Terminology Tuesday: Purgatory
Purgatory: In Catholic theology, the place of purification and maturation that one may need to enter after death before the perfected soul attains the “beatific vision”—that is, perfectly “seeing” and “knowing” the triune God. Protestants have generally rejected the concept as having no basis in Scripture and as denying the significance and finality of mortal life on earth.1
1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 97.