Purgatory Revised

There was recently a Radio 4 In Our Time on Purgatory-- or maybe I only found it recently. It told me a lot I did not previously know, for example that virtually everyone went to Purgatory and got out of it to Heaven eventually, but that the being there was appallingly painful, that was why it was worth taking steps to try to get people out earlier. --My own hunch, such as it is, is that we do get a thorough cleaning-up after death, and I know what some of that might be like. With the mother of two of my son's children I was on one occasion absolutely required to be supportive though it was the last thing I felt like doing. That process of being coerced by circumstances into doing a generous act which does not come at all naturally could easily be part of a cleaning-up. But Purgatory has to be about turning one into the best imaginable version of one's given self. Some of that must be unwelcome and uncomfortable, but some of it could be comforting. Suppose one's grudgingness is attributable to insecurity? then fixing it means fixing the insecurity-- doesn't it? How lovely.

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Peter's keys

These are the Keys Jesus supposedly awarded to St Peter, the keys of the Kingdom. He gave them to him before Peter promised to stick with him no matter what, and then disowned him three times, but not before Peter had developed the habit of opening his mouth and putting his foot in it. So if this story has some truth to it Jesus selected as Judge a man who would always have to have allowances made for him. (Interestingly, Peter does pass Paul's requirement that an Overseer/ episcopos should be a married man.) I have an amusing but moving image of a sort of Board Meeting in Heaven at which the participants are Jesus, St Peter, and God. They are discussing how humankind are coming along. The impatient one is Jesus who made, allegedly, the biggest and most painful effort to put humankind right. He says "They should be doing better than this by now". Peter, as is his wont, says "But you have to make allowances". And God says "But the suffering, the...

Neighbourliness and Secular Values

I was present some years ago when a senior professor of Christian theology told a Muslim professor that equality between the sexes was a Christian value and not a Muslim one. The Muslim let it pass; I protested. Equality between the sexes has not in general been a Christian value, it has been one most churches have learned, belatedly, from the secular state. In this country women had votes and could stand as MPs decades before most churches accepted women ministers. The picture shows two women counting ballot papers. On some topics the state is a more reliable arbiter than many religious organisations are. Because some religions feel able to threaten people with eternal damnation, they have felt that killing or injuring people to save their immortal souls was Fair Dos. I'm not arguing that the State is always and everywhere a safe guardian, it clearly is not; but a secular state probably will not take sides in religious conflicts. (The secular state becomes a hazard in another...

Responsible Religion

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