Catholicism

Ok, so once again I am reading a little in regards to Catholicism although I don't think Ive written about it at all before. At the moment I'm looking at the doctrine of Purgatory. I found this wonderful site: ScriptureCatholic.com .. So of course I'm looking over that, to be honest I haven't even finished reading the page on Purgatory yet, and I am simply amazed at the amount of new testament scriptures (among others) that they cite to back up this doctrine!

Quite honestly, most of it makes a lot of sense and fills in gaps that my (almost non-existent) protestant theology is missing. It is certainly something that I believe is worth looking into more, and especially making sure that I am taking the scriptures in context.

I do have a question though.. It seems that the doctrine of Purgatory is 2-fold. 1) It is a place, and 2) it is a process. From what I can understand, the purpose of Purgatory is where people who have died atone for their venial sins so that they can continue on and enter heaven as purified and holy. This would seem totally un-necessary to a person who believes that Christ has already atoned for all our sins by his sacrifice on the cross. It has been my understanding that he paid the price so that we don't have to. (Granted, I fully believe that when we love him we automatically strive to do what is right out of that love.) What am I missing here?

I'm also wondering what the Catholic view of the curtain in the temple being ripped from top to bottom when Christ died means. I have been told that it was basically God's invitation for the common man to come and enter into the inner temple. Into the very presence of God... with out the need for an intercessor or high priest. Although I think Catholicism subscribes to the belief that people can go directly to God without an intercessor as well.

Anyways.... Just a couple things I was thinking about. Please feel free to comment.

PS... Oh another interesting tid-bit. The site that I am visiting claims that "the Bible says that the Church, not the Scriptures, is the pinnacle and foundation of the truth"... which apparently it does in 1 Tim 3:15. And they seem to have a lot of supporting quotes for their position on purgatory from the early church (AD 160-594).