Exploring the Bible

 Purgatory, what is it? where is it? who believes in Purgatory? and how long do the souls sent there stay? These are just a few of the most common questions concerning Purgatory. Most people have heard of Purgatory and know it is a place or realm somewhere between earthly life and the afterlife. In this brief post we will look at twelve of the most common questions about Purgatory and try to give some simply and straight forward answers. 1. What is Purgatory - In a nutshell, Purgatory is a place where souls are sent to be purified before entering heaven. In some faiths it is believed that when a person dies who has given their life to Jesus but still have unconfessed sins, they must spend time in Purgatory. This is a time for final purification before entering the eternity of heaven.  2. Is the idea of Purgatory strictly a Catholic thing? - The Catholic church does believe and teach that Purgatory does exist. It is not however the only religion that believes in Purgatory. Inte...

Is the story of Satan in the Bible? Many people say, incorrectly, that the story of Satan, the devil, is not in the Bible. While the story of Satan may not be exactly where you would expect to find it, the story of Satan and his fall from grace is in fact recorded in the Bible. The Origin of Satan The name Satan appears in the Bible (NIV) 47 times. In addition the name/term Devil appears 33 times and the name Beelzebub is in the NIV a total of 9 times. The most complete version of the story of Satan and his fall from heaven can be found in the book of Revelation written by Saint John.  "And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him....

Quick Answer - The Protestant Bible has 66 Books while the Catholic version of the Bible has 73 Books. All differences in the two versions are in the Old Testament as both use the same 27 Books in the New Testament.  Most early Bibles contained 73 Books, 27 in the New Testament and 46 from the Old Testament. When the Protestant Reformation began in 1517 the Protestant leaders decided to remove certain books form the Old Testament. These books, known as the Apocrypha Books, were found to be worthy of study but were not considered Holy Scripture. The seven books in question were removed, thus creating the separate Bibles. The Books removed were; Baruch Wisdom -or- Wisdom of Solomon Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus) 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Tobit Judith (Ecclesiasticus should not be confused with the Book of Ecclesiastes which is included in the Old Testament Canon of both versions of the Bible, Protestant and Catholic.) For a period of time most Protestant Bibles contained a total...