Now some foolish persons today claim that Jesus did not descend at all to Hell itself, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished”, but only to Limbo and Purgatory. But when Jesus finally arrived in Limbo and Purgatory, He taught them as if giving a second Sermon on the Mount, instructing them thoroughly in all the Gospel truths, so that they would be most well prepared to enter Heaven. For only the Jews, in ancient times, had explicit knowledge of the Messiah, and even for them, Christ was largely hidden under figures found in the Old Testament Scriptures and mysterious rituals. They were truly saved by Christ, though in a hidden manner. They entered the state of grace in this life by a baptism of desire or of blood, since they lived prior to the establishment of the Sacrament of Baptism. In this way, the souls who entered Heaven, after a time in Purgatory and/or Limbo, already knew and loved Christ explicitly. In both Limbo and Purgatory, Jesus taught the souls, so that they would now have explicit knowledge of their Savior God, whom they previously knew, to one extent or another, only in limited ways. So the non-Jews would be more likely to spend a longer time in Purgatory, and less likely to go directly to Limbo. However, the non-Jews, who died before Christ, knew of God only indirectly and very imperfectly, by whatever truths they could perceive, in heart and mind, from reason alone or from the highly flawed pagan religions. And some may perhaps have been sent by God directly to Limbo. But for the most devout among the Jews, less time in Purgatory was necessary, since they had an explicit love, faith, and hope in the one true God. The souls in Limbo included Jews as well as non-Jews - as long as they died in the state of grace and completed their time in Purgatory (if necessary). They waited in Limbo for Christ to open the gates of Heaven by His salvific death on the Cross. In Limbo, Jesus visited the souls of those who died in a state of grace prior to the Lord’s salvific death AND who had completed their time of purification in Purgatory - in so far as this was just and necessary in each case.
But the truth of these three places is nevertheless implicit in the Old Testament Scriptures. This formula follows from the broad meaning of Hell in the Old Testament, since the Jews did not have explicit knowledge of Limbo and Purgatory, and their understanding of the afterlife was limited.
The formula in the Creed, “He descended into Hell,” uses the term “Hell” in the general sense of places in the afterlife other than Heaven. The infinitely perfect God has no need to judge Himself, nor is anyone else able to judge Him.Īfter the soul of Jesus Christ departed from His body at His death on the Cross, Jesus visited three places, one after another: Limbo, Purgatory, Hell. Yet the soul of Jesus Christ was not judged by God, as all our souls are judged immediately after death, for Christ is God. When Jesus died on the Cross, His soul separated from His body, but the Divine Nature remained united to each - to His soul and to His body.
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