I have heard that the Orthodox Church believes that Jesus Christ descended into hell (though temporarily) before resurrecting. Do Roman Catholics believe this as well? If not, then why the different views on this subject? Thank you.

-- Gabo Gaviria (jkcap@hotmail.com), January 23, 2004

Answers

Gabo, when we say Jesus desended into hell as in the creed we mean that Christ went to limbo I beleave is the word. Since Christ hadent died yet the gates of heaven werent open until He did. Christ went there to spread the news that Heaven was now open.

KeV

-- Kevin Wisniewski (Kez38spl@charter.net), January 23, 2004.

From the Catholic Catechism

ARTICLE 5
"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN"

631 Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens."⁴⁷⁶ The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth:

Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.⁴⁷⁷

Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.⁴⁷⁸ This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.⁴⁷⁹

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.⁴⁸⁰ 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":⁴⁸¹ "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."⁴⁸² 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.⁴⁸³

634 "The gospel was preached even to the dead."⁴⁸⁴ The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.

635 Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."⁴⁸⁵ Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."⁴⁸⁶ Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."⁴⁸⁷

Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him - He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."⁴⁸⁸

IN BRIEF

636 By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" (Heb 2:14).

637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him.

---

476 Eph 4:9-10.
477 Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 18, Exsultet.
478 Acts 3:15; Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 15:20; cf. Heb 13:20.
479 Cf. 1 Pet 3:18-19.
480 Cf. Phil 2:10; Acts 2:24; Rev 1:18; Eph 4:9; Pss 6:6; 88:11-13.
481 Cf. Ps 89:49; 1 Sam 28:19; Ezek 32:17-32; Lk 16:22-26.
482 Roman Catechism I, 6, 3.
483 Cf. Council of Rome (745): DS 587; Benedict XII, Cum dudum (1341): DS 1011; Clement VI, Super quibusdam (1351): DS 1077; Council of Toledo IV (625): DS 485; Mt 27:52-53.
484 1 Pet 4:6.
485 Jn 5:25; cf. Mt 12:40; Rom 10:7; Eph 4:9.
486 Heb 2:14-15; cf. Acts 3:15.
487 Rev 1:18; Phil 2:10.
488 Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday: PG 43, 440A, 452C; LH, Holy Saturday, OR.


-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45@hotmail.com), January 23, 2004.

Thank you.

-- Gabo Gaviria (jkcap@hotmail.com), January 24, 2004.

From the Baltimore Catechism:

Q. 401. Whither did Christ's soul go after His death?

A. After Christ's death His soul descended into hell.

Q. 402. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned? A. The hell into which Christ's soul descended was not the hell of the dammed, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of the just were waiting for Him.

Q. 403. Why did Christ descend into Limbo? A. Christ descended into Limbo to preach to the souls who were in prison -- that is, to announce to them the joyful tidings of their redemption.

Q. 404. Where was Christ's body while His soul was in Limbo? A. While Christ's soul was in Limbo His body was in the holy sepulchre.

-- jake (j@k.e), January 24, 2004.

The above-quoted "Baltimore Catechism" was a "local catechism," prepared by the U.S. bishops, for their people, after a plenary assembly in the late 1800s. This is not to say that it contains errors, but it does reflect the verbiage that was more common at that time than now, including the word "Limbo."

The previously quoted "Catechism of the Catholic Church" is a "universal catechism" (for the whole Church), to which the world's 4,000 bishops (including the pope) contributed. It reflects currently used verbiage, including the absence of the word "Limbo."

The exclusion of the word "limbo" from the new Catechism may have occurred in order to help Catholics to avoid confusion between the two uses of the word in Church history -- one legitimate and the other speculative.

The word "Limbo" as used in the quoted portion of the "Baltimore Catechism" refers to the "Limbus Patruum" (Limbo of the Patriarchs/Fathers) -- the abode of the souls of the dead prior to the coming of Jesus, the place to which he descended before his Resurrection.

The other "limbo" is a product of unofficial theological reflection upon the possibility of a fourth post-mortem "abode" of souls (besides heaven, hell, and purgatory) -- this one being a state of perfect natural happiness (without the "beatific vision" of God) for people (mostly children) who die unbaptized in water before having reached the "age of reason." I said "mostly children" because some unbaptized adults, due to disability or coma, are incapable of reaching the "age of reason." The Church, in her teaching, neither affirms nor denies that this "Limbus Parvulorum" (Limbo of Children) exists. God has not revealed its existence.

-- (Descendit@Ad.Inferos), January 24, 2004.

On the question of Limbo, the Baltimore Catechism states:

Q. 632. Where will persons go who -- such as infants -- have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism?

A. Persons, such as infants, who have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism, cannot enter heaven; but it is the common belief they will go to some place similar to Limbo, where they will be free from suffering, though deprived of the happiness of heaven.

See? Non-dogmatic. Just like the "New catechism."

-- jake (j@k.e), January 25, 2004.

Hi, Gabo

The Church has always believed that the souls of the just dead of human history, before the crusifixion of Jesus, had to wait in a special state for the redemption of mankind, because the gates of heaven were closed because of the sins of our first parents. The abode of the dead was called Hades by the Greeks and Sheol by the Hebrews. You can find these words in the Bible. The Church says that the Abode of the souls of the just can be called "Limbus Patrum," for the Limbo of the Fathers."[Limbo literally means "edge" ie, the borderline of Heaven]

We can also see how Jesus went to visit this 'Limbo' on Holy Saturday, and a lot of the souls there accepted him as their savior, making it possible for them to enter Heaven. Here is what we see in two passages of(1 Peter)

(1)-" For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison...."

(2)-" They are suprised that you do not now join them in the same wild profligacy, and they abuse you: but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the Spirit like God."

You can read more about this "limbus patrum" in the old Catholic Encyclopedia : http/www.newadvent.org/cathen/09256a.htm

I believe that even the souls of holy men like St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist probably had to wait in the "limbo", but God could have made exceptions(like he did with Moses and Elijah).

May God bless you.

-- - (David@excite.com), January 26, 2004.

On the question of Limbo, the Baltimore Catechism states:

But in reality, Q&A 632 is not about "Limbo." It merely mentions the "Limbus patruum" in passing, in a sort of simile, within an unhelpful, and no longer accurate statement. (More about that later.)

Persons, such as infants, who have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism, cannot enter heaven ...

That is theoretically true -- based on a literal interpretation of the words of scripture -- but no one knows if there really are any such infants who die "without" any form whatsoever of "Baptism." We cannot bind God, who is free to operate outside his seven sacraments.

In the next quotation, I am assuming that the word "Limbo" refers to the "Limbus patruum."
... but it is the common belief they will go to some place similar to Limbo, where they will be free from suffering, though deprived of the happiness of heaven.

No. This is not "the common belief" of Catholics today -- neither of the clergy nor of the laity. Moreover, it is debatable whether something as weak as a "common belief" should ever have been published by the U.S. bishops. It was never a unanimous belief, and it was very much against what St. Augustine believed. So this is an example of how the Baltimore Catechism has only limited usefulness in our day -- and how it must be supplemented by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (or, better, replaced by it). It's only a matter of time before someone publishes the CCC in Q&A format -- at which point all Baltimores can be given an "honorable retirement," having served their temporary purpose.

The truth is that there is no "common[ly held] belief" today on this subject, unless it is the belief that was expressed by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, "Veritatis splendor" -- namely, that the exact end of unbaptized babies' souls must remain unknown to us, but that they are "living in the Lord."

As stated in my previous message, the Church does not refer to "Limbo" when speaking about children. The word can't be found in the documents of Vatican II. The word can't be found in the text of the CCC. In fact, at the entire Vatican Internet site, the word can be found only in one papal audience of 2001 (a reference to the Limbus patruum") and in one phrase spoken by a bishop at one of the Synods of Bishops. That's why we ought not to be talking about Limbo for babies here -- except to mention it as a "relic" of a former period of theological speculation.

See? Non-dogmatic. Just like the "New catechism."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is dogmatic where dogmatism is called for. And that is its name, not the "New catechism." Due caution must be exercised when referring to it as "new," because nowadays, there are troubled people who see a bad connotation in the very word, "new," a connotation that the CCC doesn't deserve. This marvelous compendium of doctrine teaches the age-old truths, the deposit of the faith. In the history of the Church, I believe that the only thing more wonderful than the CCC that has been written by Catholics is the New Testament of the Bible.

-- (Descendit@Ad.Inferos), January 27, 2004.