In death, the divide between hope and fear is unbridgeable. Each of the waiting dead knows what will happen to them at the time of the Final Judgment. They know if their body will be resurrected to death or to life. Those who hope, hope with certainty. Those who fear, fear with equal certainty. They all know what they freely chose in life—heaven or hell—and they know the time for making another choice has passed. Christ the Judge has pronounced their fate, and that fate is sealed.  

When it comes to the most misunderstood doctrines of the Catholic Church, purgatory probably ranks at the top. Often, these misunderstandings are manifested in what everyday folks say about purgatory.

Let’s consider some of these catchphrases here.

Why should anyone worry about the history of Scripture scholarship, especially reaching all the way back to the early fourteenth century?

The simple answer is that our peculiar situation today—in which priests, preachers, and people in the pews study the Bible as the inspired Word of God and academic Scripture scholars in universities study the Bible as an ancient book of mythology—is the result of the history of Scripture scholarship. We are searching for the reasons for this Great Divide, and that means searching for its ultimate origins.

Many great popes, saints, and Christian leaders have exhorted us to pray the rosary. It’s a powerful prayer, they say, one that can change your life, strengthen the family, bring peace to the world, convert entire nations, and win the salvation of souls.
But does the average person experience the rosary this way?