The Cambrian Pesher*

Day of St. James the Apostle (July 25th), 2020

Purgatory

The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1 Corinthians 3:13 (Paul the Apostle)

Everyone shall be salted with fire. Mark 9:49 (Jesus)

Beloved Friends,

In our ongoing discussions on the writings of the Apostles about the end of the world, you will recall St. Peter’s description as one in which the heavens and the earth will “melt with fervent heat.” St. Paul has also described a fiery end of the world in which the works of man are tested so that the things which are worthy will remain, as he says in the text above.

In each case, there is room to interpret the scenarios at a personal or societal level, and not merely cosmological. They can be symbolic of the life experience of each human being confronted with adversity and then weighing the choices to make. The symbolic cleansing action of the flame in purging and burning away the dross as in the work of metallurgy and the smelting of a furnace is surely an image in view. We use this analogy to describe our life’s lessons.

But as we look closer, this dual aspect of a purging process by fire – the fire which makes us better people by cleansing us from persistent sin, and then, the purging of the world of people who cannot be cleansed from sin – suggests a third aspect and a very sobering thought: the fires of hell.

In Christian doctrine hell is sometimes viewed as the ultimate purgative. Usually, however, it is considered as a place of punishment and not one of cleansing, since it is eternal and there is no escape. We normally think of it as a place for incorrigible sinners, like the devil and his angels. Yet, some Christian sects throw out a broad dragnet and include as “incorrigible” anyone who has not professed saving faith in Jesus Christ. For the rest of us, we struggle with that standard. It is difficult to believe, for example, that the young teenager who accidentally overdoses on sedatives – or even intentionally does so out of personal anguish – should be classified with such sinister beings.

That is why the “old churches” – such as the Roman Catholic institution – taught the notion of “purgatory”: that hell has different levels or compartments and that some of these are redemptive. It is difficult for the human mind to comprehend such a permanent destruction of life “made in the image of God” as what some of our traditionalist preachers insist. Yet, even they have given up on the notion of a literal flame for hell’s torment, as if that should make us feel better.

We also wonder how the compassion of our Savior squares with His frequent jeremiads. We ponder the meaning of His repeated references in the Gospels to hell (gehenna) as a place of torment where “their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44 et al). Was He describing the eternal torment of the sinner or was He describing the eternal existence of the principle of hell as an institution in God’s moral government? We prefer to think the latter, as God receives no glory from a failed creation. Sanctions are certain, but so is the opportunity for redemption – even after death. We believe this to be true as a testimony to the heart of God and leave the rest to the secret workings of His Providence. But there is Scriptural support, as well.

Considering other terms for hell in our Bibles, they suggest compartments containing souls at different levels of a spiritual condition: hades in the New Testament corresponding to sheol in the Old Testament. We are told that Jesus descended into hell (hades) – not gehenna – to preach the Gospel to the souls there and lead them to heaven at the time of His resurrection, so say the Fathers and so also the Scriptures. For example:

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah . . .
1 Peter 3:19-20 (emphasis added)

For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
1 Peter 4:6 (emphasis added)

The first reference identifies the “disobedient” prior to the Flood of Noah. The second reference is more inclusive, speaking of “them that are dead” as in those who died after the Flood and in the present tense.
Peter is not alone in his “after death” plan of salvation. The Apostle Paul says likewise,

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. . .If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
1 Corinthians 3:11, 14-15 (emphasis added)

As in the salvation “by water” discussed in our last Pesher, so it is here: the “fire” which destroys us is also the thing which saves us because it reveals the foundation of Christ Himself as the federal head of the human race. We do not lay that foundation; it has been laid by God’s sovereignty for all of humanity:

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order. . .
1 Corinthians 15:22

The supralapsarians are, no doubt, sharpening their exegetical knives for an assault on my universalistic interpretation, but the Apostle did say “all“! And I included his point of clarification in the doctrine of ordination (“every man in his own order”) as he delineates the process of Christ’s subjugation of the universe so that in the end “God may be all in all” (verse 28) – all in all. I do not know how much plainer he could have said it. There are firstcomers and there will be lastcomers, but rest assured, there will be allcomers!

The “purging by fire” is a painful experience and even more so for the stubborn and willful. There is nothing to be gained by an arrogant presumption, as our cinematic characters are caused to say when they breathe their last, “See you in Hell!” God has ordained its beneficence as a corrective punishment and we can take comfort in that, but do not assume you can stand before your Creator on Judgment Day and insist He let you into heaven because of something you heard from a preacher!

Finally, and more to the point in our discussion about the end of the world, Paul adds in his discourse on the purgative value of the fiery judgment with this warning in the following verses:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17

It sounds like the Apostle has taken it all back – no post-mortem “salvation by fire” – but rather destruction. However, once again, his analogy does not seem to fit the translator’s choice of words. Like our discussion in the last Pesher on the word “perish”, this word “destroy” is the Greek word phtheiro which means “to shrivel, wither, waste away or ruin.” His analogy to “the temple of God” points to the national experience of Israel and the temples in Jerusalem – the structures were turned to ruins more than once but the foundations always remained, and they remained with the promise of rebuilding and restoration at a future time.

God does not “destroy” His temples in the sense of annihilation. He turns them to ruins so that false worship may come to an end and then a way is found for true worship to be restored. Thus, we believe that all eternal beings have the hope of that same restoration upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, whether in this life or in the life to come.*

The Day of Saint James the Apostle

Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of the cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Matthew 20:20-23

Today, we celebrate the memory of James, the brother of John and the son of Zebedee referenced in the above account. Tradition tells us that Salome was their mother and was the one making this petition to Jesus.
We do not know much about James and there are no sayings or books ascribed to him as the author. The Epistle of James in the New Testament is the work of James the brother of Jesus and not the Apostle. In the Grail tradition, John is not the author of the Johannine books either, but rather Lazarus. The Apocalypse claims John as its author, but some Church historians are not sure if it is the Apostle John or a different John.
The reason is because of the text above. Jesus promised James and John that they both would “drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” Scholars interpret this as a reference to martyrdom. And indeed, the book of Acts of the Apostles gives us an account of James’ martyrdom at the hand of King Herod (12:2), and curiously, no mention is made of John following that incident in any New Testament account.

Some people believe John was killed at the same time as James. Indeed, in the ancient Syriac Church, James and John share the same festal day. We just don’t know.

We do know that James and John were a part of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples with Peter. They were present at the Transfiguration and Gethsemane.

Even though for us, others have spoken for James, yet we know by his actions a testimony of faithfulness. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

With blessings,

James

Collect for the Day
O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and for ever. Amen.

*Addendum: It should not be forgotten that the Episcopalian Church is a child of the Protestant Reformation and if Protestantism is anything, it is the protestation of purgatory and the sale of indulgences, etc. The 39 Articles of Religion condemn the doctrine of purgatory and certainly, its medieval manifestation as a “salvation for sale” to the enrichment of churchmen cannot be ignored or justified:

The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well as of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God. (Article XXII Of Purgatory)

Conversely, however, the Protestant Evangelicals have come up with a perversion of a different sort: the summation of the mission of the church as one of evangelism only. Because the short life of a human being runs the risk of ending without having heard the Gospel, and consequently, an eternity spent in hellfire, there is a panicked, almost maniacal emphasis on high-pressure evangelism and world missions. A disproportionate emphasis of time and resources is spent on “soul-winning” and almost zero emphasis on discipleship and Christian reconstruction. It must be remembered, that in the the Gospel accounts of Christ’s own references to the notion of the “gospel” it is almost always referred to as “the gospel of the kingdom.” In other words, it is the reign of Christ which is viewed as the “good news,” not the notion of an eternity in heaven if only the sinner can be persuaded to pray “the sinner’s prayer” and accept Jesus as his personal savior.

So, the Grail Church would argue for a Purgatory doctrine of sorts, not of “the Romish” variety, but rather that of the Druids from which it originally came. In its purest form, it was taught that man must experience every “rhith” of existence until he finds unity with his Creator. Christian Druids discovered that Jesus Christ experienced them for every man and gave us a shortcut in the life of sanctification through a sacramental unity with Him (see The Holy Conspiracy, Christian Druids and Cultural Alchemy (Stivers, 1995). It is our choice.

*Cambrian Pesher is the pastoral epistle of the Cambrian Episcopal Church of the Grail, a fellowship and abbey adhering to a spiritual tradition from ancient Wales. We use the Authorized Version of the Bible (King James Version) as our default translation and the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopalian Church for liturgical guidance.
Copyright is reserved to the Cambrian Episcopal Church of the Grail