The Seventh sip of the wine of Babylon we JL shall name "Barter in Masses and Purgatory." The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice of the mass, as offered by the priest, serves as a propitiation for sin, and is also a means of obtaining graces and blessings from God. The following quotations reveal the position which that church holds respecting the efficacy of the mass to liberate souls from the fires of purgatory:
"Christian revelation teaches us that besides heaven into which no imperfection can enter, and hell from which there is no redemption, there is a state in which the souls of the just who in this life were not perfectly cleansed, shall undergo purifying suffering before being admitted into heaven. This state of purgation is properly called purgatory. The defined teaching of the church is expressed in the words of the Council of Trent: 'That there is a purgatory and that the souls detained there are benefited by the prayers of the faithful and especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar."
"The souls who go to purgatory are saved. They are certain of heaven, and shall reach it as soon as they are prepared for it. Purgatory has been called the vestibule of heaven. The power to merit has passed with the time of probation- In purgatory the souls can themselves wipe out their debt only by suffering. Yet purgatory speaks of forgiveness as well as penalty-of penalty on the part of those who suffer there; of forgiveness on the part of God who is moved by the prayers and good works of the living to remit that penalty either wholly or in part."[1]
"All the souls in purgatory have died in the love of God, and are certain to enter heaven. But as yet they are not pure and holy enough to see God, and God's mercy allots them a place and a time for cleansing and preparation."[2]
"There are souls condemned to burn in purgatory till the day of judgment."[3]
"How long are the souls in purgatory? How long will you be there? Let us give to each venial sin one day in purgatory, and suppose that each day you commit 30 faults. Therefore, to every day of your life 3o days in purgatory will answer: to every year, 30 years; to 50, 1,500 years; to 60, 1,800. Immortal God, what an astonishing payment! Add to the venial sins some mortal sin, absolved indeed, as far as the guilt goes, but not paid for entirely as far as punishment goes. How many other centuries of years in purgatory!"[4]
Many Roman Catholic writers admit that the doctrine of purgatory is not taught in the Bible:
"We would appeal to those general principles of Scripture rather than to particular texts often alleged in proof of purgatory. We doubt if they contain an explicit and direct reference to it."[5]
Cardinal Wiseman admits that a Roman Catholic "could not discover in it [the Bible] one word of purgatory."[6]
This doctrine of purgatory is used to hold the communicants of the papal church in abject fear as well as to enlarge its coffers, as the following shows:
"Look back to the bedside of death. You clasped a hand and said, 'I'll remember you always.' When the life of your mother or father or friend had just reached its course, in that most solemn, most weighty of man's moments, you promised you would be faithful. What is the efficacy of that promise now? Is that same soul still waiting at another Pool of Bethsaida for the movement of the waters?
"Could we see these dear souls in purgatory we would not forget them. They cry out in thirst while we sit and drink. They are weary with restlessness while we do be, sleeping. They are sore with grievous pain while we are playing. They are eaten up with burning fire while we are feasting. They cry out for help from those who once held them dear. They plead that you have the pity, the prayers, the sacrifices that you promised.
"By prayer we temper the agonies of the souls in purgatory. We hasten their liberation by sacrifice. What are we as individuals doing for our dead? It is one of the mysteries of life that we forget so easily those who have gone before us, when to remember them where remembrance is most efficacious is at the disposal of us all. In the words of the Council of Trent, 'There is a purgatory and the souls there detained are assisted by the suffrages; of the faithful, especially by the most acceptable sacrifice of the altar.' Let us remember our dead at mass. Let us have masses said for them."[7]
If words mean anything, such an appeal surely touches the heart of the most adamant person. Who would not be willing to make any sacrifice possible to have masses offered, if they would temper the fires and lessen the period of suffering of the departed loved one? Is it not cruel of that church to take advantage of any one in the hour of his bereavement?
The uncertainties which are attached to the efficacy and validity of the mass is also something to awaken serious thought:
"All masses and prayers for the dead," says one writer, "are applied 'by way of suffrage'-that is, are dependent on God's secret mercy and will, who in His infinite justice may apply to another soul altogether the masses said for a certain individual. Non-Catholics generally think that 500 masses have 500 times the efficacy of one. This is not the case. The value of each mass is infinite, but we never know with perfect certainty whether or not God has applied it to the individual soul for whom it has been offered, although we do know He answers all our prayers."[8]
A still further authentic statement on this point is: "No one can be certain, with the certainty of faith, that he receives a true sacrament, because the sacrament cannot be valid without the intention of the minister, and no man can see another's intention."[9]
While theologians may deal in uncertainties, the Lord does not. With our immutable God there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)
Christ never repels any poor soul who needs His help. "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) No matter how far souls may have drifted in the ocean-of sin, Christ "Is able also to save them to the uttermost." (Hebrews 7:25) Yes, without the aid of money or suffrage of any human being, whether priest or lay member. The invitation which the Lord gives in the following scripture is addressed to both rich and poor alike. "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he that hath no money; come you, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1) The poor as well as the rich may be the recipients of God's grace.
Salvation is a "free gift," bestowed on the merits of Jesus Christ. Since it is a gift, it is therefore something that cannot be purchased. "The gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) When offered money for the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter refused to accept it and rebuked Simon severely for thinking that the favor of God could be purchased with money. " But. Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou has thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou has neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." (Acts 8:20-23)
How wonderful it would be if those who profess to be followers of Peter would pursue a similar course! If they did, traffic in masses and the sale of indulgences would soon disappear. If the purchasing of the favor of God was not permitted for the living in the days of the apostles, how can we conceive- of its being allowed now in behalf of the dead, whose probation is ended? Money can secure many things in this life, but Christ assures us that it will avail nothing in the hereafter. "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. ... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:23,24)
As Christ taught the people, He made it very plain that a person possessing great riches does not have any premium on heaven. If the Lord intended that the offering of masses (which involves the payment of money) for the liberation of souls from the penalties of sin could save men, He never would have made this statement about the man who is rich. On the contrary, He would have recommended riches as a means of obtaining salvation. According to the papal doctrine, Roman Catholics have their credit in eternal rewards. Inasmuch as money plays such a part in the stipend, or tax, fixed by the bishop for the celebration of the mass, it naturally would be a great advantage' to have such sums as are necessary to meet the demands, so that the special fruits of a larger number of masses could be obtained.
The dreadful description of the torments endured by those who are confined to the imaginary fires of the purgatorial regions is constantly kept before the devout of the papal church by designing priests. The terror that is awakened induces the listeners to leave nothing untried to shorten their period of suffering in purgatory, and, if possible, to escape it altogether. Time has not effaced the indelible impression made upon my mind by what I heard while attending a mission at my parish church. The presiding monk stressed the point of failing to confess mortal as well as venial sins to the priest, and told the following story:
A young lady, in company with her brother, committed 'a sin. What the sin was, he failed to say. (This no doubt was purposely omitted so as to make the hearer wonder if he had perhaps committed the same sin.) The brother confessed the sin to the priest and received absolution. The sister, however, did not. The withholding of confession is sometimes due to fear. Shortly after, she took ill, and no cure could be found -for her malady. She was supposed to be suffering under divine retribution. Just as life was ebbing away, she began all at once to tear the hair out of her head, her eyes glared as balls of fire, and her tongue protruded out of her mouth. In desperation her family called the priest. As he entered the room, she exclaimed: "Away with you, holy father! I am already damned, for the gates of hell now are opened to me, and I can feel the tortures of the inferno to which I am to be confined forever and ever!"
Listening to such teaching, my youthful mind could not conceive of God as a loving Father, or of Christ as having died for my sins because He loved me. God was pictured as a tyrant ever seeking to execute vengeance upon all who were guilty of mortal sin. So fearful was I that I might fail to confess to the priest all my sins and consequently be confined at death to the fires of purgatory or hell, that I wished a thousand times I had never been born. Only those who have passed through the experience can understand what fear and suffering harass the mind of the devout Roman Catholic. The only remedy for a sin sick soul is to be taught and led by God's word as found in the Sacred Bible, and the only way that real peace can be assured is by keeping His commandments with the help of the grace of Christ. "Thus says the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teaches thee to profit, which leads thee by the way that thou should go. O that thou had hearkened to My commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." (Isaiah 48:17,18)
Instead of seeking God with contrition of heart and asking for power to live in obedience to the Ten Commandments, the one burdened with sins is taught by Romanism to seek plenary indulgence, to resort to pilgrimages, and to appeal to everything that the human mind can devise for the purpose of expiating sins. Can any human effort erase the stain of sin from a guilty soul? "For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the Lord God." (Jeremiah 2:22) If fire, or chemicals, could cleanse a soul from the defilement of sin, it would not have been necessary for Christ to have died. The papal purging by fire after death annuls the complete atonement which was made by Christ. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) What has God provided to cleanse us from all sins? "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Thus it is the blood of Christ, and not the fire of a purgatory, that purifies a soul for heaven. These texts should settle forever the question concerning venial sins, which are the lesser evils, and for which souls are consigned to purgatory to be purged by burning. It is always a puzzling question to many to differentiate between venial sins and mortal sins. It is the mortal sins that the priest forgives in confession. Papal doctrine holds that if they are not confessed, the one who commits them is doomed to the fires of hell, out of which there is no redemption. God declares that "all unrighteousness is sin," and He does not divide evil deeds into mortal and venial sins. Although we have a God who does not condone sin in any of us, regardless of its character, He gives us the tender invitation to come and reason together with Him. Not to the priest, and not to the confessional, but where we may be, with the assurance that "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
It is while we are living that the invitation to come to the Lord holds good, not when we are dead, for He says: "They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. " (Isaiah 38:18) " The dead know not anything. " (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24) was given by Christ for the purpose of showing the utter depravity of the human heart. Sinful man has nothing to satisfy the just claims of God's broken law; his filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) must be exchanged for the white raiment (Revelation 3:5,18; 19:8) woven in the loom of heaven. Were it not for our heavenly Father's love and tender mercy, the prodigal would never be accepted as a son. How happy and appreciative we should be for the provision there is in the gospel of Jesus Christ for our salvation without the meritorious works imposed by doctrines and commandments of men.
In summing up the evidence from the Holy Scriptures, we find that the traffic in. masses should be expunged and forever debarred from the belief of all Christian communicants. The Lord desires to have His people accept His plan of salvation in its entirety; and He would have those who have tarried at the Babylonian cup stop imbibing its mysterious brew.
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