Published November 10, 2025
It’s odd that Joseph Bottum’s “Three Cheers for Purgatory” (Houses of Worship, Nov. 7) makes no reference to the connection that emerged in the medieval period between purgatory and the penitential system of the church. To present the doctrine as merely a kind of postmortem scrub with spiritual soap and water is to miss much of its significance.
His case for it, which includes a caricature of Calvinism, is unconvincing. The text of 1 Corinthians—“the fire shall try every man’s work”—refers to ministers and the results of their ministry, not to judgment and Christians in general. Mr. Bottum’s use of a reference in a parable to prove a specific doctrine is also exegetically wooden, failing to acknowledge the nature of that genre. One might as well use the story of the rich man and Lazarus to construct a map of the geographical relationship of heaven and hell. Parables teach truths but not in a straightforward, literal manner.
In any case, Mr. Bottum’s argument is less textual and more emotive. It seems to rest on the claim that the doctrine has therapeutic benefits, such as allowing those who are living to think they can still make a difference for those who are dead. It is analogous to the kind of logic currently deployed in circles where Christianity is being rediscovered because of its cultural benefits.
Yet wishful thinking and therapeutic benefits don’t make something true. Christianity sees its truth claims as objective. I may, for example, find comfort in thinking there are fairies at the end of my garden who can carry messages to departed loved ones or protect my cabbages from pests. That doesn’t mean they exist. The Fox sisters lived in “a world rich with the presence of the dead.” That didn’t make spiritualism true.
We believe Christianity is useful because it is true, not true because it is useful, whether to an individual, community or a culture. Mr. Bottum’s argument, at least in its emphasis on human logic and desire, cuts too quickly to making these the criteria for truth.
Carl R. Trueman is a fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program. His work focuses on helping civic leaders and policymakers better understand the deep philosophical and cultural roots of our current social malaise. In addition to his scholarship on the intellectual foundations of expressive individualism and the sexual revolution, Trueman is also interested in the origins, rise, and use of critical theory by progressives and the current crisis in anthropology. He serves as a professor at Grove City College.
