The belief in Purgatory can be traced to the writings of the Christians in the early church.

For instance, in The Acts of Paul and Thecla, "And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again received her [Thecla]. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: 'Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the righteous'" (160 AD).

There are other works that refer to Purgatory as well: Epitaph of Abercius (190 AD); The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity, 2:3-4 (202 AD); Tertullian's The Soul, 35 (210 AD); Tertullian's The Crown, 3:3 (211 AD); Tertullian's Monogamy, 10:1-2 (216 AD); Cyprian of Carthage in Letters, 51[55]:20 (253 AD); and Lactantius' Divine Institutes, 7:21:6 (307 AD).

Not only did the early Christian church believe in Purgatory, but so did the Pre-Christian Jews. In 2 Maccabees 12:41-46, it refers to praying for the dead as a holy act. Orthodox Jews today pray the Mourner's Qaddish for eleven month's so that departed souls may be purified.