Purgatory: The Logic of Total Transformation

by Jerry L. Walls

Overview

In Catholic theology, purgatory has been understood as applying to persons who are already in a state of grace or salvation. In popular thought, however, it is sometimes understood as a "second chance" for the unconverted. In this book, a follow-up to his earlier Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy and Hell: The Logic of Eternal Damnation, Walls completes his examination of the Christian theology of the afterlife with a inclusive and multi-denominational analysis of the doctrine of purgatory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199912636
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	965,987
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jerry L. Walls has served as a Research Fellow in the Center for Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame. He is the author of a trilogy on the afterlife, the first two volumes of which are Hell: The Logic of Damnation and Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy. He is also the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: A Short History of Purgatory

Chapter 2: Protestant Objections and Alternatives to Purgatory

Chapter 3: Models of Purgatory

Chapter 4: Personal Identity, Time, and Purgatory

Chapter 5: Purgatory and Theories of a "Second Chance"

Chapter 6: C.S. Lewis and the Prospect of Mere Purgatory

Conclusion: Looking Forward by Looking Back

Editorial Reviews

"Only Jerry Walls or C.S. Lewis could have written this splendid book on the history and philosophical theology of purgatory. It is clear, systematic, engaging, and illuminating."
— Charles Taliaferro, Professor of Philosophy, St. Olaf College

"A fascinating account of the development of the doctrine of purgatory by a leading Wesleyan scholar. Walls traces Christian views on purgatory from the early church to C. S. Lewis and comes up with a surprisingly affirmative conclusion about a view of the afterlife that has divided Catholics and Protestants for nearly 500 years. An important and nuanced study."
— Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University

"For a generation or more a stout Protestant doctrine of purgatory has been an accident waiting to happen. Given Jerry Walls's cheerful and articulate presentation, we can predict that a host of readers will be in no hurry to leave the scene until they have come to terms with this provocative proposal in analytic theology."
— William J. Abraham, Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

"Historically informed, philosophically competent, and theologically alert, the result is an impressive book...This is a splendid treatment of the topic — as careful and fair a discussion of the doctrine of purgatory as one is likely to find."—Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Historically informed, philosophically competent, and theologically alert, the result is an impressive book...This is a splendid treatment of the topic — as careful and fair a discussion of the doctrine of purgatory as one is likely to find."—Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

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