In an age of exaggerated mercy there is perhaps no doctrine that is more reprehensible than that of Limbo. Developed early on in the Church’s history, it is the belief that children who die without receiving baptism go to a place of natural bliss in which they do not share in the Beatific Vision given to the Blessed in Heaven. Treated as a theological pariah, this belief is summarily dismissed as harsh and medieval but no alternative is given to tackle the difficult question of the everlasting destiny of these children. When millions of children are lost every year because of abortion it would seem that it should be treated with some theological urgency so that the Church might find a true means of salvation to these children.
Original Sin and Hell
Properly framing the problem helps us first to see why it is a problem of particular urgency. All of humanity at the moment of conception is plagued with Original Sin. This condition is not one of actual guilt per se, but of deprivation. A child is conceived and remains devoid of sanctifying grace until they are reborn in the waters of Baptism (c.f. John 3:5). Why this matters is because without sanctifying grace, a soul cannot enter into the Vision of God. This is not because God is a stickler for rules but because Heaven is not natural for human beings such that in order to enter into the presence of the Consuming Fire that is God, a man must be properly clothed (c.f. Mt 22:11) with the “spiritual fire suit” that makes him capable of partaking of the Divine nature (c.f. 2Pt 1:4).
The fact that Heaven is not the natural destiny of mankind is also important for understanding Limbo. Because no one sees the face of God and lives (c.f. Ex. 33:20), that is by nature man cannot stand before the face of God, it is a supernatural gift that God bestows upon men. It is a free gift offered to all men, but only those who have been given the gift and maintained it, can actually receive it. That it is a gift means that to be deprived of the gift is not exactly the same thing as having been punished.
We see an example of this among the righteous men of the Old Testament. Prior to Christ’s descent into hell, which is understood not as the hell of the damned but as the limbus of Abraham’s Bosom, these men and women were in a state of natural bliss. They enjoyed God, not face to face and as He really is, but according to their natural knowledge of Him that was illuminated by their faith in His revelation up to that point. This was a temporary state so that once they saw the Messiah God had promised they were immediately given the Beatific Vision.
This example is illustrative because it offers us glimpse of what a permanent state of the Limbus Infantium would be like. Although laboring under the constraints of Original Sin, the children have no actual sin and thus do not deserve to be punished. That is, they avoid the two punishments of hell: the pain of sense and the pain of loss. Even though they are deprived of the Beatific Vision (usually considered to be the pain of loss in adults), they have no supernatural knowledge of glory and thus do not know what they are missing. Because they do not have the natural capacity to achieve it, they do not grieve its loss. No man grieves the loss of his inability to fly because it is not within his natural capacity to do so. Instead they experience a natural joy in that they achieve a natural end—contemplation of God by natural means. As St. Alphonsus puts it:
“children will not only not grieve for the loss of eternal happiness, but will, moreover, have pleasure in their natural gifts; and will even in some way enjoy God, so far as is implied in natural knowledge, and in natural love: ‘Rather will they rejoice in this, that they will participate much in the divine goodness, and in natural perfections.’( St. Thomas Aquinas, De Malo, q.5, a.3) And he immediately adds, that although they will be separated from God, as regards the union of glory, nevertheless ‘they will be united with him by participation of natural gifts; and so will even be able to rejoice in him with a natural knowledge and love.’”
The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection
“A Possible Theological Opinion”
Despite falling into theological disfavor, the theory of Limbo remains a “possible theological opinion” according to the International Theological Commission in their 2007 document Hope of Salvation of Infants Who Die without Baptism. It remains possible because it offers a very reasonable solution to the problem. It remains possible because it is also very hopeful in that it does not condemn otherwise innocent children to the hell of the damned. It remains possible because it is really only a reasonable solution to the problem of which Revelation never treats directly and any solution would require us to piece together many different doctrines. But the point is that we should also not be so quick to dismiss it because it is the best solution we have right now because it fits many, if not all, of the pieces together. It is the best solution because it is the one that has the backing of numerous doctors of the Church, two of whom we have already mentioned—St. Thomas and St. Alphonsus.
Nevertheless, the Holy Innocents teach us that there are extra-sacramental ways in which children can be saved, especially via a baptism of blood. Cajetan thought that children could be saved also through a vicarious baptism of desire or others have posited that the children are given the use of their reason just prior to death in order to choose.
That we don’t know however should spur us to do two things. First is never to delay baptism. Baptism remains the ordinary means of salvation and the only sure way we know by which children can be saved. We should not delay their baptism any longer than is absolutely necessary regardless of a fear of germs or familial convenience. Second is that the Church has a whole needs to be praying for these children, especially those in the womb who are in danger of death.