Purifying Judgment of God: Ecumenical “Bilingualisation” of the Teaching about Post-mortem Purification in the Light of Biographical Research

Abstract

The purpose of the article is an attempt to indicate, based on the implications of the in the social sciences developed biographical perspective, the convergence in the theological description of the eschatological purification and judgment of God on the Catholic and Protestant side. The abovementioned research perspective exposes, among others, durability of individual biography, the importance of self-discovery and inalienable responsibility for maturation to fully own identity. This type of categories have found reception, both in the Catholic and Protestant theology, without having abandoned their doctrinal assumptions and being able to formulate complementary and converging statements. The post-conciliar Catholic theology explains the eschatological purification as a process of personal maturation for meeting with God, as well as transforming man’s encounter with God as Judge. In the more recent Protestant theology one can find such interpretations of God’s judgment, which demonstrate its processual character and purifying sense in the perspective of individual life history.