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Article: Speedy retribution.(costs of speeding tickets in Finland)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- February 7, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN THIS ECUMENICAL era not only churches but cultures are melding, merging, learning from one another and even transposing and trading their distinctive characteristics. For example, Finland, historically Lutheran, has come to exemplify old Catholic understandings and uses of purgatory at a time when the Catholics themselves think and talk less and less about purgatory.
Purgatory was about measurement. "How long?" "How hot?" "How punishing?" people asked about the process of purging the soul and preparing it for heaven. And they measured sin, which got you into purgatory, and grace, which did not quite exempt you from it.
In a review of Anthony ...