Limbus Patrum: Established and Defended
The limbus patrum is a doctrine held by many in the Roman, Eastern Orthodox, anglican, and even some Lutheran traditions. It is a doctrine that was developed from the Jewish and the Patristic sources. In essence this doctrine teaches that rather than the destination of the human soul being either heaven or hell in the OT, there was a place in which all those who died went regardless of salvation. This place is what the OT calls “sheol”. Theologians that teach that the destination of the human soul in the OT was either heaven or hell speak of sheol as being either the physical grave, or a way of the general spiritual realm where both heaven and hell reside. The doctrine of the limbus patrum however, teaches that sheol is a distinct real unique from both heaven and hell. The word sheol is used in various ways in the OT scriptures. Although it is described as the place that all men went to both saved and unsaved, OT saints that ended up in sheol did not receive the same experience of sheol than that of those outside of the covenant community. It is often taught that within sheol there are two compartments or sections. One for those in the covenant community known as the Abrahams Bosom which in the NT is comparable to the Greek Elysium of Hades. The other section of sheol is comparable to the Greek Tartarus of Hades. These two distinct sections are argued by some to be exactly as they are portrayed in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, however, as we will see this is very likely as they do not find them self in agreement with other texts on the matter. Sheol as a whole can be understood as being a foretaste of what is to come after the resurrection. For the reprobate it is referenced as a place of judgement punishment. This form of suffering is not written about in light of those who obeyed the Lord but of those outside of the covenant community. The OT saints experienced peace and restfulness when in this realm. For those outside of the covenant sheol is mentioned as being a dark place of forgetfulness and loneliness, however, this does not compare with the wrath described in reference to the way that unbelievers experience sheol. The understanding of the limbus patrum has changed and evolved through multiple traditions up to the point that it has in some modern forms of Protestantism such as the Anglican and Lutheran traditions. Its form is believed to have begun from the Jewish understanding of the afterlife which the early Christians used as a foundation to build their theology upon by adding to it Greek philosophy and mythology of the afterlife. They kept the idea of the resurrection of OT saints at the coming of the messiah and this is what became known as the doctrine of the harrowing of hell. The harrowing of hell was the idea that when Christ descended he went to sheol and in taking the keys of death and hell he took the OT saints up to heaven to dwell with the Father. This was seen as being the first resurrection spoken of in Rev 20. For this reason, the doctrine that this paper is discussing is called the limbus patrum, denoting that this state of limbo is one experienced by the OT fathers of the faith rather than by us as well. They believed that the second resurrection would take place at His second coming when all that have ever died upon the earth would be physically resurrected to receive their just deserts in full. This patristic form of the limbus patrum was then built further upon by the Romanists who added a multiplicity of realms and compartments to sheol including purgatory and different final states of hell for different levels of wickedness. After the reformation some protestants modified the either their understanding of sheol or removed the extra biblical developments that the Romanists added to the limbus patrum thus returning to the patristic doctrine as it was established. Each development of this doctrine should be examined and held up to the light of scripture so that we can weed out that which is derived from scripture from the traditions and philosophies of man.
Jewish Interpretation:
The way that the Jews understood the state of the human soul after death was that all men whether in or outside of the covenant would go into sheol. They understood sheol to have two separate compartments. One for those in the covenant, known as the bosom of Abraham which is a foretaste of that which they would receive in their final state after the resurrection and likewise one for those outside of the covenant where wicked people would suffer terribly but not as badly as they would when they arrive at their final state. They believed that when the messiah came he would resurrect the righteous Jews who had died to reign with him in his kingdom. The evil they believed would be left in sheol to await the punishment that they will receive in full in Gehenna.
Patristic Interpretation:
The early church fathers, being the first believers to incorporate NT material into their theology were the first people to develop a coherent Christian theology of the afterlife. Due to many of the first Christians were former Jews, the early Christians naturally adopted the Jewish interpretation of OT texts regarding sheol insofar as seeing it as an intermediate state apart from heaven and hell that is experienced differently by those inside and those outside of the covenant. They did not however all keep strictly to the two-compartment theory of the Jews but there was a variance of ideas on the matter. Those of them who did agree with the two-compartment theory understood this doctrine to be inline with the NT material and saw Christ’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus to be built upon this very doctrine. Their theology of the afterlife however, did not remain as it was in the Jewish theological system. This happened mainly because of the NT revelation which added clarification in the areas of resurrection, final states, judgement, and insight into the way that sheol was seen in this era. The mainstream theology of the Jews did not leave room for the messianic reign to be one of a spiritual kingdom and therefore it could not be carried into the NT church. Rather what took place was that the theology was deepened to a point of seeing there as being both a spiritual resurrection and physical just as there was a spiritual kingdom and a physical kingdom to come in New Jerusalem. The first resurrection taking place when Christ descended into sheol to free the OT saints and the second being a physical resurrection of all men at the end of days. This doctrine is known as the harrowing of hell. Though this doctrine is believed by those who hold to it as being taught in the OT it is not understood to be a spiritual resurrection from sheol until the NT revelation spoke of it in further detail. In reference to this doctrine Cyril of Alexandria says “When the gatekeepers of hell saw him, they fled; the bronze gates were broken open, and the iron chains were undone” (Ancient Commentary on Scripture 11.107). The eschatology of the Church Fathers especially with the regard to the harrowing of hell was bound to the Christus Victor atonement theory which was very popular in the patristic era. This doctrine stated that the default state of the human being was to be enslaved to Satan and in order to free us Christ descended into sheol, the abode of death and stole the keys of sheol itself thus freeing all the elect from the prison that Satan had locked them in. There is however some debate over whether the patristics took all of their influence from the NT or if they also drew from the Greek worldview in the development of doctrine. The Greeks derived their worldview from their philosophy and their mythology. The mythology of the Greeks taught that when people died they all went to what they called the underworld which they knew as Hades. Within the Greek underworld there are two main sections. The first of these sections is Tartarus where souls receive a heightened form of suffering and the second is Elysium where souls remain in bliss for eternity. This view points out the similarities between the multi compartmental realm of Hades and that of the way the church fathers looked at sheol. This is seen similarly to the way that the Roman church is viewed to have adopted certain developments in their doctrine from Roman paganism. Some take this argument as far as to say that the NT writers were just creating a new religious philosophy based upon a merging of the Jewish and Greek worldviews. On the other side of this argument there are also those who say that all religious and philosophical beliefs that are similar to Christianity are merely distortions of the truths that men have always had since the time of Adam.
Romish Interpretation:
As a church that claims to be a strict continuation of the patristic tradition the Romanists naturally kept their interpretation of the scriptural texts dealing with the afterlife as close to that of the church fathers as possible. They do not contradict any mainstream patristic teachings in this area but rather build upon it. As a result of this we should rightly see these roman developments upon that which the church fathers taught as a perversion of the limbus patrum rather than genuine additions thereto. In the medieval era Thomas Aquinas began to construct a definitive understanding of the underworld which contained even more compartments than the early church fathers taught. The saw sheol as being the realm also understood by them to be hell, and within this place there was a range of experiences going from no suffering at all, to intense continual and unending suffering that is unmatched in this side of eternity. The first level of this realm is called the limbus parvulorum. This is where the infants who died without being baptised would go. Due to their original sin, even though they did not commit actual sins in their person, the are imputed with the guilt of their father Adam and can therefore not dwell in the presence of the Lord. However, they remain in a state free of pain and there are some who believe that they enjoy a state of mild blissfulness and peace. The second level of the realm where the limbus patrum took place. This where the OT saints who were saved awaited the coming messiah who would free them from sheol. This compartment is seen as being solely a place of pleasure for the elect. They modified the patristic understanding of the relationship between the limbus patrum and the text of the two resurrections in Rev 20, understanding that instead of all saints now needing to await the second coming of Christ to be join to the presence of the Lord it is now all saints that die who are spiritually joined to God in the resurrection and as a result they see the compartment of the limbus patrum as being empty since the resurrection. The third section of this underworld is believed by the Romanists to be purgatory. This section is where those who are saved but have not sanctified themselves enough by their works during their life go to pay the rest of their debts through suffering for a time. This is mainly derived from the NT texts that refer to a baptism or a cleansing with fire. The last section of the underworld is Gehenna where those who are condemned are sent to, both demonic spirits and humans go here to endure enteral suffering. This shifted Gehenna from being something yet to come after the white throne judgement to being something that temporally ubiquitous. This was derived from the philosophy of the Roman theologians who viewed the spiritual realm as something outside of time and only being bound to time through the experience of humans. ( summa Q. 69 aa. 1-7)
Protestant Interpretations:
After the reformation there was essentially two developments that occurred in the theology of sheol and the afterlife. The first was that some in the church returned to the theology of the patristics with the simplistic two compartment sheol as the intermediate state of both elect and reprobates in the OT but kept the Roman development of seeing the first resurrection as being for all those in the millennial reign of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. They rejected the idea of the fourfold hell in favour of the patristic understanding of a universal sheol and with the fourfold hell also rejected the added states of purgatory and the limbus parvulorum as being seen as derived from philosophy rather than from scripture. They pushed back the final state of the reprobates to being post white throne judgement just as the final state of the elect in New Jerusalem is. The other development that took place at the same time was of those who kept the Roman understanding of the immediate stepping into Gehenna or into the Lords presence for saints however, instead of seeing this as beginning to happen at the resurrection they understood the first resurrection as being faith itself. They also reinterpreted sheol as to being not a separate state from either heaven or Gehenna but as being either the spiritual realm that both heaven and hell exist within or as being the physical grave. This simplified the theology even more than all had before done. This theology can be seen as being one that interprets the OT texts referring to sheol through the NT understanding.
Defense:
In the OT the state of the soul prior to death is spoken of as one specific place. We see this in the form of the word sheol. There is no idea of separate states for those inside and those outside of the covenant but rather a universal place of all men. Ps 89:48 teaches that sheol is the destination of all men regardless of covenant status. Ps 9:17 explicitly states that those who are considered wicked and are outside of the covenant community will go to sheol when they die. When those within the covenant community in the OT would die their entrance into sheol is described as a reunion with loved ones, and a welcomed rest. A perfect example of this is found in Gen 15:15 when Abraham’s experience of sheol is referred to as being a peaceful one. The experience that the reprobates are said to have of sheol is drastically different. The text speaks of their experience of sheol in Prov 30:16 as being very similar to the way we understand Gehenna today, that is a place of unquenchable fire and torment. From this we see that although sheol, is a place in which all men and women universally were to go, with the experience you have in this place depending on your spiritual relationship to God. It is of course not a place separate from God, as those who enter there as covenant members the Lord does not abandon them there but is with them as we see in Ps 139:8 and Deut 32:22 states that it is His wrath that burns the reprobates in sheol. However, this presence of the Lord we see in Ps 139 is not the same glorious presence of the Lord the NT believer enters into upon death as sheol, even for the believer, is spoken of first as a place of forgetfulness and lack of right understanding of God. This is seen in Ps 6:5, Ps 88:11-12, and Isa 38:18. Secondly this is not likely to be a reference to heaven as sheol is also spoken even for the believer to be a place where men seek deliverance from in Ps 49:50 and in Ps 18:13 God is praised for His deliverance from this realm. Those who believe that sheol is the spiritual realm that both heaven and hell exist within do not have a sufficient explanation of why godly men wanted to be delivered from this state of the soul. If they truly were in heaven they would not want to be delivered. Likewise, those who believe that sheol is merely the physical grave that their body is laid in can not rightly answer to the spiritual distress that reprobates experience in sheol as the fiery torment is spoken of as being sheol itself rather than something they experience while their bodies are in sheol. Nor can they explain the desire of the godly to be delivered from sheol as being a longing for resurrection, as those who are in the presence of the Lord in heaven do not long for the resurrection of their bodies but are overtaken with glory of Christ and the presence of the Trinity so much so that the angels themselves can do nought but worship the Lord day and night. With both the idea that sheol holds within both heaven and hell lacking in explanation of these texts we must say that sheol is a distinct state or realm from both the heavenly realm where Christ’s physical body ascended to after His resurrection as well as from the lake of fire which man has yet to experience. As for the claim that sheol has two distinct compartments which is likely a development based on the distorted eschatology of the Greeks, the only evidence we see that would suggest this in the Holy Writ itself would be in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. We cannot take this parable as a description of the real realm of sheol, as the nature of parables is not one that is meant to teach facts but rather one that teaches spiritual truths. If we are to be consistent in our reading of parables then we must either forego using the rich man and Lazarus as support for the two-compartment theory or we must understand all parables as literal facts-based teaching. Though an argument can me made to point to the difference between the way that a reprobate and a saint experiences sheol as being good and necessary consequence for the two-compartment theory it could just as easily be understood as being one compartment that has an individualized experience. In moving forward with this into the NT revelation what we see is that the theology of the final state of the soul is developed. There is mention of a resurrection of the spiritual resurrection of believers from sheol which in the NT is called Hades. Revolving around the event of the white throne judgement are the establishment of the lake of fire and the throwing of sheol into it as well as the establishment of New Jerusalem and the coming down of heaven onto earth. Though in Christ’s life He preached much of the final state of human souls, the spiritual resurrection of course comes first in the temporal order of events. Though the victory that Christ has over death was prophesied in the OT as early as in the protoevangelium of Gen 3:15 and more explicitly in Zech 9:11, the first mention is in Acts 2:24. In this text we see that there is a clear defeating of this state. As we see when this is fleshed out further in 1 Peter 3:19, that the loosing of the sorrows of death that Acts 2 speaks of is not just the loosing of the sorrow of His own death in separation of body and soul by resurrection but was a loosing of the sorrow endured by the elect in sheol. We can be sure of this for two reasons: the first being that if Christ entered the presence of the Father then there would be no sorrow to free either Himself or others from, and second being that only He Himself would have received this freedom from the sorrows and the elect would be enduring such “sorrow” by remaining separated from their bodies which is not well reconciled with the texts regarding the freeing of other souls from this sorrow such as in Eph 4:8 in which is explicitly states that those in this sorrow He not only freed but took them with Him to the presence of the Father. The main argument in opposition to this understanding of these texts is that the texts of preaching to those in prison, captivity, and the dead are in reference to spiritual death. Though at a first glance this argument seems to hold much weight because Ephesians states that all men were spiritually dead until they were regenerated and thus brought to life however, if we look at Rev 20:4-6 that directly references the first and second resurrections we see that the first is said to happen at the beginning of the millennium. This if working with the understanding that the first resurrection is regeneration, necessitates either pushing the beginning of the millennium back to the time of post-lapse Adam or to say that OT saints were not regenerate. This renders the first resurrection as being none other than a change of the intermediate state for the believer. However, it is never stated that the reprobates state is changed but simply it is stated that their final state will be Gehenna. This Gehenna is also referred to as the lake of fire. This sounds at first similar to the unquenchable fire that the reprobates experience in the depths of sheol but upon further inspection we see that after they are resurrected at the white throne judgment along with all of mankind as Rev 20:14 says, they and the entire realm of sheol will be cast into this lake of fire. This timeline of course makes the synonymity between the lake of fire and sheol to be impossible as nobody has as of yet experience it nor will they until after they are resurrected. It is also striking to see that in this very verse the lake of fire and hades are mentioned together as separate entities and therefore this entire realm of sheol cannot be the lake of fire because sheol itself is cast into the lake of fire. Therefore, to say that when a reprobate dies they go immediately into hell is to ignore that sheol is a unique realm and also that no man has yet been cast into hell. The idea that we may go there now due to the A-temporality of the final states as Aquinas said is not found in scripture but is a philosophy of man impressed upon the text. To deal with the philosophy of the A-temporality of the final states themselves we must realize that though the states are not bound to time themselves, the human soul is bound to time, and as such our experience of these A-temporal states is bound to time. We may perceive time differently when in sheol or the presence of the Lord but this is not necessarily indicative of being within that realm but is something that can happen to us anywhere. An example of this would be the difference that living humans in this present age perceive time when they are enjoying themselves, experience severe discomfort, or even sleeping. In light of this it is in fact more a following of tradition rather than the scriptures to say that reprobates immediately enter their final state than it is to say that they receive a foretaste of their punishment in sheol while they await the white throne judgement.
Conclusion:
To summarize was has been said, the doctrine of the limbus patrum is still one that protestants who stand firmly on the principle of sola scriptura can hold to in a clear and guiltless conscience. The claims of it being derived from philosophy and tradition rather than scripture which are levied against it by those who see the state of the human soul after death as being either heaven or hell are not only without support but they may in fact be holding a view that is derived from the philosophy and traditions of Rome than are those who follow the church fathers on this. Likewise, their claims that the limbus patrum is derived from Greek mythology is more likely to be true of their own theology of the state of the human soul after death than it is for that of those who they claim have departed form the Word of God. It seems to be quite sufficiently in line with both the OT and NT witness and in fact, the scriptures make it quite clear that sheol is a spiritual realm uniquely distinct from heaven or hell. With the historic development of this doctrine on the table we can see that it is derived from the scriptures given to us by God and it is a defensible and formidable position both established in history and defended in scripture.
