The Rich Man And Lazarus

[Selah]

I was having a discussion with someone concerning heaven or hell. He said that we don't even know if there is a single person in hell. I mentioned the rich man and Lazarus, and he said:

[quote]The rich man was in Purgatory. Do you expect a reprobate person to desire mercy or well-being for another person?[/quote]

I've never heard this before. Does the Church teach that the rich man was in Purgatory?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

How could the rich man have been in purgatory before there was a purgatory? The righteous souls of those who died before Christ opened heaven's gates were waiting for redemption in the "limbo of the Fathers" (a different "limbo" from the one that the Church is currently debating, the "limbo of the Fathers" was a temporary limbo, a place to wait for the Messiah; it is of the "limbo of the Fathers" that we speak when we say Christ descended into hell). Purgatory would not have existed yet because purgatory is the antechamber of heaven, and heaven was not open. One of the ancient terms for this limbo was "Abraham's bosom" (since the righteous were with Abraham, the first historical man of faith) and if you recall, that is where Lazarus was in the story. Furthermore, there is a chasm that cannot be crossed. If the rich man was in purgatory, the chasm couldn't be between purgatory and heaven (that simply wouldn't make sense, since the whole point of purgatory is to cross into heaven), which would make the rich man in purgatory and Lazarus in hell (the only other place he could be if not in heaven and separated from the rich man by a chasm). So it is clear that Lazarus was with the righteous in Abraham's Bosom, the Limbo of the Fathers, awaiting redemption, while the rich man was in hell.

That having been said, this was a story meant to illustrate a point and not necessarily a real event, so while your friend is incorrect about the story, it is [i]theoretically[/i] possible that there is no one in hell and it is a part of the Christian theological virtue of hope not to judge anyone as being in hell and to hold out hope that all are saved (though we are not under any rule necessarily to believe that hell is actually empty, as many saints have said that they have seen visions of hell filled with many souls).

God bless,

Micah