Catholics: What happened to limbo?

Question

What was the pope's rationalization for this? I heard that given the number of abortions the Catholic chuch was sort of in"limbo" themselves on this issue. You know like on one hand acknowledging the innocense of the unborn child's soul but then on the other hand sticking the innocent soul in a place called limbo, the place they claim is between heaven and hell.

Come on folks since when is a theory not followed by the flock of the faithful...although I am an ex-Catholic, theories were presented as fact...and if the infallible pope says so, well it must be fact. Question is, which pope was fallible and which was infallible in realtionship to this theory?

Once again something does not need to be "official" doctrine to be accepted, believed, and supported. And actually I think the dropping of the position has more to do with the church's position on abortion. It is rather a sticky rhetoric to discuss the innocent soul of an aborted child and then stick them in "limbo" I think the lack of logic caught them out there.

Answer 1

I'm neither Catholic nor ex-Catholic.

I think you've described a piece of it, and perhaps that which brought this to a head.

But I see several problems intertwined in this decision.

You have Original Sin. God burns you for that alone.

You have accepting Jesus as lord and saviour, that earns you heaven.

Then you have the question of when a child is competent enough to make such a decision and have it count.

Obviously babies can't do that, so the church invented Limbo so that they can retain their beliefs about accepting Jesus while not condemning babies to Hell.

No generation has found popular the idea that babies go to Hell.

The other way of handling this is the baptism of infants. Here it is believed that parents and god-parents pledging to raise a child to be a Christian would appease God and permit the child to enter heaven if the child died before reaching an age where the child could accept Jesus.

There is, of course, no scripture to support the baptism of infants, nor the expectations of those who engage in it.

But you have to remember that when these beliefs were invented infant mortality was much higher than it is today. Imagine how many times the Church would have to tell berieving parents that their infant was going to Hell?

No Church would long survive that kind of behaviour.

Another part of this was the Catholic belief in praying for the dead, or paying penance to redeem the dead. This is the idea that you can bribe God into letting one of the damned out of Hell and into Heaven.

The Church has come up with many ways of dealing with this problem in their scriptures.

They've finally recognized that there is no scriptural basis for a belief in Limbo, and thus have admitted it.

But note this: They have replaced Limbo with a "belief" that "God is Just" and "God is merciful" and that God will let babies into Heaven anyway.

They've changed the geography, but not the claim that God would never be so cruel as to send babies to Hell.

And herein they've removed the linch pin for their entire belief structure ... Original Sin.

They can't claim babies will go to Heaven without disclaiming the belief that Original Sin is responsible for God sending Jesus.

Belief in Jesus is supposed to wash away the claim our humanity has on the penalty for Original Sin.

A baby has no belief in Jesus.

The penalty is the second death (Revelations 21:8 "... unbelieving ...").

Essentially, the Church is saying a human has a better chance of entering Heaven if it dies early, and the earlier it dies the better the chance.

Because, according to this belief, some time after being born God decides the human should suffer the penalty of Original Sin unless the human accepts Jesus.

So it is either die young or die saved. Everyone else goes to Hell.

But if this is true then the Church undermines its arguments about abortion. These babies are going to Heaven, if the current post-Limbo belief is held. And while the Church may be concerned about the souls of the mother and doctor, the Church can hardly complain about another innocent soul in Heaven.

Whoops ;-)

As I see it, Christian doctrine is pretty clear that a child has to accept Jesus to get to Heaven (think of the times when Jesus was with children and what he said). That means anyone too young doesn't go to Heaven, because he/she doesn't know who Jesus is and doesn't comprehend the concept of salvation.

For me, there is no connection between Adam and Eve and Original Sin, and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Somewhere in the early Church there were people motivated to screw Jesus into the OT Messiah legend. Edits were made to the story of Jesus to create a Church hierarchy and power-structure.

Because jesus really doesn't teach us anything about being a part of a hierarchy or power-structure. Jesus taught the powerless and helpless how to live their lives.

Jesus didn't teach anyone how to be rich or politically-powerful. His lessons are the ultimate expression of "accept your lot in life".

Jesus only taught one thing: to Love others.

Answer 2

The Church has pondered the suggestion of Limbo for a few hundred years and has decided that it is not a good idea. Limbo was never official doctrine.

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." (Mark 16:15-16)

For centuries, people have wondered about children who died before they were baptized. The Bible does not explicitly state that they will go to heaven.

Limbo was suggested as the place where unbaptized babies went when they died. This idea was never official Church doctrine and has been rejected.

The Church now says that it is not sure what happens to unbaptized babies when they die but she entrusts them to the mercy of God.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Limbo was a theory, not a teaching of the Catholic Church. It has NEVER been part of Catholic doctrine.

The main concern was what happened to babies when they died prior to baptism.

What the Pope said was that the theory of limbo restricted the concept of the Mercy of God. It is part of Catholic doctrine that the Mercy of God cannot be restricted. That's why we said goodbye to the theory. Catholic teaching regarding unbaptized babies remains intact - unchanged.

Answer 4

"A Theological U-turn for many folk of Catholic churchgoers, the belief of Limbo has continually been particularly foggy. In present day an prolonged time, it particularly is been progressively fading away—to the element that the thought now no longer seems in catechisms. In 2007, the Catholic Church formally signed Limbo’s “loss of life certificates” in a record stating “theological and liturgical motives to wish that toddlers who die with out baptism would be saved and introduced into eternal happiness.”—international Theological cost. Why this alteration of place, this theological U-turn? in certainty, it allowed the church to unfastened itself from what French columnist Henri Tincq referred to as “a burdensome inheritance, defended, from the middle a while to the twentieth century, via a manipulative Church, in user-friendly terms too satisfied to apply the threat of Limbo to incite mom and dad to baptize their little ones as without postpone as a hazard.” however the loss of life of Limbo additionally will strengthen different subjects. custom or Scripture? traditionally, perception in Limbo resulted from 12th-century theological debates relative to purgatory. The Catholic Church taught that the soul survives after loss of life, so it had to locate a place for the souls of little ones who ought to no longer bypass to heaven because of the fact they weren't baptized yet who besides the undeniable fact that weren't deserving of hell. for this reason replaced into born the belief of Limbo. The Bible, besides the undeniable fact that, would not instruct that the soul survives after loss of life. rather, it needless to say states that relatively than being immortal, human souls who sin would be “destroyed” and “shall die.” (Acts 3:23; Ezekiel 18:4, Douay-Rheims version) because of the fact the soul is mortal, the style of place as Limbo can't exist. in addition to, the Bible speaks of loss of life as being a state of unconsciousness, such as sleep.—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; John eleven:eleven-14. The Bible shows that God considers holy the greater youthful little ones of Christian mom and dad. (a million Corinthians 7:14) the style of fact could be pointless if the baptism of toddlers have been mandatory for their salvation. The coaching of Limbo replaced into particularly an insult to God, depicting him as a merciless tyrant who punishes the harmless, relatively than the in simple terms and loving Father that he's. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Matthew 5:40 5; a million John 4:8) No ask your self, then, that this unscriptural coaching has continually run counter to the commonsense of uncomplicated Christians!" The Watchtower 01/06/10, p.10

Answer 5

Limbo was just a theological opinion, not a doctrine or dogma. Since God is all mercifull it could be that aborted babies go to heaven.

Answer 6

Limbo was never a tenant of faith but a tradition of some. Purgatory is a tenant of faith and is the second level of the church (three levels). The Duff is also a tradition that few share.

Answer 7

Limbo was never a doctrine

Answer 8

as a former catholic..paradise is no more..it was a spot reserved for moses..abraham..ect. before HEAVEN was open up..after christ resurrection..the pope learn of this.OUTSIDE of catholism. babies are right there in heaven..waiting for mom to come..and when they are full grown..they will be tested by satan..at the end of the 1000 yars reigns...just before the 8th day..where no flesh remain.

Answer 9

I guess it got sent to limbo.

Answer 10

It was torn down in order to build a strip mall.