Protestant theology on Purgatory
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatory)

Protestant churches largely reject explicit belief in the Catholic view of Purgatory. However, most do embrace the doctrine of glorification which carries a similar definition. Perhaps the largest reason Protestants chose not to agree with the Catholics is that Martin Luther's first attack on Roman Catholic theology was on the sale of indulgences and, through this, the concept of purgatory. Even today, Lutherans are forbidden to say prayers for people who have already died, as this is reserved to those who believe in a purgatory, as spelled out by Luther in Question No. 211 in his expanded Small Catechism:

"We should pray for ourselves and for all other people, even for our enemies, but not for the souls of the dead."
Article 22 of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church states that:

"The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory...is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of ????ure; but rather repugnant to the word of God."
Protestant disbelief in "purgatory" stems also from the idea that the existence of a purgatory implies that Christ's blood sacrifice on the cross was insufficient to save humanity in whole and represents a human desire to perform some works that can "assist" them through into Heaven. Protestants believe that all those who have faith in Christ are justified freely by his grace and require no more purgation than the cleansing of Christ's blood taken on when a new Christian is clothed in Christ and born again through baptism. (Romans 3:21-26, Galatians 3, John 3). Catholics equate being "born again" with Baptism, and see salvation in terms of Jesus having appeased God on our behalf rather than seeing it in judicial terms. Their response to Protestants is to ask how -- if Jesus paid for all sins in a judicial manner rather than in a propitiatory manner -- God could send anyone to Hell since doing so would require Him to punish twice for the same sins.

A difficulty arises though in that "Protestant" is something of a blanket term used to describe many denominations with a wide variety of views on most issues. Several protestant theologians and spiritual leaders (such as C. S. Lewis) have believed in the existence of an intermediate state between Earth and Heaven, persuaded by the argument that a period of cleansing and purification is necessary before one can enter Heaven and be in the presence of God. There are also those who equate various "times of testing", linked to theories the Rapture, with Purgatory. The extent to which these realms or periods can be equated with the Catholic doctrine of purgatory varies between different Protestant sects and theologians.

As 2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book, most Protestants consider it to be apocryphal, and do not consider that the other ????ure verses mentioned admit of a belief in Purgatory. Many Protestants claim that belief in Purgatory has been used, by unscrupulous priests if not by the Catholic Church itself, to terrify parishioners into donating money to fund Church projects, on the pretext that they might effectively buy their loved ones out of the torment of Purgatory. Many Catholics agree that the belief has occasionally been used to fleece the flock, but challenge the notion that the dogma is instrinsically and inseparably rooted in such motives.