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Doctrine Category

Eschatology

24 claims
Doctrine All Apostolic Succession Christology church Ecclesiology Eschatology existence-of-god Grace & Free Will grace-justification Mariology moral-theology natural-law Petrine Ministry Pneumatology Prayer & Devotion Purgatory salvation Scripture & Tradition Soteriology The Eucharist The Priesthood The Resurrection The Sacraments The Trinity
24 claims in this doctrine
Eschatology
Did the early Church pray for the dead — and does this practice imply a state after death in which prayer can benefit the deceased?
Augustine's prayer for his mother Monica in the Confessions is the most personal testimony to the practice. He does not argue for…
Historically Verified
4 sources AD 200–430
Eschatology
Does the Passion of Perpetua — one of the earliest precisely datable Christian documents — contain evidence of belief in a state of post-mortem purification from which souls can be released by prayer?
The Passion of Perpetua is not a theological treatise — it is a personal diary. Perpetua is not arguing for Purgatory; she…
Historically Verified
1 sources AD 203
Eschatology
Did Augustine of Hippo — the most influential theologian of the Western Church — teach the existence of a state of post-mortem purification corresponding to the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory?
Augustine's qualification is theologically important: he does not say everyone goes through purgatorial fire — only those who have minor sins not…
Historically Verified
3 sources AD 413–430
Eschatology
"The early Church prayed for the dead and believed in a state of purification after death, in which the souls of the faithful could be helped by the prayers of the living."
The Church has always prayed for the dead because she has always known that the mercy of God reaches beyond death. The…
Historically Verified
6 sources AD 150–430
Primary Sources

Patristic Texts Addressing Eschatology

These texts from the Fideograph library contain annotated passages directly bearing on this doctrine. Each passage is tagged so you can filter to the relevant chapters immediately.

c. AD 350 Intermediate
Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem — Mystagogical Catecheses
Five post-baptismal lectures delivered at the Holy Sepulchre c. AD 350 — the most systematic early treatment of the sacraments, including the clearest patristic account of Real Presence and the Epiclesis.
1 chapter on Eschatology
Read — filtered to Eschatology →
c. AD 50–120 Introductory
Anonymous (Apostolic)
The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)
The oldest surviving Christian catechism outside the New Testament — containing the earliest extra-biblical instructions for Baptism, the Eucharist, fasting, and church order. c. AD 50–120.
1 chapter on Eschatology
Read — filtered to Eschatology →

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