He heard the line from Hebrews: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment" – he thought it spot on!
or are we a branch that gets cut off if it's bad?
Christ is the true vine.
In the Perennial Tradition, the Way is fundamentally the discernment between the Real and the illusory; the Absolute and the contingent; Atma and Maya; the Word of God and the narratives of men.
Catholic Metaphysics (Catholic in its original sense of 'Universal'), by its adamantine rigour, refers to the mystery of the Absolute and contemplates the Infinite.
In authentic 'spirituality' (which is no different from authentic religion – the two are synonymous), the 'way' is to discern intuitively between the Absolute and the relative, and of prolonging this discernment onto planes that are relative.
The contemplative is absorbed, in the 'ground' (to quote Meister Eckhart) of his or her being, in the consciousness of Being Itself.
Regarding Purgatory –
Sin is not a 'thing'. It's not in the act, it's in the intent. Sin itself has no 'substance' other than what we will. There is no Transcendent Truth in it, no Reality it it, no Beauty in it ... it's a narrative we create, or lend ourselves to.
This narrative purports to be a 'way', whereas it leads nowhere because it's goal is imagined and without foundation in the Real. If we pursue it, the road is endless because it has no end in the eternal ... this is the symbol of ouroborus, the worm eating its tail. At some point, we run out of gas, or kid ourselves we have 'arrived'.
Sin is most addictive, because it is empty of the essence it promises (some order of gratification), and the sinner is never satisfied, but always wants more.
If we think of God as the Word, and Creation His song, then sin is a false narrative.
If one seeks the good (as opposed to my gratification), then one is singing the true song, no matter how imperfectly or unknowingly.
Oh tell me, how does purgatory work in a nutshell? Or could you provide me an article (relatively short, I hope) that explains it?
You die, and you meet Christ, and your eyes are opened, and you see your faults for what they are. You see that the song you were singing is perhaps not quite the song you thought it was.
And He says "I can fix that, if you want?"
I would look at Purgatory as a period of embarrassment.
You mean like the kind of atrocities that are recorded in the OT?
Like the ones going on in our name every day.
'The text' Tradition has preserved includes the entire OT too, doesn't it?
But our understanding grow as we 'unpack' it ... It's a shame Bananabrain has stopped posting, because he could have answered this for you from a contemporary Jewish perspective.
Short answer: God does not will evil. genocide is evil.
I still don't get a clear picture of what it means to 'reject God'...
Beatitude, Enlightenment, it's right here. 'You are more me than I am myself,' said Augustine. If our hearts were open, we'd know.
Nick made the comment about the Pope 'telling Catholics what to think'.
What I think of
that, I shall keep to myself. I'm sure you can imagine.
Our Lord said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," but man wants to tell his own story, be the star in his own narrative. He wants to be his own way, his own truth, his own life. The centre of his own cosmos.
So he 'needs space' to flex his autonomy, to 'do his own thing'. And in so doing he begins writing a false story, putting himself in place of God, and moving God to one side ...
... that today 'personal narrative', not matter how illusory or ill-founded, is more important than Truth or Reality says something about the 'Signs of the Times' that René Guénon tried so hard to alert people to.
You mean, 'yes' to "everyone eventually comes to love Him"?
No, I mean everyone has the choice to open their hearts to God. But I cannot speak for everyone, it is a choice, not a predestination.
Also from your 'Hell is empty' theory #2 & #3, you sound like you are open to the idea of Universalism, am I mistaken?
I would rather say I am open to a Grace that transcends Necessity.
No, reincarnation itself doesn't mean salvation. It only means no eternal damnation.
But it goes on eternally ...
Let me put it this way ...
It seems to me you're thinking of God as the exemplar of what a human being is. I don't think of God that way ...
But he wouldn't change his mind about reincarnation though, would he? And you don't mind him believing in reincarnation, do you?
