Zerinus, where are you getting your Catholic theology anyway -
Dante’s Inferno and the Nine Circles of Hell???
Whew!! Now that I’ve picked myself back up from the floor… sorry, it’s taken while for me to stop laughing…
Limbo is not, and never has been, a doctrine of the Catholic Church. Here’s what the Church really says about children who die without baptism:
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1261 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 men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
Really, Zerinus, you might, just might, consider investing in a copy of the Catechism. You can get it in any bookstore for about $10. That’s less than the price of a movie ticket and a popcorn.
Nan
That is a recent innovation. It has not always been the doctrine. Otherwise, why baptize infants anyway? Too bad they didn’t do away with the rite of infant baptism altogether. Baptism is a necessary rite of the gospel; and its purpose is for
repentance unto the remission of sins, as the following verses testify:
Matthew 3:
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Mark 1:
4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judæa, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Luke 3:
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, . . .
8 Bring forth therefore
fruits worthy of repentance, . . .
Acts 19:
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, . . .
1 Corinthians 6:
11 And
such {i.e. sinners} were some of you: but ye are
washed {i.e. in baptism}, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified . . .
Infants can neither repent, nor have they done anything to be repented of. They can neither “confess,” nor do they know what it is they have to “confess,” nor how to “bring forth fruits meet for repnatance”. They are not accountable beings for their actions.
Baptism is a rite of salvation. You baptize people in order to save them. When you baptize an infant, you are making a statement. You are saying that this child requires this rite in order to be saved, and otherwise it can’t be. You don’t baptize someone if he does not require it for his/her salvation. It is like giving chemotherapy to somebody who is perfectly healthy. You don’t. It is a treatment you give to someone who is dying of cancer; and you give it to him in order to save his life. Baptism is like chemotherapy for somebody who is spiritually dying. You do it to save his spiritual life. But if he is spiritually healthy, you don’t give it to him. When you baptize an infant, you do it to save his life. You are saying that without it he cannot be saved.
You don’t baptize infants in order to “bring them to Christ”. That is not its purpose. Jesus never baptized infants in order to “bring them to him”. He only took them in his arms, laid hands on them, and blessed them. That is how you can “bring them to Christ,” if that is what you want to do, by following the example of Jesus. You don’t baptize them unto repentance for the remission of sins.
In the primitive church infants were not baptized. That false sacrament became popular after the apostasy had gotten its hold. In those days baptism was performed exclusively by immersion; and if you immerse an infant most likely you will kill him. An infant doesn’t know how to hold its breath while being immersed in water. He will try to breathe, and fill his lungs with water, and end up being dead!
zerinus