and mode of operation is open to many interpretations. A long history of developing thought about many aspects of Christian life undergirds such a belief. Scripture and tradition (or history) guides any discussion of Purgatory as a theological belief. Historically, most of the basic elements of Purgatory were forged in the Middle Ages and so much of this article focuses on medieval theology; later approaches are largely refinements or modernizations of medieval views. This article approaches the evolution of the theology of Purgatory from three directions: an explication of Purgatory’s origins and functioning as explained in early theological writings (sections 1–5); how Purgatory achieved doctrinal status and how it influenced religious belief (section 6); and the reception of Purgatory in the modern era (sections 7–8).

The article aims to shed more light on how the late medieval Czech dialogue Rozmlouvání člověka se Smrtí engages with eschatology. Firstly, it focuses on death; mainly that despite the dreadful descriptions of dying the poem maintains that death is a righteous, necessary pathway to an adequate afterlife. Attention is also paid to Trost's remark that the personified Death embodies both, the first and the second death. Next, the paper focuses on the soul and the body in the dialogue, i. e. their painful separation and their reunion at the end of times. Lastly, the study touches upon afterlife, expanding Trost's claim about death to concepts of personal and universal eschatology. While striving to capture the overlap of particular and final judgment or hell and second death, it stresses the importance of Death's rejection of purgatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an analysis of eschatological themes in medieval debates between body and soul related to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The oldest poem (after 1320) emphasizes the particular judgment as the dominant eschatological horizon, probably under the influence of the Processus Sathanae. The old Czech translation of Visio Philiberti (ca. 1370) seems to avoid the description of physically conceived pain of a separated soul and stresses the absence of God as the worst punishment. The third old Czech debate (end of the 14th c.) underlines the loving bond between human composites, further accentuated in a contemporary Latin prose debate between body and soul by the archbishop of Prague John of Jenstein in his Liber dialogorum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the resonance of Dante and his Commedia for those experiencing incarceration. Topics include the parallels between the punishments in Hell and Purgatory and the conditions faced by prisoners, the historical use of Dante's work to describe the experience of captivity from medieval times to the twentieth century, and the role of prison writing.

This article revisits the question of Virgil's salvation in Dante's Commedia. It does so by following Virgil's rather than Dante's experiences as they descend into Hell and ascend Purgatory. A close reading of the text suggests that Dante is opening up to the reader the possibility of an extended mission for Virgil. Just as Virgil leaves Limbo to guide Dante's conversion, so does his expected return to Limbo carry with it the potential for Christian conversion of the virtuous pagans awaiting him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on Christian East–West relations usually centres on the “usual suspects”: papal primacy, the filioque and core doctrine in general, the interpretation of Scripture, ecclesiology, and so on. This review article of Edward Siecienski’s Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory explores other issues that divide East and West, particularly those that may be approached via material ecologies: Fire, Beards, and Bread. “Bread” as in the debate on the Azymes, following Siecienski’s 2023 book; “Beards” as in the beardfullness or beardlessness of clerics; and “Fire” as in ignis purgatorius, yet at an even wider scale, the very fire of Gehenna: the question of the hereafter and the location of the dividing line between doctrine and theologoumena. Thus, a wider spectrum of the debate emerges, with which the present review article aspires to familiarize its readers.

This article attempts to trace the influence of the Purgatory controversy at the Council of Ferrara-Florence (04.06–17.07.1438) on the theological tradition of subsequent centuries. First of all, the question is considered as to what extent the academic theology of the 17th–19th century, based on the so-called «Symbolic books», follows the position of St. Mark Eugenicus, who was the first to formulate a systematic Orthodox answer to the problem of Purgatory. Comparison of the texts of the Mark’s speeches with the doctrine concerning the fate of souls after the private judgment of God, expressed in the «Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church» by patr. Dositheos Notaras (the text is better known as the «Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs» of 1723), has shown that the «Confession» closely follows St. Mark’s views in all its main positions and reproduces his judgments quite accurately. The general conclusion about the relative closeness of the doctrine of Purgatory (with the exception of the idea of a «cleansing fire», in which suffering allegedly has a propitious meaning) to Orthodox views turns out to be quite exactly consistent with the position of St. Mark. All this allows concluding that the widespread opinion about the «Latin pseudomorphosis» of Orthodox doctrine in the dogmatic documents of the early Modern period turns out to be incorrect, at least in this respect.

In this transitory age for public intellectuals, faculty must wisely negotiate the differences between public and private communication. The work of public intellectuals in colleges and universities raises questions about the methods used to assess the impact this work and the modes of communication with the lay public. This chapter discusses the pervasive nature of social media in the lives of public intellectuals and to what end the platforms they utilize can be leveraged in positive ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses appearance of Catholic doctrine of purgatory in game World of Warcraft, and mentions use of fantasy for accessing ideas. Topics discussed include survey of Entertainment Software Association on game players in the U.S., inclusion of visual representation, narrative and sound in video games art, and boost in gaming seen during the pandemic.