Z
Zenkai
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Heaven, Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom, Purgatory, Sheol, Hades, Limbo, Hell.
What’s the Church’s teachings on these?
What’s the Church’s teachings on these?
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B
Bookcat
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B
Bookcat
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Pope Benedict XVI on Purgatory:
"Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, gives us an idea of the differing impact of God’s judgement according to each person’s particular circumstances. He does this using images which in some way try to express the invisible, without it being possible for us to conceptualize these images—simply because we can neither see into the world beyond death nor do we have any experience of it. Paul begins by saying that Christian life is built upon a common foundation: Jesus Christ. This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken away from us even in death. Then Paul continues: “Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:12-15). In this text, it is in any case evident that our salvation can take different forms, that some of what is built may be burned down, that in order to be saved we personally have to pass through “fire” so as to become fully open to receiving God and able to take our place at the table of the eternal marriage-feast.
"Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, gives us an idea of the differing impact of God’s judgement according to each person’s particular circumstances. He does this using images which in some way try to express the invisible, without it being possible for us to conceptualize these images—simply because we can neither see into the world beyond death nor do we have any experience of it. Paul begins by saying that Christian life is built upon a common foundation: Jesus Christ. This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken away from us even in death. Then Paul continues: “Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:12-15). In this text, it is in any case evident that our salvation can take different forms, that some of what is built may be burned down, that in order to be saved we personally have to pass through “fire” so as to become fully open to receiving God and able to take our place at the table of the eternal marriage-feast.
- Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgement. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion. At the moment of judgement we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy. It is clear that we cannot calculate the “duration” of this transforming burning in terms of the chronological measurements of this world. The transforming “moment” of this encounter eludes earthly time-reckoning—it is the heart’s time, it is the time of “passage” to communion with God in the Body of Christ[39]. The judgement of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice—the crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together—judgement and grace—that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1). --Spe Salvi
Z
Zenkai
Guest
Thanks. I don’t see anything about Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom, Sheol, Hades, and Limbo though. What are they?
B
Bookcat
Guest
The following is not necessarily “Church Teaching” but rather more of history or theology or word usage.Thanks. I don’t see anything about Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom, Sheol, Hades, and Limbo though. What are they?
Paradise can refer to either Eden – or Heaven or perhaps “the new heavens and earth”.
Sheol was where the souls of the dead where --also called as I recall the “limbo of the Fathers”. Hades is a term that gets applied again to the place of the dead in Greek ancient works as well as it can get used for “hell” too.
Abrahams Bosom would be the part of “sheol” that was on the comfortable side of things. Limbo could refer again to sheol or can refer to the idea of a place of happiness where unbaptized children where thought by various theologians etc go (such could still be held but so can other things…we entrust them to God).
P
PaulfromIowa
Guest
]Heaven, Paradise are the same thing.Heaven, Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom, Purgatory, Sheol, Hades, Limbo, Hell.
What’s the Church’s teachings on these?
Abraham’s Bosom, Limbo are the same thing.
Sheol, Hades, Hell are the same thing.
Collectively, they are called the Last Things. Here is a good link:
ewtn.com/faith/teachings/lastmenu.htm
S
surritter
Guest
Heaven is pure bliss – forever with God in eternal happiness. A couple of the other terms you mention no longer exist because they were the temporary state (or “place” if you prefer) for those who died in the friendship of God, but before the gates of Heaven were opened by Jesus.
Maybe others can help you with each specific term. But here’s couple of other thoughts: We know that in the end there is only Heaven and Hell. Purgatory is a temporary state that prepares someone for Heaven.
Some people hold to a theory (not an official one of the Church, but not yet totally ruled out) that there is still a limbo of sorts for those who die who have not yet been baptized, yet are not in a state of mortal sin. I personally do not subscribe to this, because while baptism is the normative way to become a child of God, Catholic belief hints that God Himself can act outside of the sacraments to bring someone into Heaven even if they aren’t baptized, through no fault of their own (such as aborted babies).
Maybe others can help you with each specific term. But here’s couple of other thoughts: We know that in the end there is only Heaven and Hell. Purgatory is a temporary state that prepares someone for Heaven.
Some people hold to a theory (not an official one of the Church, but not yet totally ruled out) that there is still a limbo of sorts for those who die who have not yet been baptized, yet are not in a state of mortal sin. I personally do not subscribe to this, because while baptism is the normative way to become a child of God, Catholic belief hints that God Himself can act outside of the sacraments to bring someone into Heaven even if they aren’t baptized, through no fault of their own (such as aborted babies).
P
PatriciusRex
Guest
I’ll focus on Christian concepts first, then move on to Jewish concepts (which are shared to some degree by Christians, though Jews reject the Christian ones)
Heaven is “where” God is in his fullness and being there is the state of union with Him. This is the desired destination for all Christians.
Paradise is the same thing, “Paradise” just being the Latin-derived term while “Heaven” comes from Anglo-Saxon. Indeed in many Romance languages the word for heaven is “Paradiso” or something similar.
Purgatory is in Western Catholic tradition the intermediate state for those souls destined for Heaven but who are not yet completed purged of sin prior to entering Heaven itself. In the middle ages people sometimes thought of it as basically a temporary version of Hell, in that you would receive punishment for your sins, though only until you had suffered the due penalty for the sins you had died with. More recently, it’s gradually moved in many circles to an understanding more similar to the Eastern Orthodox concept of Hades.
Hades, then is the Eastern theology concept of the intermediate state. Basically, it’s sort of the waiting room for the Day of Judgment. For the righteous, it’s a joyous time, as you know that soon you will be in Heaven forever with God. For the wicked however, it’s torment, as you are confronted with your sins and have nowhere to hide from the sight of God (think Adam and Eve hiding from God after eating from the tree)
Limbo is a Western medieval concept based on the proposition that before Christ’s resurrection Heaven was closed to everyone, righteous or not. But since it was obviously improper to imagine the saints of the Old Testament being punished in Hell, the concept of Limbo was created where the righteous of the Old Testament were forced to wait for the resurrection before entering Heaven, but were spared the sufferings of Hell. A popular medieval image was the “Harrowing of Hades” (no relation to the Eastern concept of Hades above) in which Christ after his death and descent to Hell freed all the souls of the righteous kept there, who finally entered heaven when Christ was resurrected. Recently theologians, including Pope Benedict XVI have downplayed the concept of Limbo.
Finally, Hell is the destination for the damned-- the souls of those who reject God and his offer of salvation. This is the “lake of fire” Jesus spoke of, where there is “wailing and gnashing of teeth” for all eternity. It is best understood as total separation from God.
Finally the Jewish ideas:
Sheol was the abode of the dead. Jewish theology especially before the time of Christ was full of speculation as to what came after this life. Some (such as the Sadducees) didn’t even believe there was a resurrection or continuation of any sort. But more generally it was conceived as similar to the idea of Hades above.
The Bosom of Abraham, in the same theme, was a special condition in Sheol for the righteous. God would reward their lives of devotion and faithfulness by placing them in a pleasant and peaceful state. This is somewhat comparable to the Christian idea of Limbo seen above.
Hope this explains things!
Heaven is “where” God is in his fullness and being there is the state of union with Him. This is the desired destination for all Christians.
Paradise is the same thing, “Paradise” just being the Latin-derived term while “Heaven” comes from Anglo-Saxon. Indeed in many Romance languages the word for heaven is “Paradiso” or something similar.
Purgatory is in Western Catholic tradition the intermediate state for those souls destined for Heaven but who are not yet completed purged of sin prior to entering Heaven itself. In the middle ages people sometimes thought of it as basically a temporary version of Hell, in that you would receive punishment for your sins, though only until you had suffered the due penalty for the sins you had died with. More recently, it’s gradually moved in many circles to an understanding more similar to the Eastern Orthodox concept of Hades.
Hades, then is the Eastern theology concept of the intermediate state. Basically, it’s sort of the waiting room for the Day of Judgment. For the righteous, it’s a joyous time, as you know that soon you will be in Heaven forever with God. For the wicked however, it’s torment, as you are confronted with your sins and have nowhere to hide from the sight of God (think Adam and Eve hiding from God after eating from the tree)
Limbo is a Western medieval concept based on the proposition that before Christ’s resurrection Heaven was closed to everyone, righteous or not. But since it was obviously improper to imagine the saints of the Old Testament being punished in Hell, the concept of Limbo was created where the righteous of the Old Testament were forced to wait for the resurrection before entering Heaven, but were spared the sufferings of Hell. A popular medieval image was the “Harrowing of Hades” (no relation to the Eastern concept of Hades above) in which Christ after his death and descent to Hell freed all the souls of the righteous kept there, who finally entered heaven when Christ was resurrected. Recently theologians, including Pope Benedict XVI have downplayed the concept of Limbo.
Finally, Hell is the destination for the damned-- the souls of those who reject God and his offer of salvation. This is the “lake of fire” Jesus spoke of, where there is “wailing and gnashing of teeth” for all eternity. It is best understood as total separation from God.
Finally the Jewish ideas:
Sheol was the abode of the dead. Jewish theology especially before the time of Christ was full of speculation as to what came after this life. Some (such as the Sadducees) didn’t even believe there was a resurrection or continuation of any sort. But more generally it was conceived as similar to the idea of Hades above.
The Bosom of Abraham, in the same theme, was a special condition in Sheol for the righteous. God would reward their lives of devotion and faithfulness by placing them in a pleasant and peaceful state. This is somewhat comparable to the Christian idea of Limbo seen above.
Hope this explains things!
N
Nimzovik
Guest
So… The Parable of the ‘Rich Man’ and Lazarus… The ‘Rich Man’ went to hell forever?
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