Sheol: a place in the depths of the earth conceived of as the dwelling of the dead
Purgatory: any state or place of temporary punishment, expiation, or remorse
From these definitions, these words don't seem to have any religions connotations; in fact, what makes their definitions is from the religious beliefs of those who believe in these places-Sheol and Purgatory.
In the Jewish religion, Sheol is the resting place for the dead whether or not one has been a bad or a good person. Jews believe that rewards and punishments will be given to people in this world, not the afterlife( basic beliefs of Judaism can be found here ). Psalm 37 talks about how the evil doer will be punished and that the Lord will reward those that do good. In relation to the Old Testament, this is punishment and rewards in the present life, not the next one.
Since the Psalms are also part of the Christian bible, where heaven, hell, and purgatory have a place, the words of Psalm 37 may be read in a different way (meaning those rewards and punishments can relate to where someone will spend eternity).
I did some research ( aka wikipedia) and from my understanding, purgatory is where people go who are not quite accepted into heaven but could be once they undergo a purification process, which is painful and involves a cleansing fire. It seems like one would want to get in and out of Purgatory fairly quickly to then move onto heaven, whereas Sheol is not a transition place, but rather The place. But, I can see why purgatory and Sheol may seem similar - they both have a sort of neutral quality to them.
It doesn't seem that in today's society the average person daily thinks about and is concerned with their afterlife ( maybe I'm wrong...?), like how it seems those who wrote the Psalms where. Obviously times have changed but basic human instinct/emotions/ inner thought probably has not. Many it has to do with people becoming less and less involved in religion which then translates over into thinking less about "life" after life, because that is more spiritual than scientific.
It is interesting how these two kinda related religions have such different views on the afterlife- the implications of a place for all the dead, regardless of who you are, and a place where you will be judged for your actions in life and treated accordingly are definitely very different...
ReplyDeleteI know of some people who think that Earth is purgatory. They see it as the neutral place between heaven and hell where your choices ultimately decide where you end up. This makes for a very different definition than the one you have. In yours earth is a fourth realm, a purgatory before death, and then there is a second purgatory after death where there is a chance to redeem yourself to get into heaven. I find it interesting that some people believe in a second chance to get into heaven while others find a persons life to be the only deciding factors.
ReplyDeleteThe implication of your last paragraph might be that the psalms might be read with more relevance now since we are no longer giving as much thought to the afterlife.. and therefore closer to the view of the Psalms than people even a couple of centuries ago?
ReplyDelete