The Origins of Purgatory through the Lens of Seventh-Century Irish Eschatology

Abstract

THE ORIGINS OF PURGATORY THROUGH THE LENS OF SEVENTH-CENTURY IRISH ESCHATOLOGY By MARINA SMYTH Many of the surviving texts associated with seventh-century Ireland deal with eschatology. In general, these texts convey assumptions on the fate of the soul after death that are consistent with the traditional Christian view in late antiquity in the West, namely, that the ultimate destiny of most Christians will not be determined till the great universal judgment at the end of time. To illustrate this point I will adduce the theological treatise Liber de ordine creaturarum and the moral treatise De XII abusiuis saeculi, as well as religious poetry and hagiographical works, and set them in their likely liturgical context. In contrast, the Vision of Fursey and Adomnán's Life of Columba stand out as revealing the strong influence of concepts originating in the early Christian ascetic circles of Egypt. Irish Christians were thus also exposed to the idea that the fate of all individual souls will be determined immediately after death. Awareness and even endorsement of this point of view will have prepared the way toward accepting the novel teaching that a finite period of painful purification immediately follows the death of most Christians. The survival of these two texts demonstrating the presence in seventh-century Ireland of the belief that the final determination of an individual's fate occurs at the time of death draws attention to the radical change in perspective that must have been an essential initial step in the very formulation of the doctrine of purgatory.1 Background From the earliest stages of Christianity it was generally understood that at the moment of death the souls of the very good (martyrs and confessors, for instance) go straight to heaven, and the souls of the very bad go immediately to hell, without any intervening judgment. The terms "good," "bad," "heaven," and "hell" may have been understood in different ways at different times and in different places, but the basic idea remained constant. The more interesting question is: What did Christians in late antiquity think happened after death to most Christians, who were neither very good nor very bad — the boni non ualde or the mali non ualde, to use the terminology 1 It was not until the end of the Middle Ages that the Roman Catholic Church issued formal statements on the doctrine of purgatory, such as the 1336 decree Benedidus Deus of Pope Benedict XII. 92traditio derived from variant readings of St. Augustine's Enchiridion HO.2 The Bible foretold a great, public universal judgment at the end of time, in which the Lord would scrutinize each life, to be followed either by a call to eternal reward in heaven or by confinement to eternal damnation in hell (e.g. Matt. 25:31-46, Rom. 2:5-16, Apoc. 20:11-14). This scriptural teaching soon became incorporated into credal statements.3 Attempts to reconcile this doctrine with the early Christian assumptions mentioned above regarding saintly and evil people led to a more or less conscious fourfold division of mankind: those who would be judged and those who would not, each category being further subdivided into two subgroups, namely, those who would spend eternity in heaven and those who would spend it in hell. This was the common scheme in the Latin West during late antiquity. It is found in the works of Lactantius (fl. 323)," Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 315-367),° Zeno of Verona (d. 371/72),6 Ambrose (ca. 334-99),7 and Paulinus of Ñola (353-431),8 all of whom assumed that the judgment at the end of time would apply only to the "middle" group of those neither very good nor very bad. Gregory the Great spelled out the fourfold scheme clearly in the Moralia in lob, a treatise he had largely completed before he became pope in 590, but which he revised as late as 595: There are in truth two classes, namely, of the elect and the reprobate. But two ranks are comprised in each of these classes. For some are judged and perish; others are not judged and perish. Some are judged and reign; others are not judged and reign...