Subsequently, theologians distinguished the limbo of the Fathers from the limbo of the infants. This “limbo” was not heaven, but it was also not the fires of hell. This vacated Limbus Patrum was the perfect place to assign unbaptized infants. Purgatory (justified Christians in need of further sanctification after death)Īccording to Catholic teaching, when Christ descended into Hell (the section called Limbus), He applied the merits of His death to the souls of the Old Covenant faithful and brought them to Heaven.Limbo of the Infants (bliss and paradise for unbaptized babies or Gentile babies of the Old Testament).Limbo of the Fathers (emptied after the death of Christ).Similarly, Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that there are four abodes in the netherworld: For example, the Jewish Book of Enoch (a non-canonical, non-inspired book) describes Sheol (the underworld) as divided into four sections: This division of the abodes of the netherworld is attested to by the likes of Saint Thomas Aquinas and goes back to Jewish sources. This pleasant “edge of hell” is called limbo or “Abraham’s bosom” in Sacred Scripture (cf. It was here in the “pleasant place” of hell/sheol/hades that the Old Covenant faithful waited until Christ “descended into hell.” It is the place of natural beatitude, yet without the beatific vision of God. It was believed that there was an edge or fringe (Latin: limbus) that did not include the fiery torments of hell or gehenna. Subtle theologians recalled the Limbus Patrum or “the limbo of the Fathers” of the Old Covenant. If infants die without baptism, they are guilty of neither personal sins nor for resisting baptism. ![]() Baptism is the ordinary means of grace for salvation. God wants all to be saved (including infants). The death of unbaptized infants has always been difficult point in Catholic theology. I’m studying the recent document The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized by the International Theological Commission (an advisory body that carries zero theological weight or magisterial authority).
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