Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Church That Is in Purgatory · Book I: On Purgatory
Chapter 2: On the errors about purgatory
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Ecclesia quae est in Purgatorio, Book I, the third general controversy. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
There have been many errors about purgatory, and contrary to one another. The first of all who thought anything against purgatory seems to have been Aerius, who, as Epiphanius witnesses in heresy 75, and Augustine in heresy 53, taught that prayer is not to be made for the dead; for from this it follows either that they do not need prayers, or that they cannot be helped, either of which is repugnant to purgatory, at least as it exists in the manner in which it is set forth by the Church.
But the Waldensians expressly denied purgatory, as Guido the Carmelite in the Summa on heretics and blessed Antoninus, part 4, title 11, chapter 7, paragraph 2, of the Summa of theology report. The same was taught by the Apostolics in blessed Bernard, sermon 66 on the Canticle; and perhaps the Waldensians are the offspring of the Apostolics, for they agree in the errors attributed to them, and are near in time. For the sect of the Waldensians arose about the year of the Lord 1160 according to the Chronicle of Trithemius, or 1170 according to Guido in his Summa, chapter 1, and Reinerius, who flourished three hundred years ago, whose testimony see at the end of the book of Claude Coussord against the Waldensians. But the Apostolics are a little older, for they arose in the time of blessed Bernard, who died in the year 1153; and that the Waldensians themselves also wished to be called Apostolics, because they followed the poverty of the apostles, is manifest from their own history, in Aemilius, book 6 on the deeds of the Franks, and the Abbot of Ursperg in the Chronicle of the year 1212. The same as the Waldensians was taught at the same time by Henry and Peter of Bruys, against whom blessed Bernard writes in epistle 240, and Peter of Cluny in the epistle to all the bishops. The same was taught afterwards by the Albigensians, who however removed not only purgatory but hell as well, as blessed Antoninus witnesses, part 4, title 11, chapter 7, paragraph 5. The same is attributed to the Wycliffites and Hussites by Bernard of Luxembourg in the preface of his book on purgatory, but perhaps falsely, since neither the Council of Constance nor Thomas Waldensis attributes anything of the kind to them; and Aeneas Sylvius, who also counts this among the errors of the Hussites in the book on the origin of the Bohemians, chapter 35, seems to confuse the Hussites with the Waldensians. The same is attributed to the Armenians and the Greeks by Guido the Carmelite in the Summa on heretics; and although the Greeks themselves in the Council of Ferrara, session 1, affirmed that they did not deny purgatory, but only the fire, and thought purgatory to be a dark place full of labours, yet it is credible that the Greeks were at least suspected of this heresy; for blessed Thomas in the little work against the Greeks refutes this error also and proves that there is a purgatory, and in the Council of Florence, last session, the same error was condemned, whereas in that council only the errors of the Greeks were condemned, or at least those of which the Greeks were suspected.
Finally Luther, and all his successors, although cut up into various sects, agree at least in this, that they take away purgatory; although Luther himself was very changeable. For at first he admitted purgatory in a plainly Catholic way; for in the disputation at Leipzig, which still exists, he says: “I, who believe firmly, indeed I dare say, I know that there is a purgatory, am easily persuaded that mention is made of it in the Scriptures.” Then he admitted purgatory indeed, but with many errors mixed in. The first error was that purgatory cannot be proved from the Scriptures. The second, that souls in purgatory are not certain of obtaining salvation. The third, that souls in purgatory can merit and demerit. The fourth, that souls in purgatory sin without intermission, while they dread the punishments and seek rest. The fifth, that souls which are freed through the suffrages of the Church are less blessed than if they had satisfied by themselves. These five are found among the articles condemned by Leo, at the end. Last, he simply removed purgatory and the suffrages for the dead, and asserted that there is no purgatory after this life, but only in life and in death; for the horror and pain of death purge, if anything remains to be purged. So he taught in the book on the abrogation of the private Mass, where he says it is better to deny purgatory altogether than to believe blessed Gregory reporting apparitions of souls asking for suffrages; and in the book to the Waldensians on the Eucharist: “When,” he says, “you deny purgatory, you condemn Masses, vigils, convents, monasteries, and whatever has been raised up through this imposture; and I approve it in everything.” This last all the heretics of this time have followed: the rigid Lutherans, as the Centuriators, century 1, book 2, chapter 4, column 460, and century 4, chapter 4, column 304; the soft Lutherans, as Philip in the Loci, chapter on satisfaction, and Brenz in the Wurttemberg Confession, chapter on purgatory; likewise the Zwinglians in Cochlaeus, in the acts of Luther of the year 1526; likewise Bernardino Ochino in the dialogue on purgatory; Calvin, book 3 of the Institutes, chapter 5, paragraph 6, where he says that purgatory is a deadly invention of Satan, which makes void the cross of Christ, which inflicts an intolerable insult on the mercy of God, which weakens and overthrows our faith. Peter Martyr, on chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians, says two things: first, that whether there is or is not a purgatory, it is certainly not a doctrine of faith; second, he says that it is not even probable that purgatory exists. Finally the Trinitarian Anabaptists, book 2, chapter 1, of those which they lately published in the year 1567, say that Luther laid the foundation of the reformation of the Church when he removed purgatory, Masses and the like. The foundation of all the Lutherans is that they take away satisfaction and the distinction of mortal sin from venial; for once that foundation is laid, it necessarily follows that there is no purgatory.
Further, there have not been lacking those who so far approved purgatory that they acknowledged no punishments after this life except purgatorial ones. So Origen thought, who promises salvation at last to all ungodly men and to the demons, as Epiphanius reports in the epistle to John of Jerusalem, and Augustine in book 21 of the City of God, chapter 17, where he adds the opinion of others who acknowledged only purgatorial punishments not indeed for the demons, but yet for all men; and in the same book 21, chapter 13, he says that this was the opinion of the Platonists, namely that there is no punishment after this life except a purgatorial one, and proves it from those verses of Virgil in the sixth book of the Aeneid: “Nay, even when life has left them with the last light, not every ill departs from the wretched, nor all bodily plagues wholly; and it must needs be that many things long grown together should harden in wondrous ways. Therefore they are schooled with punishments, and pay the penalties of old evils,” and so on. Although in the works of Plato himself we read otherwise; for in the Phaedo and the Gorgias he makes three kinds of men among those who are summoned to judgment after death. One of those who lived piously and justly, and these he says are at once sent over to the islands of the blessed. Another of those who committed curable sins, and these he asserts are exercised with punishments for a time, until the crime is washed out. A third of those who committed incurable sins, and these he says are cast down into Tartarus to be punished for ever, whose torments profit themselves indeed nothing, but yet profit others as an example; and Virgil too did not pass this over in silence, where he says in Aeneid 6: “There sits, and for ever shall sit, unhappy Theseus, and Phlegyas most wretched warns them all, and cries with a great voice through the shades: Be warned, learn justice, and not to scorn the gods.” But enough of these things.
The whole disputation is contained in ten heads. First, we shall show that there is a purgatory. Second, that this is to be held by faith. Third, to what persons it applies, whether to the just, or to all sinners, or only to some. Fourth, on the state of those who are in purgatory, namely whether they are certain of salvation. Fifth, whether they can merit and demerit. Sixth, on the place of purgatory. Seventh, on the time it lasts. Eighth, on the punishment itself, of what kind it is and by whom it is inflicted. Ninth, on the remedy of the punishment. Tenth, on the burial of bodies.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT II.
De erroribus circa purgatorium.
Multi, cl inler se conlrarii errores fuerunl de
purgalorio. Prinius omnium , qui aiiquid sensit
contra purgaloriuin. vidnlur fuissc Acrius, qni lc-
stc Kpiphauio hacrcs, 7."». cl Aunuslino hai^rfs.
.'»;{. docuit. non cssc pro dcrunctis oraiidiim, lliiic
cnim scquitur, aul non cgcrc prccihus , aut nou
posse juvari , quorum utruwquo purgatorio ropu-
pnal, sallcm co modo cxistcnti, (pio ab Ecclcsia
pouitur.
Diserlc aulein purgalorium ncgavcrunt Waldcn-
scs, ut (luido Carmclila in Summa do luKTClicis
cl b. Anloninus 4. part. til. II. cap. 7. § 2. sum-
mao Ihoologiac rcfcrunt.
Idem docucrunt aposlolici apud b, Hcrnardum
scrm. G(), in canlicet fortc W.ildonses iiroles sunt
aposlolicorum; nam in crroribus, qui eis tribuun-
tur, conveniunt, ct tcmporo sunl vicini. Nam Wal-
dcnsium sccta exorta csl circa annumDomini 1 100.
juxta Trithemii Clironicuni, vcl 1170. ju\ta Guido-
ncm in sua Summa cap. 1. el Rcynerium. qui ilo-
ruil anlo annos 300. cujus toslimonium vide in fi-
ne libri Claudii Caussordii conlra Waldenscs. A-
postolici autom sunt paulo antiquiores. nam exorli
sunt lcmporo b. Bcrnardi.qui obiit anno I1j3. vo-
cari autem voluisse aposlolicos, etiam ipsos Wal-
denses , quod apostolorum paupertalem secla-
rontur , manifestum est ex hisloria ipsorum , a-
pud Aemilium lib. 6.do gostis Francorum cl ahba-
tem urspergenscm in Chronico anni 1212.
Idem cum W'adensibus docuerunt eodcm tempo-
re Ilenricus ct Petrus Bruis . contra quos scribit
b. Bernardus epist. 240. el Petrus Cluniacensis in
epistola ad omncs cpiscopos.
Idem postea docuerunt Albigcnscs . qui tamcn
non solum purgalorium, sed cliam infernum lol-
lebant , testis b. Antonin. 4. part. tit. ll.cap.
7. §5.
Idem tribuit Wiclefistis et Hussitis Bernardus
Lutzenburgensis in praefatione hbri sui de purga-
torio, sed fortasso falso, cum nihii lalo eis Iribuat
concilium constantiense, ncc Thomas 'Waldcnsis:
Aencas aulem Sylvius, qui inter errores Hussila-
35i
UL PUHGATOniO
niin hunc eliain uumeral libro dc origine Boenio-
iMun cap. 3o. videlur confundere Hussitas cum
Waldcnsibus.
Idein iribuilur Annenis el Graecis a Guidone
(^armeiila in sumnia de haerelicis , el quainqnam
Graeci ipsi in conciiio ferrarionsi, sess. l.aflirnia-
banlse non negare purgjalorium , sed ignem lan-
lum, cl cxislimare purgalorium esse locum lcne-
J)ricosum el laborum plenum, lainen credibile est
Graecos de hac haeresi sallem suspeclos fuisse ;
nain b. Thoraas in opusculo conlra Graecos refel-
lil eliam hunc errorem el probat , purgatorium
csse, et in concilio florenlino sess. ull. damnatus
esl idem error, cum lamen in eo concilio solum
damnall sint errores Graecorum , aul cerle de
quibus Gracci suspecli erant.
Dcniqne Lulherus, et omnes posleri cjus, licet
in varias seclas dissecti.in hoc lamcn conveniunt,
ul purgalorium tollant , quamquam Lulherus ipse
valde varius fuit. Nam primo , purgaloriuin plane
calholice admiltebat; nam in dispulatione Lipsia-
ca, quae adhuc exslal : Ego, inqnit , qiii credo
fortiter. immo ausim dicere , scio purgalorium
esse, facile persuadeor in Scripturis de eo fieri
mentionem.
Deinde purgalorium admisit quidem, sed mullis
admixtis erroribus. Primus error fuil,purgalorium
non posse probari ex Scripluris. Sccundus , ani-
mas in purgainrio no*esse cerlas de salute con-
sequenda. Tertius.animas in purgatorio possc me-
reri et demereri. Quarlus , aniuias in purgalorio
sinc inlermissione peccare, dum horrenl pocii;is
ct requiem quaftrunl. Quinlus, animas. quae libo-
rantur per suflVagia Ecclesiae, ininus beari, quam
si per se salislecissenl.lsti quinque habentur inler
articulos a Leone damnalos in fino.
Ullimo. simplicitcr suslulil purgalnrium, suffra-
gia pro defnnctis, et assernil nullum esse purgalo-
rium post hanc vilam , sed solum in vila et in
niorte : horror enim et poena mortis pnrgat , si
quid purgandum superest. Ila docuil in lib. de a-
brogaiuia missa privata, nbi dicit melius esse in
tolum ncgare purgatorium, quam credere b. Gre-
gorio refereiiti animarum appariliones , sulTragia
pelentium, el in lib. ad Waldenses de eucharislia:
Cum. inquit, negalis purgatorium.damnatismis-
sas, vigilias, eoeaobia, monasleria, ct quidquid
per hanc imposturam erecium est, per omnia et-
iam probo.
Hoc ullimnm sequuti sunt omnes haeretici hu-
jus temporis. Lullierani rigidi , nt Centuriatores ,
cenlur. 1. lib. 2. cap. 4. col. 460. et cent. 4. cap.
4. coluin. 304. Lutherani molles; ut Philippus in
locis cap. de satisfactione, el Brentius in Confess.
Wirlembergf^nsi, cap. de purgatorio. Item Zvvin-
giiani apud Cochlaenm in aclis Lntiieri anni 1526.
Ileni Bcrnardinus Ochinus in dialogo de purgalo-
rio. Calvinus lib. 3. Inslil. cap. 5. § 6. ubi dicit ,
Purgalorium esse exitiaie Salanae commenlum ,
quod Clirisli crucem evacuat , quod contumeliam
non feiendam Dei misericordiae irrogat, quod fi-
dem noslram iabefacit el evcrtit. Pelrus Marlyr
in c. 3. 1. ad Corinth. duo dicit. Primo . sive sit ,
sivc non sit purgnlorium , cerle non e:se dognia
fidei. Secundo, dicil nec esse probabile purgnlo-
rium existere. Deniciue Aiiabaptistae Trinilarii iib.
2. cap. 1. ex iis, quos nuper ediderunt anno 1367.
dicunt Lulherum jecisse tundamenlura reformatio-
nis Ecclesiae. cuin purgalorium , missas et sim;-
lia suslulil ; Fuiidamenluin omniuin Lulhcrano-
rum est, quia lolliinl salisfaclionem et discrimeu
peccati mortalis a veniaii ; islo enim fundamento
posilo, necessario sequilur nullum esse purgalo-
rium.
Porro non defuerunt, qui adeo purgatorium pro-
barint, ut nullas poenas nisi purgalorias post hanc
vitani agnoverint. Ita Origenes sensit , qui omni-
bus impiis hominibus, et daemonibus tandem sa-
lulem pollicetur, ut referl Epiphauius in epistol.
ad Joan. hierosolymitanum, cl Auguslinus lib. 21.
de Civit. Dei cap. 17. ubi addit aliorum opinio-
nem, qui non quidem daemonum , sed hominum
tamen omnium poenas solum purgatorias agnosce-
bant, el eodcm lib. 21. cap.l3. dicit eandem sen-
lenliam platonicoriim fuisse, nullam videlicet essa
poenam post banc vitam, nisi purgatoriam, et pro-
bat ex illis Virgilii versibus in 6. Aeneidos.
Quin et siipremo cxm lumine vita reliquil.
Non lamen omtie malum miscri^, nec fuadilus omnei
Corporeae exredunl pexles. peiulnsque necesse est
Mulla dia concrela viodis inolescere miris.
Ercfo oxerccnlur pneni>', veleramque malorum
Hupplicia expendaal elc.
Quamquam in ipsius Plalonis operibus aliud ie-
giinus; nam m Phacdone et in Gorgia , tria facit
hominum genera eorum, qui ad judicium evocan-
tur posl mortem. Unum eorum , qui pic justeque
vixerunt, et hos stalim ad insulas beatorum trans-
milli dicit. Alterum eorum, qui peccala curabilia
perpetrarunt , el hos asscrit ad teinpus exerceri
.poenis, donec scelus cluatnr. Terlium eorum, qui
peccata incurabilia commisernnt , el hos dicit in
tartariim dejici in acternum puniendos , quorum
supplicia ipsis quidem nihil prosint, sed aliis ta-
men prosintad exemplum , el Virgilius quoque id
non tacuit, ubi ait Aeneid. 6.
Sedel, aelernumqae sedebit
Infdix Tlieseus, Phleijiasiiue miserrimus omne^
Admoncl, el mafjna tcsialur voce per umbras:
Discile jusliiiam monili, el non lemnere divos.
Sed de his satis.
Dispulatio tola deccm capitibus continetur. Pri-
mo, oslcndeinus essc purgatorium. Secundo, id
lide lcnendum. Terlio. quibus personis convenial,
an justis, an peccatoribus omnibus. an quibusdani
tanluni. Quarto, de slatu eorum qui sunt in purga-
lorio, an videlicet certi sinl de salute. Quinto.pos-
sinl ne inercri ac demereri. Sexto, de loco purga-
lorii. Septimo, de teinpore quo durat. Octavo, dc
ipsa poena, qualis sil et a quibus infligatur. No-
no, dc remedio poenae. Decimo, de sepullura cor-
porum.
I ll.l.lt IIUMIS
J^t