Abode of the Dead: Hades not Hell

[Qwikness]

I was wondering, it is often said when we die we go to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory, to await eventual admittance into Heaven. Having said that, what of “Hades” not Hades the place of eternal torment but Hades the waiting place, the abode of the dead. AKA Sheol.
two questions.

• Why don’t we ever talk about it? The Easterns do. For Westerns, its either black or white Heaven or Hell (plus Purgatory) but never The Abode.
• If Hades as a place exists, is this where Purgatory, the state of purification takes place?

I ask because some protestants and Byzantines believe in a waiting place such as Hades and understand its not Hell. They might understand the process of purging takes place here and realize Purgatory is not a place but state.

please don’t get to complicated.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

We don’t talk about it because it’s purpose has been served. If I were a betting man, I’d lay odds that it no longer exists. Abraham’s Bosom (as it was called in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich man) was where the souls of righteous Jews and gentiles wen when they died in God’s favor. With the death of Jesus, the doors of Heaven were opened, and all the souls that had been inhabiting Abraham’s Bosom were granted access.

This place was apart from purgatory, because it was a place of peace and contentment, rather than a place of cleansing.

Hope that helps ^^

 

[TK421]

Everything in the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the greater splendor of the New Testament, with Christ’s death and resurrection.

The word of God on stone tablets became the Word of God in flesh. The ark that held the word of God on stone tablets was a sacred gold vessel, and in the New Testament an immaculate human being. Animal sacrifice was replaced with the eternal sacrifice of Christ. Israel in the Old Testament was a nation that God set aside to be holy; in the New Testament, Israel is the Church - all believers. The parallels go on.

This is seen beyond death as well. Sheol (Hades) was the abode where all the dead dwell; the righteous in peace and the unrighteous in torment. When Christ ascended from Hades and was resurrected, and then ascended into Heaven, he unlocked the way for others to follow him as well.

 

[followingtheway]

From my understanding (based on Luke 16:19–31) before the time Christ, Hades/Sheol had two compartments, a place of comfort and a place of torment. The place of comfort is now empty because Christ rescued the souls who went there. The place of torment is not empty and this what we know today as “Hell”

 

[R_C]

I was wondering, it is often said when we die we go to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory, to await eventual admittance into Heaven. Having said that, what of “Hades” not Hades the place of eternal torment but Hades the waiting place, the abode of the dead. AKA Sheol.
two questions.

• Why don’t we ever talk about it? The Easterns do. For Westerns, its either black or white Heaven or Hell (plus Purgatory) but never The Abode.
• If Hades as a place exists, is this where Purgatory, the state of purification takes place?

We do talk about it. It is called Limbo. See article on Catholic Encyclopedia.

In theological usage the name is applied to

(a) the temporary place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were excluded from the beatific vision until Christ’s triumphant ascension into Heaven (the “limbus patrum”); or

(b) to the permanent place or state of those unbaptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the beatific vision on account of original sin alone (the “limbus infantium” or “puerorum”).

With regards to the Limbo of the Patriarchs (limbus patrum):

Catholic tradition has defended the existence of the limbus patrum as a temporary state or place of happiness distinct from Purgatory.

As a result of the Fall, Heaven was closed against men. Actual possession of the beatific vision was postponed, even for those already purified from sin, until the Redemption should have been historically completed by Christ’s visible ascendancy into Heaven.

Consequently, the just who had lived under the Old Dispensation, and who, either at death or after a course of purgatorial discipline, had attained the perfect holiness required for entrance into glory, were obliged to await the coming of the Incarnate Son of God and the full accomplishment of His visible earthly mission. Meanwhile they were “in prison,” as St. Peter says

As regards to the Limbo of the Infants (limbus infantium), there has been literally some two thousand years of theological debate on the matter (and dozens of threads on this forum alone). The bottom line is described in Catholic Encyclopedia and in a 2007 document from the Holy See:

by insisting on the absolute necessity of being “born again of water and the Holy Ghost” (John 3:5) for entry into the kingdom of Heaven, Christ clearly enough implies that men are born into this world in a state of sin, and St. Paul’s teaching to the same effect is quite explicit (Romans 5:12 sqq.).

On the other hand, it is clear from Scripture and Catholic tradition that the means of regeneration provided for this life do not remain available after death, so that those dying unregenerate are eternally excluded from the supernatural happiness of the beatific vision (John 9:4, Luke 12:40, 16:19 sqq., 2 Corinthians 5:10.

The question therefore arises as to what, in the absence of a clear positive revelation on the subject, we ought in conformity with Catholic principles to believe regarding the eternal lot of such persons.

Now it may confidently be said that, as the result of centuries of speculation on the subject, we ought to believe that these souls enjoy and will eternally enjoy a state of perfect natural happiness;

and this is what Catholics usually mean when they speak of the limbus infantium, the “children’s limbo.”

We believe that, in the development of doctrine, the solution in terms of Limbo can be surpassed in view of a greater theological hope.

As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them’ (Mk 10:14; cf.1Tim 2:4), allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism.

What has been revealed to us is that the ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of Baptism… we want to reaffirm in conclusion…hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the Church.

Therefore, strictly speaking, we do know about “the abode of the dead”, but we do not talk about it because we do not consider it something that is currently for us to be concerned with:

• the souls in Abraham’s bosom were led to heaven by Christ’s descent to them
• we have a greater hope that there be no limbo of natural joy for unbaptized infants, but in a mysterious way, just heaven.

 

[Qwikness]

We can keep Limbo for Infants out of this discussion.

 

[thistle]

I was wondering, it is often said when we die we go to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory, to await eventual admittance into Heaven. Having said that, what of “Hades” not Hades the place of eternal torment but Hades the waiting place, the abode of the dead. AKA Sheol.
two questions.

• Why don’t we ever talk about it? The Easterns do. For Westerns, its either black or white Heaven or Hell (plus Purgatory) but never The Abode.
• If Hades as a place exists, is this where Purgatory, the state of purification takes place?

I ask because some protestants and Byzantines believe in a waiting place such as Hades and understand its not Hell. They might understand the process of purging takes place here and realize Purgatory is not a place but state.

please don’t get to complicated.

CCC 633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”: “It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.” Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

 

[Qwikness]

Thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut. Now I understand that Limbo of the Patriarchs, abode of the dead, Abaraham’s Bosom is closed. Let me re direct and ask about Purgatory. Purgatory is not a place but a sanctifying state, right? Its the preparatory state before heaven, because nothing unclean may enter heaven. So If it is not a place and it is not Heaven or Hell. Then it must be in some place. Can that place be Limbo? or Hades?

 

[followingtheway]

Purgatory is not a place but a sanctifying state, right?

Huh? Yes it is

Its the preparatory state before heaven, because nothing unclean may enter heaven

Yes and you’re right.

So If it is not a place and it is not Heaven or Hell. Then it must be in some place. Can that place be Limbo? or Hades?

From my understanding

Hell and Purgatory are in Hades too as Limbo/Abraham’s Bosom was.