Make that three times (at least)!:smack: I hope I write better on my exams!
Thank you, cjhoworth! I’m glad to be here and I’m learning a lot.
“A few millenia?” Just the other day I was reading a commentary on the Methodist Articles of Religion*, and there too it mentioned Catholic Purgatory lasting “millions of years”. In the Catholic Church, I’ve never heard any estimates as to the length of time one is likely to spend in Purgatory and never thought of it as related to earthly time (though it very well may be). At any rate, time in Purgatory is proportional to sins committed. I’d hate to think in an ~80 years lifetime I could build up several million years’ worth of sins!
It’s certainly possible that Purgatory could last for any finite about of time, but I sincerely doubt that “a few millenia” is anything more than a wild conjecture and it seems a bit propogandistic
*And speaking of which, if you would consider starting an “Ask a Methodist” thread after your finals are over, I have a lot of questions! 
Hmmm. I tend to assume that after we die, time ceases to be measurable in concrete terms, making “millions of years” irrelevant. Then again, I don’t believe in Purgatory as commonly perceived, so there’s no need to measure time. If such a thing exists, I suspect it would be more like being forced to see and feel the full consequences of one’s actions. Depending on what one did, that could certainly feel like “millions of years”. Then again, as I’ve said before, what happens in the next world doesn’t concern me. What I do in this world, how my life reflects my faith, does.
CJ
i don’t know if this helps but its a resource nonetheless
I think of it this way… imagine a timeline
|----------------------------------------------------------|
birth…x…death
and you go through a traumatic life-changing experience at time x. Time x only lasted about, say 2 hours. If you compare that 2 hours to your entire timeline, it seems pretty insignificant. But it wasn’t, it changed your life.
Now, substitute birth --> death, and death --> eternity and the time you spend in purgatory is insignificant, but the event is very significant.
Well, I admit I was being a bit tounge in cheek with that one. I’m pretty sure I remember reading about instances in dating to the 1500s or before in which the RCC developed lists detailing how long a time in purgatory given sins would merit. I recall the times seemed pretty excessive, with many millenia being common punishment for common sins. Of course, I’m well aware that this probably didn’t represent the highest and best in Catholic theology at the time, and certainly isn’t representative of modern Catholic teaching.
I’m sorry if my flippancy offended you. It was unintentional. I’m actually very sympatheric to the doctrine of Purgatory. I neither see it affirmed nor denied by Scripture, and I’m quite open to it, in spite of what the Methodist Articles of Religion say. (some of those are quite anachronistic now, anyway, but we’re pretty much stuck with them.)
**
Sure! I hadn’t encountered any questions on the board directly aimed at Methodists, but if they’re out there, I’ll certainly do my best!
Small nitpick here, but the Assyrian Church split because of their upholding of Nestorianism, to which Monophysitism was an extreme reaction.
I can’t think of a single Orthodox church that would permit its members to commune in a Catholic church. Heck, most traditional Orthodox jurisdictions don’t even permit their members to attend a Catholic service. The Orthodox position has always been that the Orthodox church is in communion with no-one but itself.
Traditional Orthodox don’t recognize the validity of Catholic sacraments. Moderates and liberals tend to allow for the possibility, but make no definitive claim.
Is there perhaps some confusion between Roman Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite and the Orthodox Churches? There are actually several different forms of worship for Roman Catholics, among them Latin Rite (which is the one people usually mean when they say Roman Catholic) and the Byzantine Rite, which is not completely unlike the Orthodox liturgy, to my understanding. But it’s not full Orthodox. They still acknowledge the Pope and consider themselves in full communion with the Church.
Hmm… I thought the Ecumenical Patriarch took a much more liberal stance on this issue than the others, but am unable to find a cite. Is there any truth in my recollection that the Greek church (and in particular its Patriarch) is more liberal in this area than the others?
The Ecumenical Patriarch is indeed extremely liberal (to the point where several traditionalist jurisdictions have broken communion with him, including some monasteries on Athos), but I’m fairly sure that he hasn’t entered into communion with the Catholics. If that happened, it would be pretty big news in the Orthodox world, and pretty much every other Orthodox church would break communion with the EP, who would be considered to have apostasized, or at least schismed.
For almost every Eastern rite (Byzantine, Armenian, etc.), there is a corresponding rite in the Catholic church. The Eastern Catholic rites sometimes consider themselves as “Orthodox in communion with Rome,” but no Orthodox church recognizes them as such. They mostly came about via historical attempts by the Catholic church to prosletyze in Orthodox lands, especially Eastern Europe.
A distinction should also be made between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox. The former accept the first 7 ecumenical councils, whereas the latter, for various reasons, only accept the first 3.
Interestingly, a very small Western Rite does exist in Orthodoxy.
Well, in 1967 the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch un-excommunicated each other (reversing the anathema of 1436 or thereabouts).
It’s my impression that an Orthodox can attend and receive the sacraments in a RCC service under about the same conditions as a Catholic could do the same in an Orthodox service – under extreme conditions, in other words.
The two churches are not in full communion, by any means, but recognize the validity of each other’s ministry and sacraments.
I can try to dig up more on this if you like – we have two Orthodox people as moderators over on the Pizza Parlor, and I’m sure they’d be glad to act as resource people.
Under extreme conditions, Catholics would permit Orthodox to commune. The Orthodox would not be allowed by their own church to do so, however.
The EP may or may not recognize the validity of Catholic sacraments; I honestly don’t pay much attention to what he does these days (I am Orthodox, in case you are wondering). The EP is not the Orthodox Church, though, and if he did recognize Catholic sacraments, he would be in the minority.
Here you go, Sanders! My finals aren’t quite over, yet, but I’ll do my best. If the ice storm hits DC tonight, I may have lots of time on my hands!
Is that earth years or purgatory years…cuz aren’t they different depending on purgatory’s speed relative to the earth? 
I never understood why God would be limited to uploading the necessary lessons/punishment over a period of time. Maybe it’s our uploading bandwidth which is a little limited. Then again, I suppose God could tinker with that, dont ya think?
Yet another stupid question:
Is there a recipe for communion wafers? I was wondering if they had to be made a certain way (Catholic kosher?) or if basically any bread will do.
For clergy who are members of professions (I’ve known of a nun who’s a lawyer, a priest who’s a psychiatrist, and of course several nurses), are they relieved of ministerial duties? Also, if they earn an income, does it go to them or to the church (for example, royalties on the books of Andrew Greeley, Helen Prejean, Teilhard de Chardin, etc.- do they have to relinquish them because of the vows of poverty?)
And the totally silly but serious questions: for Catholics who’ve seen the NUNSENSE plays, did you find them offensive or funny?
Roman Catholics require unleavened bread. I really, really don’t remember the specific reason why, but it is considered improper (at best, as a matter of form) to use another kind. (I have been to a Byzantine Rite CC that used some kind of…cruton, for lack of a better word).
“Ministerial” requires definition. I’d imagine that in all walks of life, they’re required to serve God and do good to others. In that sense, a lot of a priest’s official functions might change. I’d note that a priest’s sacramental powers can’t ever been revoked (unless forbidden by the Church, a la the sex scandal)–priests are, in fact, required to celebrate the Mass daily.
Nuns, monks, and other figures of the like are not clergy, but live according to an ordered life. What they do with their earnings or time largely depends on the discipline of their order, and whether the head of that order relieves them from it.
I, for one, love the Nunsense franchise. I have an uncle, however, who would almost certainly disapprove if we ever took him to see one of the plays.
In other words, it depends on the person.