A Minor Thought on Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven

In Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief (2007), Rowan Williams has a very good and evocative discussion of judgment and Purgatory in the chapter “Love, Actually.” While recognizing ways in which the medieval church had gone off track with the notion of Purgatory, Williams makes the following, all-too-true observation (p. 149):

“But initially the impetus [for Purgatory] is surely the recognition that in our encounter with God, so long as we are the complex and self-deceiving beings we are, there will be a dimension of pain. We don’t have to think about an intermediate state, a remand prison, but rather of a continuing journey with God as we become acclimatized to the fullness of love….”

We might take this notion that there will be a dimension of pain, extend and deepen it, and speculate further that we, in our very sinfulness, experience not only a dimension of pain but Hell itself in our encounter with God. Yet in that very experience of Hell in our encounter with God, we also encounter the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, who on the cross “descended into hell” or “descended to the dead” (cf. the Apostles’ Creed and the Creed of Saint Athanasius) to harrow Hell and rescue those who are there. In taking on Hell, Jesus, in God’s grace and love and power, overcomes Hell for himself and for all whom he incorporates into his death and resurrection. Purgatory then turns from Hell to Heaven in Jesus and for us.