Definitions from the freedictionary.com
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other. Medieval theologians described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into four distinct parts: hell of the damned (which some call Gehenna), Purgatory, limbo of the fathers, and limbo of infants.
Purgatory
See also: Intermediate state, Soul sleep, Limbo, Heaven, Hell, Paradise, Bosom of Abraham, Sheol, Hades in Christianity, and Hell in Christianity
Image of a fiery purgatory in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Image of a non-fiery purgatory (Gustave Doré: illustration for Dante's Purgatorio, Canto 24)
Our Lady of Mount Carmel with angels and souls in Purgatory. Baroque sculpture from Beniajan, SpainPurgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment[1] in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven. This is an idea that has ancient roots and is well-attested in early Christian literature, while the conception of purgatory as a geographically situated place is largely the creation of medieval Christian piety and imagination.[1]
The notion of purgatory is associated particularly with the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church (in the Eastern sui juris churches or rites it is a doctrine, though often without using the name "Purgatory"); Anglicans of the Anglo-Catholic tradition generally also hold to the belief. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed in an intermediate state between death and the final judgment and in the possibility of "continuing to grow in holiness there", but Methodism does not officially affirm his belief and denies the possibility of helping by prayer any who may be in that state.[2] The Eastern Orthodox Churches believe in the possibility of a change of situation for the souls of the dead through the prayers of the living and the offering of the Divine Liturgy,[3] and many Orthodox, especially among ascetics, hope and pray for a general apocatastasis.[4] A similar belief in at least the possibility of a final salvation for all is held by Mormonism.[5] Judaism also believes in the possibility of after-death purification[6] and may even use the word "purgatory" to present its understanding of the meaning of Gehenna.[7] However, the concept of soul "purification" may be explicitly denied in these other faith traditions.
The word "purgatory", derived through Anglo-Norman and Old French from the Latin word purgatorium.[8] has come to refer also to a wide range of historical and modern conceptions of postmortem suffering short of everlasting damnation,[1] and is used, in a non-specific sense, to mean any place or condition of suffering or torment, especially one that is temporary.[9]
History of purgatoryMain article: History of purgatory
While use of the word "purgatory" (in Latin purgatorium) as a noun appeared perhaps only between 1160 and 1180, giving rise to the idea of purgatory as a place[10] (what Jacques Le Goff called the "birth" of purgatory),[11] the Roman Catholic tradition of purgatory as a transitional condition has a history that dates back, even before Jesus, to the worldwide practice of caring for the dead and praying for them, and to the belief, found also in Judaism,[12] from which Christianity grew, that prayer for the dead contributed to their afterlife purification. The same practice appears in other traditions, such as the medieval Chinese Buddhist practice of making offerings on behalf of the dead, who are said to suffer numerous trials.[1] Roman Catholic belief in purgatory is based, among other reasons, on the previous Jewish practice of prayer for the dead,[13] a practice that presupposes that the dead are thereby assisted between death and their entry into their final abode.[1]
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other. Medieval theologians described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into four distinct parts: hell of the damned (which some call Gehenna), Purgatory, limbo of the fathers, and limbo of infants.
Purgatory
See also: Intermediate state, Soul sleep, Limbo, Heaven, Hell, Paradise, Bosom of Abraham, Sheol, Hades in Christianity, and Hell in Christianity
Image of a fiery purgatory in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Image of a non-fiery purgatory (Gustave Doré: illustration for Dante's Purgatorio, Canto 24)
Our Lady of Mount Carmel with angels and souls in Purgatory. Baroque sculpture from Beniajan, SpainPurgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment[1] in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven. This is an idea that has ancient roots and is well-attested in early Christian literature, while the conception of purgatory as a geographically situated place is largely the creation of medieval Christian piety and imagination.[1]
The notion of purgatory is associated particularly with the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church (in the Eastern sui juris churches or rites it is a doctrine, though often without using the name "Purgatory"); Anglicans of the Anglo-Catholic tradition generally also hold to the belief. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed in an intermediate state between death and the final judgment and in the possibility of "continuing to grow in holiness there", but Methodism does not officially affirm his belief and denies the possibility of helping by prayer any who may be in that state.[2] The Eastern Orthodox Churches believe in the possibility of a change of situation for the souls of the dead through the prayers of the living and the offering of the Divine Liturgy,[3] and many Orthodox, especially among ascetics, hope and pray for a general apocatastasis.[4] A similar belief in at least the possibility of a final salvation for all is held by Mormonism.[5] Judaism also believes in the possibility of after-death purification[6] and may even use the word "purgatory" to present its understanding of the meaning of Gehenna.[7] However, the concept of soul "purification" may be explicitly denied in these other faith traditions.
The word "purgatory", derived through Anglo-Norman and Old French from the Latin word purgatorium.[8] has come to refer also to a wide range of historical and modern conceptions of postmortem suffering short of everlasting damnation,[1] and is used, in a non-specific sense, to mean any place or condition of suffering or torment, especially one that is temporary.[9]
History of purgatoryMain article: History of purgatory
While use of the word "purgatory" (in Latin purgatorium) as a noun appeared perhaps only between 1160 and 1180, giving rise to the idea of purgatory as a place[10] (what Jacques Le Goff called the "birth" of purgatory),[11] the Roman Catholic tradition of purgatory as a transitional condition has a history that dates back, even before Jesus, to the worldwide practice of caring for the dead and praying for them, and to the belief, found also in Judaism,[12] from which Christianity grew, that prayer for the dead contributed to their afterlife purification. The same practice appears in other traditions, such as the medieval Chinese Buddhist practice of making offerings on behalf of the dead, who are said to suffer numerous trials.[1] Roman Catholic belief in purgatory is based, among other reasons, on the previous Jewish practice of prayer for the dead,[13] a practice that presupposes that the dead are thereby assisted between death and their entry into their final abode.[1]
