<P> Pope Gregory the Great's Dialogues, written in the late 6th century, evidence a development in the understanding of the afterlife distinctive of the direction that Latin Christendom would take: </P> <P> As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire . He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come . From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come . </P> <P> Visions of purgatory abounded; Bede (died 735) mentioned a vision of a beautiful heaven and a lurid hell with adjacent temporary abodes, as did Saint Boniface (died 754). In the 7th century, the Irish abbot St. Fursa described his foretaste of the afterlife, where, though protected by angels, he was pursued by demons who said: "It is not fitting that he should enjoy the blessed life unscathed..., for every transgression that is not purged on earth must be avenged in heaven", and on his return he was engulfed in a billowing fire that threatened to burn him, "for it stretches out each one according to their merits...For just as the body burns through unlawful desire, so the soul will burn, as the lawful, due penalty for every sin ." </P> <P> Others who expounded upon purgatory include Haymo (died 853), Rabanus Maurus (c. 780--856), and Walafrid Strabo (c. 808--849). </P>

Where does the belief in purgatory come from