Paul makes it clear here [Romans 8] and elsewhere that it's the present like that is meant to function as purgatory. The sufferings of the present time, not some postmortem state, are the valley through which we have to pass in order to reach the glorious future. I think I know why purgatory became so popular, why Dante's middle volume is the one people most easily relate to. The myth of purgatory is an allegory, a projection from the present onto the future. This is why purgatory appeal to the imagination. It is our story here and now. If we are Christians, if we believe in the risen Jesus as Lord, if we are baptized members of his body, then we are passing right now through the sufferings that form the gateway to life. Of course, this means that for millions of our theological and spiritual ancestors death brought a pleasant surprise. They had been gearing up for a long struggle ahead, only to find it was already over.
I'll not now go into the implications of believing in purgatory which Protestants tend to point out (i.e. that it denigrates the efficiency and sufficiency of the cross; that it places a portion, however small, of their resulting salvation in their own suffering as opposed to Jesus'). What I wish to point out is that for so long I had repudiated any sense of "suffering before heaven" because I had only associated the idea with purgatory and had neglected to see that which is so obvious: this life for God's people is, among other necessary things, nothing less than a purification of the soul, and that: by faith in the atoning work of Christ in our place. Yes, I can believe that.
BHT
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