![]() For Catholics, though not Irish Protestants, this formed part of a spiritual cosmos which viewed Heaven and Hell as opposite poles, with Purgatory and Limbo occupying rather vaguely defined intermediate positions. "Children growing up in the Ireland of the 1950s will have a clear remembrance of a metaphysical space or place known as Limbo. It seems the concept was developed over time by Christians to handle two problems: one was the fate of those who led just lives and who died before Christ came on earth to redeem humankind the other was the fate of unbaptised babies in the event of death. Professor Kennedy explained: "The term Limbo does not appear in the Bible or the New Testament. The women varied in ages, with birth dates ranging from the 1930s - 1960s and represented all four provinces of the island of Ireland. Some 26 women in total, including 23 from the Irish Countrywomen's Association, took part in the survey which was carried out in 2017. The study was led by Professor Liam Kennedy, Professor Emeritus of History from the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's University, who conducted a survey questionnaire in association with the Irish Countrywomen's Association. The "Limbo of the Patriarchs" or "Limbo of the Fathers" (Latin limbus patrum) is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible.Limbo, in Catholic theology, was believed to be the border place between heaven and hell where those souls who died without being baptised, though not condemned to punishment, were deprived of eternal happiness with God in heaven. The term Limbo of the Fathers was a medieval name for the part of the underworld ( Hades) where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ's soul descended into it by his death through crucifixion and freed them. ![]() The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Christ's descent into Hell as meaning primarily that "the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. 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." It adds: "But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there." It does not use the word Limbo. Luke 16:22 speaks of the " bosom of Abraham", which both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, following early Christian writers, understand as a temporary state of souls awaiting entrance into Heaven.The concept of Limbo of the Patriarchs is not spelled out in Scripture, but is seen by some as implicit in various references: This concept of Limbo affirms that admittance to Heaven is possible only through the intervention of Jesus Christ, but does not portray Moses, etc. Jesus told the Good Thief that the two of them would be together "this day" in Paradise ( Luke 23:43 see also Matthew 27:38) but on the Sunday of his resurrection he said that he had "not yet ascended to the Father" ( John 20:17).The end of that state is set either at the Resurrection of the Dead, the most common interpretation in the East, or at the Harrowing of Hell, the most common interpretation in the West, but adopted also by some in the East. ![]() At least one Medieval devotional source and a course of Catholic religious instruction dating to or before the early 1900s posit the view that the understand the text to mean not "I say to you, This day you will be with me in paradise", but "I say to you this day, You will be with me in paradise". ![]() Jesus is also described as preaching to "the spirits in prison" ( 1 Peter 3:19).Timothy Radcliffe explained the "today" as a reference to the "Today of eternity". Medieval drama sometimes portrayed Christ leading a dramatic assault – the Harrowing of Hell – during the three days between the Crucifixion and the resurrection.
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