LIMBO
From Philosopedia
- Limbo by Alonso Cano (1601 - 1667)
- Oil on canvas, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
LIMBO
Limbo, like Hell, is a theological invention.
In Roman Catholic theology, Limbo is located on the border (limbus, Latin for border) of Hell, and it is a place where “souls” remain that cannot enter. It has two parts: (a) the limbo of the Fathers—a place and state of rest wherein the souls of the just who died before Christ’s ascension were detained until He re-opened Heaven to them, hitherto closed in consequence of Adam’s fall; and (b) the limbo of the children—containing all children or adults who die without the baptism of water, blood, or desire and therefore in a state of original sin.
St. Augustine taught that such children and unbaptized adults as are free from grievous actual sin eternally enjoyed a state of perfect natural happiness, knowing and loving God by the use of their natural powers, explained Joseph F. Thorning, who taught ethics in Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and College, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
In short, those in limbo do not suffer damnation, but they do not enjoy “the presence of God.”
Limbo Commencing in April 2007
But wait, in April 2007 Pope Benedict reversed centuries of traditional Catholic teaching on limbo, saying that unbaptized babies may be getting into Heaven after all. He approved the findings of the International Theological Commission, a Vatican advisory panel, which said it was reassessing traditional teaching on limbo in light of "pressing" pastoral needs - primarily the growing number of abortions and infants born to nonbelievers who die without being baptized.
In Limbo, according to Dante, are Socrates, Plato, Homer, Ovid, Horace, Democritus, Zeno, Thales, Anaxogoras, Heraclitus. They are still there on the printed page despite Pope Benedict's ruling on babies.
Limbo for Non-Believers
For freethinkers and humanists, limbo (from limba, to bend, in Jamaican) is a colorful West Indian dance in which they can bend over backward, pass under a pole that is lowered slightly each time, and invite ectomorphic onlookers to join in.
