The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1917-03-15
THE .JEFFERSONIAN

house steak at a dollar pound, but you'd have
to live on the horns and the hoofs.
An interested friend of mine sends the fol-
lowing:
To the Editor of The Jeffersonian.
Dear Sir: In view of the fact that our country
is rapidly passing out of it's old-tme individuality
and taking order which in several IN
stances has become almost wholly Roman Cath
Ollie, and without any known opposition is domi-
mating the political affairs -of a majority OF our
legislation it has become important that our peo-
pie should know something Of the history and
occupations Of coming rulers: their beliefs,
teachings and what happened to the morals and
politics Of the nations which have been under their
control For these reasons the following brief
(skeleton) account of Purgatory, of its most
thrifty enterprises, has been written for the JET
fersonian and it's readers.
Purgatory is the name of a place of purgation
in which souls, according to the Roman Catholic
church, after death either are purified from their
yenial sins or undergo temporal punishment which,
after the guilt of mortal sin has been RENTED,
remains to be endured by the sinner. 1t has
been claimed from time to time by the Fathers
who invented, later by the priests and generally
by the laity that certain part of the foundation
comes from the Bible, and they rely upon the
following passages to sustain their assumptions:
Matthew 1892, in which there is no word about
Purgatory but it~mentions the world to come;
Luke, 1913, not word to warrant belief in ex
istence; / Cor lib, cannot IN the least be made
to apply; 1 Cor. 1929 word about Purgatory.
Romsh authorities have argued from these and
other passages in the Scriptures that they war
rant belief in the existence of their Purgatory.
They also quote the early Fathers who believed
and advocated its existence. But what were the
conditions for this belief and assertions Why
were they then to be found any more than today?
How at the beginning of the Seventh century
Gregory the Great announced the existence OF
Purgatory in all the fullness Of it's modern work
ing order-proft taking details. He might be
called the midwife of the mother who brought it
forth to the world as new discovery.
The Greek and Latin Fathers who have upheld
the existence Of PurgatOry do not agree about the
location, manner of suffering, duration Of punish
ment, the quality and quantity of sin must one
have enjoyed earth to enable the soul to get
in, the length of time to be served for each
offense, is each sinner to be judged separately, by
who what power setting in authority, when
found sufficiently purgated, how does the purgated
sinner get out, and where does he go? Surely
such a place this alleged Purgatory, it's chief
clothed with power to detain souls on their way
to SALVATION should make known some facts going
to prove that the Creator, at least, was consulted
or had a hand in the making. But far
known there is not single existing fact sus-
tanning belief that the Creator had anything TO
do with it. On the contrary we do know that the
existence of Purgatory rests upon naked assertions
of the Fathers and the DEGREES of councils which
since their time have been sustained by the actvl
ties OF Latin church officials and always for sub
stantial additions to church offerings
ROBT. c. HAWKINS.
NV understanding of the matter is, that
Papa bases his Purgatory on the passage in
Maccabees, where the statement is made about
its being wholesome practice to offer prayers
for the dead
But the Purgatory of the Romanists is al
together different proposition from anything
contained in the Old Testament, Or in any of
the religions of antiquity.
Briefly stated, Papa's Purgatory is this:
The Saints of the Church possessed more
"grace" than was necessary to their own eter
nal salvation; and when they died, the sur
plus of merit, over and above what they
needed for themselves, passed into kind of
Spiritual Bank. Of which Papa is President