A:  Purgatory is mentioned only once in The Urantia Book—a brief mention in connection with religion in Tibet. But having been raised in the Catholic church, I know something about purgatory…Catholics believe that there is an intervening place between heaven and hell wherein a person may be made to suffer the punishments of hell, but it is only a temporary condition, as long as they die in a state of grace (as opposed to being in mortal sin at death). Once they have atoned sufficiently, they are admitted to heaven.

Here is a Wikipedia entry for Purgatory.

The Urantia Book does not teach either purgatory, or hell. God does not require that we suffer eternal—or even temporary—trial by fire for salvation. He is not willing that any should perish. The only requirement for eternal life is faith.

Said Jesus: “When you have by faith once established yourself as a son of God, nothing else matters as regards the surety of survival.” (176:3.3)

Should a person decide that they want to reject the Father’s plan for salvation, only then is that personality extinguished…it is as if they never were. They do not go to a place of eternal suffering—they are simply extinguished, like a candle flame being put out.

The ascension plan is designed for every child of God who desires it. Following death, there are a series of steps one takes, growing in grace and spiritual development, until finally the ascender stands in the presence of God. I suppose one could say that these stopping places might be analogous to the idea of Purgatory, but these stopping places are not places of suffering—The early ones (the “mansions” that Jesus spoke of) are sojourns designed to correct for deficiencies and accidents of heritage and experience while on earth. And the later ones are devoted to spiritual education, socialization, and intensive preparation for the Paradise adventure.

I hope you’ll have a look at our short flash movie called “After You Die.” It will give you a brief idea of what awaits you following this earth life according to the revelation of The Urantia Book. And please see our page called Life After Death HERE . Click on any of the links I’ve given you to read further about those subjects.

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