So, Purgatory and the Roman Catholic Church must be with God. Since there hasn't been a swift destruction. Right?

I don't see that verse referring to the RCC or any church.  I would take it to mean when you die, you either go to Hell or Heaven.  Swiftly.


My belief from the WCF

CHAPTER 32

Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead.

I. The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption;a but their souls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.b The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;c and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day.d Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledgeth none.

a Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36.
b Luke 23:43; Eccl. 12:7.
c Heb. 12:23; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; Phil. 1:23 with Acts 3:21 and Eph. 4:10.
d Luke 16:23,24; Acts 1:25; Jude ver. 6,7; 1 Pet. 3:19.

II. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed:e and all the dead shall be raised up, with the self-same bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls for ever.f

e 1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:51,52.
f Job 19:26,27; 1 Cor. 15:42-44.

III. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.g

g Acts 24:15; John 5:28,29; 1 Cor. 15:43; Phil. 3:21.

In Rev 3:11 Jesus said "Behold, I come quickly". Almost 2000 years later and we're still waiting... was Jesus wrong?

No, there may be a delay, but when things happen - the rate at which it happens will be swift.

2 Peter 2:1 'swift' - G5031 tachinos
Revelation 3:11 'quickly' - G5035 tachy
Same root word (G5036 tachos) is used in both verses (from which we get tachometer).

Thanks for the rerun, TWIRE.  Good food for thought.

<-- Cradle Catholic who has never struggled with the idea of purgatory.  Traditionally speaking, Dismas (the good thief) died after Jesus so not only did he have a painful punishment for his crimes, he professed his faith AND watched Jesus die.  If that is not a period of purgation, I don't know what could be.

I'll agree with you on one thing. We do not know God's time.
TWIRE wrote an excellent post on semantics and context. Well worth the read.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_135/1963461_I-never-said-you-stole-that-money.html

As a non Catholic, I ask to gain knowledge...according to the RCC, if someone is dying and a Priest in good standing is by their side, they receive the Eucharist and confession, I guess in the reverse order of what I typed, then die, do they go to purgatory? What would they have to have purged?

So I thought and prayed on this one a bit, and did a little research.

One of the most succinct answers lies within the Apostle's Creed, which many of us recite regularly.



I reviewed some of the FAQ's on the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's website, found here. --> LCMS FAQ

There were some good brief descriptions of the decent into Hell referenced in 1 Peter 3:19:



From the LCMS Website:



When I was a kid I used to always think it was an odd concept, but learned in church, day school, and Sunday School that Christ defeated the Devil.  So in my simple mind then I always envisioned Jesus going down into Hell, and physically fighting the devil much like a classic Superhero vs. Super-villain in a movie or comic book or something.   And since he won the fight, he rose again and defeated death and the Devil.    Probably not what really happened, but how I got my head around it when I was a child.

Little or nothing IMO. But relatively few die in such a way.

Where do non-Catholic's go who are born again believers when they die according to the Catholic church?

Always a reasonable source

According to Padre Pio  this is correct. We have to made pure to enter the presence of the Lord.
St. Bridgett of Sweden also was shown the torments of purgatory.

This sticks in my thoughts regarding Padre Pio though... He said, that purgatory is as awful as hell and sometimes worse. We should always pray for the dead to be released from purgatory. The biggest difference between hell and purgatory is that there is no chance of ever being in the presence of God. Padre Pio described THAT as being the unquenchable fire. God is all love and all good. Hell is the absence of God.

I happened upon these verses this morning in context of another subject, but thought it fitting to post.

Zechariah 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that inall the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and
die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the
third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is
refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.

The significance is that within the timeline of this particular book, the Jews have already been delivered and judged in these prophesies. So if they are already judged why would they need further refinement?
Zechariah 14:21 Andevery cauldron in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sanctified to the Lord
of hosts: and all that sacrifice shall come, and take of them, and
shall seethe in them: and the merchant shall be no more in the house
of the Lord of hosts in that day.


The kingdom is restored (yes, this is a prophecy of Messiah's second coming) and yet they are still offering sacrifice. Why would God command further sacrifice?

Good reading for sure.  Just remember that the Old Testament is the "Old Covenant" and after Christ's death and resurrection, a "New Covenant" was formed between God and His people.   That doesn't invalidate the Old Testament, but rather further strengthens exactly what Christ came to do by fulfilling those Old Testament prophesies.