Limbo in the CCC,or Scripture?

[franksv]

My own thread is making my head hurt

 

[Steve_O_Brien]

My own thread is making my head hurt

Frank, please don’t be confused.

Again, the Catholic Encyclopedia article on limbo and St. Thomas Aquinas’s comments on it in the supplement to the Summa theologiae are excellent resources. Please see the links in my previous post.

You’re in my prayers.

Keep and spread the Faith.

 

[Steve_O_Brien]

I see that the Devil, who is (of course) anti-limbo, and who always tries to confuse and demoralize those who have the one true Faith, has slightly mangled my all-important citation from the Council of Lyons II in my post #8.

That’s why I’d like to correct that citation for the record:

"Unbaptized infants cannot attain the supernatural happiness of heaven for this reason: they are, in some sense, punished in the next world. It is a Catholic dogma, not a mere theological hypothesis, that 'the souls of those who die in mortal sin or with original sin only descend without delay into hell, to be punished, however, with different kinds of punishments’ (DS 858=D 464 and DS 1306=D 693). This punishment is deprivation of the beatific vision (DS 780=D 410)."

Anyone who denies the truth of limbo must contend that the above words in red do not constitute a dogma of the Catholic Faith. But they do constitute a dogma. Consequently, limbo must not be denied. Though limbo itself is not a dogma, it is necessary for the defense of the dogma of original sin.

Keep and spread the Faith.

 

[franksv]

Frank, please don’t be confused.

Again, the Catholic Encyclopedia article on limbo and St. Thomas Aquinas’s comments on it in the supplement to the Summa theologiae are excellent resources. Please see the links in my previous post.

You’re in my prayers.

Keep and spread the Faith.

Theres good arguments on both sides here.I am really surprised that Catholics could be so divided on any teaching of our Faith.This is the first time I have encountered something like this,on this level.

But Steve,please know this:I have my own reasons & exp’s to know beyond any doubt what the Church really is and whom founded it.This is not a stumbling block,it’s a learning exp for me.I just want to know all I can in a humble accurate manner.Thank you for your Prayers.I will check out your links sometime today.

Frank

 

[Steve_O_Brien]

As a newer Catholic some of the conversations here are just light years ahead of my reading.On another thread there was some debate on whether limbo is or is not a Catholic teaching,or even in the CCC.

My Questions:

Is limbo in the CCC,or Bible?(I could not find it on the CCC search engine)

If it’s not in the CCC or Bible,where did the idea come from?

Is limbo a teaching of our most Holy Faith?

Have at it.

Frank

Frank, here’s a deductive argument from the Bible for the existence of limbo:

1. No one who is tainted can enter heaven:

“. . .] but nothing unclean will enter it . . .]" (Rev 21:27).**

1. The souls of unbaptized infants are tainted by original sin. Even infants die, which shows that they, too, are being punished for being infected by Adam’s sin:

***“Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned–for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come” (*Rom *5:12-14). ***

1. Conclusion: the souls of unbaptized infants cannot go to heaven. Since they cannot go to hell either, they must go to limbo.

Keep and spread the Faith.

 

[Fidelis]

Frank, here’s a deductive argument from the Bible for the existence of limbo:

1. No one who is tainted can enter heaven:

*** “. . .] but nothing unclean will enter it . . .]" (Rev 21:27).*

1. The souls of unbaptized infants are tainted by original sin. Even infants die, which shows that they, too, are being punished for being infected by Adam’s sin:

***“Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned–for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come” (***Rom *5:12-14). *

1. Conclusion: the souls of unbaptized infants cannot go to heaven. Since they cannot go to hell either, they must go to limbo.

Keep and spread the Faith.

Having said that, we must also keep in mind what the Catechism makes explicit:

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. **The Church **does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

In other words, God has given us the Sacrament of baptism for the remission of original and actual sin. It is the only means the Church knows of by which this happens. *But God is not bound by the means he has revealed to us. *Thus, since he is all powerful, all just and all merciful, he can allow the entry into heaven of any and all he chooses, in any way he wants, baptism or not. To deny this, is to limit the omnipotence and sovereignty of God, not to mention his Divine Mercy.