Why John Calvin was Wrong about Purgatory

After the city of Geneva, Switzerland had broken from the Holy Catholic Church during the Protestant revolt, Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto wrote a letter to the Senate and people of Geneva in 1539.  Cardinal Sadoleto called them home to the Catholic Church. 

And I beg and exhort you, my Genevese brethren, after the mists of error have at length cleared away
from the eyes of your mind, and the light been displayed, that you would raise your eyes to that heaven
which God has set before you as your everlasting country, that you would be pleased to return to
concord with us, yield faithful homage to the Church, our mother, and worship God with us in one
spirit.

The well known Protestant leader John Calvin replied to the Cardinal.  Being a great scholar did not keep Calvin from making some epic errors in judgment.  The chief complaints of Calvin are essentially the same as many Protestants today and just as ignorant about the true nature of the Church founded by Christ.   

For now, we will take just one example: purgatory.  This doctrine is generally rejected by Protestants today, just as Calvin rejected it in the 1500s. 

We can show how John Calvin was wrong (and how Protestants today are wrong) in three simple steps:

1) What is the doctrine of purgatory?

2) What did John Calvin say in his letter to Cardinal Sadoleto?

3) Where is the doctrine of purgatory in the early Church?

Let's begin:

1) What is the doctrine of purgatory?

We can turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to explain the doctrine (No. 1030-1032):

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire. 

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. ( 2 Macc 12:46.)

2) What did John Calvin say in his letter to Cardinal Sadoleto?

"...the ancient Church is clearly on our side,
and opposes you, not less than we ourselves do."

"As to purgatory, we know that ancient churches made some mention of the dead in their prayers, but it
was done seldom and soberly, and consisted only of a few words. It was, in short, a mention in which it
was obvious that nothing more was meant than to attest in passing the affection which was felt toward
the dead. As yet, the architects were unborn, by whom your purgatory was built; and who afterwards
enlarged it to such a width, and raised it to such a height, that it now forms the chief prop of your
kingdom."

"Indeed, in attacking, breaking down, and destroying your kingdom, we are armed not only with the energy of the Divine Word, but with the aid of the holy Fathers also."

"I will not press you so closely as to call you back to that form which the Apostles instituted, (though in
it we have the only model of a true Church, and whosoever deviates from it in the smallest degree is in
error,) but to indulge you so far, place, I pray, before your eyes, that ancient form of the Church, such
as their writings prove it to have been in the age of Chrysostom and Basil, among the Greeks, and of
Cyprian, Ambrose, and Augustine, among the Latins; after so doing, contemplate the ruins of that
Church, as now surviving among yourselves."

3) Where is the doctrine of purgatory in the early Church?

Now, let's notice one thing: Calvin claimed support from the ancient Church and the holy Fathers.  There is support in Scripture for the doctrine of purgatory but the clearest reference is found in a book the Protestants threw out of their Bible!

That's 2 Macc 12:46 as mentioned by the Catechism above. 

There are others (See here for a longer discussion from Agape Bible study) but let's check the early Church since Calvin claimed support there and basically claimed that the doctrine of purgatory did not exist in the ancient Church, although he admits there were some prayers for the dead.

So here are a few early Church quotes from StayCatholic.com...too bad John Calvin didn't have this website!

The first two quotes here are from when the Church was still illegal in the Roman Empire:

Tertullian

The faithful widow prays for the soul of her husband, and begs for him in the interim repose, and participation in the first resurrection, and offers prayers on the anniversary of his death (Monogamy 10 [A.D. 213]).

Abercius

The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I lived, that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the chaste shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields, who has great eyes surveying everywhere, who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius, ordered this to be inscribed; truly I was in my seventy-second year. May everyone who is in accord with this and who understands it pray for Abercius (Epitaph of Abercius [A.D. 190]).  (This man was asking for those who came to his resting place to pray for his soul, in 190 AD)

Here are five more quotes...and they happen to be from the same saints that Calvin said supported him!!!

I'll even put the quotes in the same order that Calvin cites them:

("Chrysostom and Basil, among the Greeks, and of Cyprian, Ambrose, and Augustine, among the Latins")

John Chrysostom

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job l:5), why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them (Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]).  (how can we help those who have died if there is no purgatory?)

Basil the Great

I think that the noble athletes of God, who have wrestled all their lives with the invisible enemies, after they have escaped all of their persecutions and have come to the end of life, are examined by the prince of this world; and if they are found to have any wounds from their wrestling, any stains or effects of sin they are detained (Homilies on the Psalms 7:2 [ante A.D. 370]).  (detained in purgatory)

Cyprian of Carthage

It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison, not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the Day of Judgment; another to be at once crowned by the Lord (Letters 51[55]:20 [A.D. 253]).

Ambrose of Milan

Give perfect rest to thy servant Theodosius, that rest which thou hast prepared for thy saints… I have loved him, and therefore will I follow him into the land of the living; nor will I leave him until by tears and prayers I shall lead him wither his merits summon him, unto the holy mountain of the Lord (Funeral Sermon of Theodosius 36-37 [A.D. 395]).

Augustine

Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment (The City of God 21:13 [A.D. 419]). 

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Read on for more early Church quotes that will challenge Protestants: