>>511214379
True.
>>511214477
He was an ardent defend of the toll houses. In fact he took a hardline defence of the doctrine and viewed it literally (something many of its modern defenders are even hesitant to do).
The toll houses are rooted in gnostic (and probably prior to that pagan) origins. Look up the Matarta in Mandaeism.
>"At the time of its departure from the body, the soul finds itself in a completely new and unfamiliar world, the spiritual world, and it is immediately attacked by the evil spirits, which attempt to find in it some reflection of their own qualities, in order to claim it as their own.” (The Soul After Death pg. 53)
>"The demons look for sins in a soul, and if the sins are unrepented, they try to drag the soul down to hell.” (pg. 66)
"It is at these fearful trials that the prayer and help of the living are especially necessary for the dead, in order to free them from the power of the demons who accuse them of sins for which they have not yet brought forth fruits of repentance.” (pg. 71)
And for proof he viewed in literally and not a myth or allegory
>"There are those today who attempt to discredit this teaching, calling it a ‘myth’ or ‘folklore’. But their arguments are based on a rationalistic approach that refuses to accept the clear teaching of the Church Fathers and the experience of the saints.” (pg. 85)
He was formally opposed to gnosticsm but accepted a view of the gospel rooted in gnostic cosmology.
