Purgatory

====Lutheranism====
The [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]] teach the existence of an intermediate state after the departure of the soul from the body, until the time of the [[Last Judgment]].<ref name="Baltzly"/> This intermediate state, known as Hades, is divided into two chambers: (1) Paradise for the righteous (2) Gehenna for the wicked.<ref name="Baltzly"/> Unlike the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory, the Lutheran doctrine of Hades is not a place of purgation.<ref name="Baltzly"/> 
{{quotation|Beside, the divine narrative informs us, that there is an impassable gulf, dividing Hades into two apartments. And so great is this chasm as to render it impossible to pass from one apartment to the other. And, therefore, as this rich man and Lazarus are not on the same side of the gulf, they are not in the same place. They are both in Hades, but not the same apartment of it. The apartment to which the rich man went, the Scriptures call Γέεννα hell; and that to which Lazarus went, they call PARADISE, Abraham's bosom, Paradise, heaven. And, therefore, inasmuch as all spirits, upon hearing their sentence, must pass away into one of these apartments, it is conclusive, that the good will go to where Lazarus and the dying thief are, with Jesus in ουρανός, heaven, which is in Hades; and the bad will go where the rich man is in Γέεννα, hell, also in Hades. So that the spirit, after its departure from the body, after hearing its doom, and upon the execution of the sentence, enters immediately into Hades, either to a state and place of ''suffering'' or of ''enjoyment''. And here, in Hades, the righteous enjoy bliss, such as 'eye hath  not seen, nor ear heard, not the heart of man conceived.' But the wicked experience miseries such as are represented by the gnawings of "the worm that never dies," and burnings of "the fire that is never quenched." But once more: the state of spirits in Hades, between death and judgment, is not one of probation, nor yet or purgation.<ref name="Baltzly">{{cite book |last1=Baltzly |first1=J. B. |title=The Quarterly Review of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Volume 1 |date=1871 |publisher=J.E. Wible |page=268-280 |language=en}}</ref>}}

The [[Protestant Reformers|Protestant Reformer]] [[Martin Luther]] was once recorded as saying:<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QZoHAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22As+for+purgatory%2C+no+place+in+Scripture+makes%22&pg=PA226 The Table Talk Or Familiar Discourse of Martin Luther] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312095750/https://books.google.com/books?id=QZoHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA226&dq=%22As+for+purgatory%2C+no+place+in+Scripture+makes%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwii5Nmm7sjhAhVCiqwKHdp2BgAQ6AEIUzAI#v=onepage&q=%22As%20for%20purgatory%2C%20no%20place%20in%20Scripture%20makes%22&f=false |date=2021-03-12 }}, 1848, page 226</ref>{{blockquote|As for purgatory, no place in Scripture makes mention thereof, neither must we any way allow it; for it darkens and undervalues the grace, benefits, and merits of our blessed, sweet Saviour Christ Jesus. The bounds of purgatory extend not beyond this world; for here in this life the upright, good, and godly Christians are well and soundly scoured and purged.}}

In his 1537 ''[[Smalcald Articles]]'', Luther stated:<ref>Smalcald Articles, [http://bookofconcord.org/smalcald.php#part2.2.12 Part II, Article II: Of the Mass.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010210703/http://bookofconcord.org/smalcald.php#part2.2.12 |date=2008-10-10 }}</ref>{{blockquote|Therefore purgatory, and every solemnity, rite, and commerce connected with it, is to be regarded as nothing but a specter of the devil. For it conflicts with the chief article [which teaches] that only Christ, and not the works of men, are to help [set free] souls. Not to mention the fact that nothing has been [divinely] commanded or enjoined upon us concerning the dead.}}

With respect to the related practice of praying for the dead, Luther stated:<ref name="Raynor">{{cite web |last1=Raynor |first1=Shane |title=Should Christians pray for the dead? |url=https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6373/should-christians-pray-for-the-dead |publisher=Ministry Matters |access-date=27 March 2019 |language=en |date=14 October 2015 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327075906/https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6373/should-christians-pray-for-the-dead |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{quotation|As for the dead, since Scripture gives us no information on the subject, I regard it as no sin to pray with free devotion in this or some similar fashion: “Dear God, if this soul is in a condition accessible to mercy, be thou gracious to it.” And when this has been done once or twice, let it suffice. (Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper, Vol. XXXVII, 369)<ref name="Raynor"/>}}
A core statement of Lutheran doctrine, from the [[Book of Concord]], states: "We know that the ancients speak of prayer for the dead, which we do not prohibit; but we disapprove of the application ''ex opere operato'' of the Lord's Supper on behalf of the dead. ... Epiphanius {{bracket|[[Epiphanius of Salamis|of Salamis]]}} testifies that Aerius {{bracket|[[Aerius of Sebaste|of Sebaste]]}} held that prayers for the dead are useless. With this he finds fault. Neither do we favor Aerius, but we do argue with you because you defend a heresy that clearly conflicts with the prophets, apostles, and Holy Fathers, namely, that the Mass justifies ''ex opere operato'', that it merits the remission of guilt and punishment even for the unjust, to whom it is applied, if they do not present an obstacle." ([[Philipp Melanchthon]], ''[[Apology of the Augsburg Confession]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookofconcord.org/defense_23_mass.php|title=Apology XXIV, 96|access-date=2018-04-01|archive-date=2015-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026044923/http://bookofconcord.org/defense_23_mass.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{cn span|[[High Church Lutheranism]], like [[Anglo-Catholicism]], is more likely to accept some form of purgatory.|date=October 2017}} Lutheran Reformer [[Mikael Agricola]] still believed in the basic beliefs of purgatory.<ref>Martti Parvio: Mikael Agricolan käsitys kiirastulesta ja votiivimessuista. –Pentti Laasonen (ed.) Investigatio memoriae patrum. Libellus in honorem Kauko Pirinen. SKHST 93. Rauma 1975.</ref> Purgatory as such is not mentioned at all in the [[Augsburg Confession]], which claims that "our churches dissent in no article of the faith from the Church Catholic, but only omit some abuses which are new."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article21.10 |title=The Augsburg Confession |access-date=2019-06-02 |archive-date=2019-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602123724/https://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article21.10 |url-status=live }}</ref>