http://www.gotquestions.org/difference- ... stant.htmlOne disturbing aspect about the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is the belief that man must, or that he even can, pay for his own sins. This, along with the Catholic misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches about how man is justified before God, results in a low view of the sufficiency and efficiency of Christ’s atonement on the cross. Simply put, the Roman Catholic viewpoint on salvation implies that Christ’s atonement on the cross was not sufficient payment for the sins of those who believe in Him, and that even a believer must atone for or pay for his own sins, either through acts of penance, or time in purgatory. Yet the Bible teaches over and over again that it is Christ’s death alone that can satisfy or propitiate God’s wrath against sinners (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). Our works of righteousness cannot add to what Christ has already accomplished.
I thought that was a good point brought out concerning the devaluing of the atonement of Christ.
I had a family in our church approach me years back about the passing of the man's brother. I attended the funeral outside of D.C. in a very large Catholic church. His family were all devout Catholics but the family in our church obviously came out of it. After the funeral and some time later he came to me upset. He shared with me that the church was demanding more money from his parents to get his brother out of purgatory. He was inflamed about it because his family had given so much to the church over the years and had given initially for this "getting out of purgatory" fee but later the clergy wanted more money. I personally think this is a sick twisted system that takes advantage of unfortunate circumstances.
I often wondered why people don't see the enumerable differences between the Catholic church and the bible until I read there own Catechism. They specifically state that their tradition is equal to the bible. Interesting isn't it?