This book is a philosophical and theological exploration and defense of the doctrine of purgatory. After a historical overview of the development of the doctrine, it examines Protestant objections to the doctrine as well as Protestant accounts of how believers are purged of their imperfections and made ready for heaven. It goes on to show that the doctrine of purgatory has been construed in different ways, and that some of these are compatible with Protestant theology. Next, it shows that purgatory assumes not only continuity of personal identity but also conscious survival between death and r ... More

This book is a philosophical and theological exploration and defense of the doctrine of purgatory. After a historical overview of the development of the doctrine, it examines Protestant objections to the doctrine as well as Protestant accounts of how believers are purged of their imperfections and made ready for heaven. It goes on to show that the doctrine of purgatory has been construed in different ways, and that some of these are compatible with Protestant theology. Next, it shows that purgatory assumes not only continuity of personal identity but also conscious survival between death and resurrection. Such continuity of identity also arguably requires gradual moral development over time, which also supports a doctrine of purgatory. The traditional doctrine of purgatory is not understood as a second chance for salvation, but rather, only as a matter of perfecting persons who die in a state of grace. It is argued that the doctrine of purgatory should be modified to allow for postmortem repentance and conversion. The final long chapter of the book shows that popular writer C. S. Lewis not only believed in purgatory, but proposed a version of the doctrine that may appeal to Christians on both sides of the Reformation divide.