Time, Eternity and Purification.An Attempt to Solve Five Aporias of the Traditional Idea of Purgatory

The traditional concept of purgatory needs an appropriate update. In this paper, three theological criteria are proposed, in light of which five aporias are enunciated and evaluated. These aporias make a current understanding of the central intuition that underlies the idea of postmortal purification impossible. Furthermore, the author proposes five other reflections of a systematic nature with the intention of unlocking these aporias and offering a renewed and significant understanding of the essential content of the purification of the human being in the presence of the infinite love of God and also of all those other theological questions directly related to it, especially everything that refers to the relationship between the ordinary time of history and the eternity of God.