Purgatory: The Commodity of the Soul of the Roman Catholic Church

I was told by persecutors of the Church of Christ, mostly Catholics, that the Church of Christ is not really a religion, but rather a group posing as a religion of Christ and looking to make money by collecting money from its members.

However, when I joined the Church and took an active part in its activities, I learned that this church (Church of Christ) is really the Church founded by Christ and is always doing everything possible to bring its members to the state worthy of receiving the promised salvation. on the day of judgment.

And after learning the truth recorded in the Bible, I realized that the religion of the majority of the persecutors of the Church of Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church, is actually the one that makes money from their religious businesses that are not they are taught by Christ and His Apostles. One of these businesses is the “Soul Merchandise” of the Roman Catholic Church which is based on their invented doctrine of Purgatory.

We know that the doctrine of Purgatory is not a biblical doctrine as revealed by Allan Sckreck in his book, “Catholics and Christians”, p. 195:

“Scripture and Christian tradition no doubt affirm that heaven and hell exist, but what about that mysterious ‘third estate’ that Catholics and some other Christians call ‘Purgatory.’ The term itself is not found in the Bible, but in the same way that it said of other important Christian doctrines, such as the terms ‘Trinity’ and ‘Incarnation’.

Since it is not found in the Bible, it is not Christ or the Apostles who taught this doctrine. So who introduced this doctrine to the Church? According to Paul Witcomb, this doctrine was received from the early Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church:

“…The early Church Fathers considered the doctrine of Purgatory to be one of the basic principles of the Christian faith. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest doctors of the Church, said that the doctrine of Purgatory ‘has been received from the Fathers and is observed by the Universal Church’. True, the word ‘Purgatory’ does not appear in the Bible…” (The Catholic Church Has the Answer, pp. 32-33)

However, it did not immediately become an official doctrine. It was first proclaimed in 1438. That was hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years after the death of the Apostles. And then, after several years, it was confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church as revealed by Loraine Boettner:

“The doctrine was proclaimed an article of faith in 1438, by the Council of Florence, and was later confirmed by the Council of Trent, in 1548.” (Roman Catholicism, p. 229)

Learning this truth made me ask this: Why did the Roman Catholic Church invent the doctrine of Purgatory? Is it for the good of the souls of men or for the treasury of the Roman Catholic Church? And another author of the book responded to this question:

“Now the real reason the Roman Catholic Church borrowed the imaginary purification system from the pagans was based entirely on a mercenary and lucrative scheme that would (and did) enrich the Church. This was one of the things that infuriated Martin Luther to the point of nailing his famous ’95 Theses’ on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg”. (My deliverance from the heresies of Rome, by Harry Hampel, p. 83)

The very reason is to make money. The doctrine of purgatory is only for the treasury of the Roman Catholic church.

Of course, Purgatory itself could not bring money to the Church. It is done by joining the doctrine of Purgatory with another invented doctrine of “Indulgence”, which is defined as:

“The practice by which a person could pay money to the church or do a good deed and obtain remission of temporal punishment due to sin. After the Protestant Reformation, cash no longer became an acceptable way of obtaining an indulgence.” (religioustolerance.org)

And what does the Bible call this type of business? The book of Revelation of the apostle John calls it the “Merchandise of the soul of men”:

11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over it, because no one buys their wares anymore: 12 wares of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of citron wood, all kinds of objects of ivory, all kinds of objects of precious wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, aromatic oil and incense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cows and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.(Revelation 18:11-13, NKJV)

No wonder the Roman Catholic Church sells souls. The Bible knows this.