<P> Visions of purgatory abounded; Bede mentioned a vision of a beautiful Heaven and a lurid Hell with adjacent temporary abodes, as did St. Boniface . 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, Rabanus Maurus (c. 780--856), and Walafrid Strabo (c. 808--849). </P> <P> In 1054, the Bishop of Rome and the four Greek - speaking patriarchs of the East excommunicated each other, triggering the East - West Schism . The schism split the church basically into the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches . In the West, the understanding of purification through fire in the intermediate state continued to develop . </P> <P> The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates several All Souls' Days in the year, but in the West only one such annual commemoration is celebrated . The establishment, at the end of the 10th century, of this remembrance helped focus popular imagination on the fate of the departed, and fostered a sense of solidarity between the living and the dead . Then, in the 12th century, the elaboration of the theology of penance helped create a notion of purgatory as a place to complete penances unfinished in this life . </P>

Where does the idea of purgatory come from in the bible