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Extra-Long (>70 mins)
Doctrine
EvangelicalBaptist

Purgatory: A Protestant Perspective

Theologian

Gavin Ortlund


Duration

77.23


Uploaded to YouTube

7 December 2021

Added to Database

25 November 2025


YouTube description

Roman Catholic apologists often appeal to church history to support Catholic teaching concerning purgatory. Many Protestants are less familiar with church history on this question, and tend to focus on making biblical arguments. In this video I offer an overview of a Protestant perspective on purgatory, putting special focus on the development of this doctrine throughout church history.

Truth Unites (https://truthunites.org) exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth.

Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President of Truth Unites, Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary, and Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville.

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00:00 - Introduction
01:27 - Three Framing Remarks
06:12 - 1. Protestant Concerns in Historical Context
21:53 - 2. Purgatory in Church History
25:38 - Clement + Origen
27:49 - Cyprian
31:42 - Apostolic Fathers
33:27 - Tertullian
35:15 - Irenaeus
35:40 - Hippolytus
37:23 - Eastern Developments
39:03 - Council of Florence
40:17 - Western Development After Origen
41:27 - Lactantius
42:02 - Ambrose
43:24 - Jerome
43:55 - Augustine
44:50 - Ephrem + Aphrahat
46:46 - Ambrose on Theodosius
48:50 - Gregory of Nazianzus
52:38 - Pseudo-Justin
53:12 - Cyril of Alexandria
54:27 - John Chrysostom
1:03:51 - Conclusion from Church History
1:04:58 - 3. Purgatory in Scripture