Julian Maurice Moore

Author, composer, songwriter

Julian's Blog, Macabre Blog

Limbo

We all use the term ‘in Limbo’ for when we’re in a kind of personal no-man’s-land, hanging around between states, waiting for something to happen and fidgeting a lot because we’re not quite sure of what’s in store for us in the near future.

The term is actually a religious one and Limbo means ‘edge’ or ‘boundary’ – in its original idea, it means the edge of Hell.

Medieval theologians described Hell as being divided into four distinct parts: Hell of the Damned (Gehenna), Purgatory, Limbo of the Fathers (Patriarchs), and Limbo of the Infants.

So Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in Original Sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned.

What this mainly means is that if you died in infancy without having the chance to be baptised you will not be eligible for entry into heaven, so you will have to wander around in Limbo for all eternity. Which is a bit unfair.

Limbo on Wikipedia

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