Limbo, the Eschata, Eschatology and Christian Hope
The theology of the last things such as death, judgment, heaven, hell and the second coming of Christ, belongs to the study of eschatology. This study takes as its principle still the person of Christ, who remains as the source of Christian hope for all Christians, in view of the end time, and the future thereafter, where a new earth and a new heaven shall be created.
Definition of Limbo
Some theologians define limbo as a state of being shared by all those who have died deserving neither the full experience of heaven nor the everlasting sorrow of hell. The term is taken from Latin, "limbus", meaning "on the border" or on the edge. The word also means a border or hem of a garment. This technical theological term designates the place or condition of those who have died without baptism, but also without the mortal guilt necessary for condemnation to hell.
Two kinds of limbo
Tradition distinguishes between the limbo of the Fathers (limbus patrum), and the limbo of the infants (limbus infantum). The first designates all the just who have preceded Jesus in salvation history, including Old Testament figures, and all those of non-Jewish origin. The second refers to the state of children who have died without baptism but also not committing any sin. In 1794 A.D., Pope Pius VI taught that a Catholic can believe in this spiritual condition of happiness called "limbo", where no pain is suffered by those who are destined to be in that state of being.
Definition of eschata
The eschata refers to the last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell and the second coming of Christ (particularly called parousia). These last things can be viewed two ways: by focusing on the destiny of the individual with accounts of what will happen to him in terms of purgatory, heaven or hell, or on the other hand, by focusing on the collective destiny of the world, both natural and human, in terms of a general resurrection of the dead and the dawning of a new earth and a new heaven.
Eschatology and Christian hope
The eschata are understood more in the context of eschatology, which refers to the study of the last things. But eschatology is always to be seen and guided by the principle that Jesus is the norm and foundation for all truth regarding the last things, and what would be in the future after it. Jesus and His resurrection becomes the center that produces Christian hope for personal lives and the social and environmental dimensions in which these are situated. Thus, even if the future remains very much a mystery for every Christian, the promise of new life in Christ to come can always be imaged in the person of Christ Himself and through the scripture: "no eye has seen nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".
Related sources:
- The New Dictionary of Theology, Komonchak, Collins and Lane, editors
- The New Concise Catholic Dictionary, by Reynolds R. Ekstrom
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