Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Crisis in the Church => Topic started by: AnthonyPadua on January 20, 2026, 03:56:06 AM
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St. Robert Bellarmine, On Purgatory, Book 2, Chap. 6: “The eighth is the common position of the scholastics: that Purgatory is within the bowels of the earth, near to Hell itself. The scholastics by a common consensus designate within the earth four cavities, or one divided into four parts: one for the damned; another for those to be purged; the third for infants dying without baptism; the fourth for the just who died before the passion of Christ, which now remains empty.”
The Dimonds posts this quote recently, I thought it was quite interesting. I have never considered purgatory also being in the earth.
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Early_Hebrew_Conception_of_the_Universe.svg)
Sheol means "the place of the dead". Every soul who is not in Heaven goes there, either permanently, in Hell and in the Limbo of the Infants, or temporarily, in Purgatory. The Limbo of the Patriarcs in empty, as quote says.
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So, it's interesting, but apart from pure speculation, I'd like to see if they have some actual reasons for saying this. Perhaps something the Church Fathers said? Now, one problem with that is the notion of Limbo of Infants wasn't developed until the 12th century, and at the same, some rejected the notion as Pelagian. So, then, if the concept had just been devleoped in the 12th century, how could they know where it is?
I personally believe that those in Limbo will end up in some place that's adjacent to where the Kingdom of Heaven proper would be, and that they would interract with those who have been saved. Of course, that would be then, when they all have bodies after final resurrection.
Now, I do think there's consensus regarding the location of Hell being in the earth, and also the Limbo of the Fathers, since otherwise Our Lord "descending" to the "inferos" (lower regions) would make no sense.
I also don't know what the rational for putting Purgatory down there would be.
Hell, yes. Limbo of the Fathers, yes. But for Purgatory and the Limbo of Infants ... I think we simply don't know and it's pure speculation.
IF the Limbo of Infants is in the nether regions, furthermore, what's to say they could not be inhabiting the place where the Fathers used to be before they had been liberated, and that the place is currently empty? I don't think that part follows either.
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The Dimonds posts this quote recently, I thought it was quite interesting. I have never considered purgatory also being in the earth.
I've never thought of Limbo being beneath the earth either, since my conception of it is that as the soul becomes more and more purified, it rises closer and closer to Heaven, and not that "OK, now you're purified, and you can go up to Heaven now." I conceive of the ascent toward Heaven being more of a continuum, where you get closer and closer as you go through your purification, and in fact the closer you get and the more of it you see, the more ardently you long for it, and it's that longing that draws you in (throught the suffering) to that finaly entry into Heaven.
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As I understand it, there's no suffering in Heaven, and there's nothing up there apart from it. So, as Purgatory is a sort of temporary Hell, it makes sense for it to be down, and not up. The story of Lazarus also seems to imply that the Limbo of the Patriarchs and Hell are close to each other.
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As I understand it, there's no suffering in Heaven, and there's nothing up there apart from it. So, as Purgatory is a sort of temporary Hell, it makes sense for it to be down, and not up. The story of Lazarus also seems to imply that the Limbo of the Patriarchs and Hell are close to each other.
We know that Limbo of the Patriarchs is "down" due to the Creed indicating that Our Lord "descendit ad inferos", with inferos being the nether regions.
In the parable about Lazarus, he mentioned a gulf or chasm that seprated those in the "bosom of Abraham" (= paradise, = Limbo Patrum), so that COULD mean that the chasm is the gap between where Heaven is, but not necessarily, where there could have been a chasm between the two.
I don't see Purgatory as temporary Hell at all, but more delayed Heaven, since those in Purgatory are in a state of grace, justification, friendship with God.
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Remind me if you wish, but I recall decades ago, listening to radio or such that there was a drilling of the earth to go as far as one could go. the work men heard diabolical screams and cries and the work men ran!
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Now, I do think there's consensus regarding the location of Hell being in the earth, and also the Limbo of the Fathers, since otherwise Our Lord "descending" to the "inferos" (lower regions) would make no sense.
Not directly related to the subject of Limbo, but your use of the word "inferos" raises a question I've had.
I have a Latin Rosary pamphlet that says in the Credo "descendit ad inferos..."
(https://i.imgur.com/nmerx8q.jpeg)
I just assumed that this was a typo, and should have been "infernos". Now I am having my doubts.
I realize that attitudes towards Taylor Marshall vary widely across the traditionalist spectrum, and I'm not seeking to get that discussion started (I don't know all that much about him myself), but I found this:
https://taylormarshall.com/2017/03/descended-hell-latin-greek-versions-apostles-creed.html (https://taylormarshall.com/2017/03/descended-hell-latin-greek-versions-apostles-creed.html)
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Philippians 2:;10 "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth"
Would "under the earth" refer to Hell or Purgatory?
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Philippians 2:;10 "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth"
Would "under the earth" refer to Hell or Purgatory?
I think that's hard to say, but he said EVERY knee, so that would include Hell, where those in Hell would bend the knee by force.
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Not directly related to the subject of Limbo, but your use of the word "inferos" raises a question I've had.
I have a Latin Rosary pamphlet that says in the Credo "descendit ad inferos..."
(https://i.imgur.com/nmerx8q.jpeg)
I just assumed that this was a typo, and should have been "infernos". Now I am having my doubts.
I realize that attitudes towards Taylor Marshall vary widely across the traditionalist spectrum, and I'm not seeking to get that discussion started (I don't know all that much about him myself), but I found this:
https://taylormarshall.com/2017/03/descended-hell-latin-greek-versions-apostles-creed.html (https://taylormarshall.com/2017/03/descended-hell-latin-greek-versions-apostles-creed.html)
So, inferos and infernos are actually just a variation on the same word, with the "n" having been added later. In the latter usage, it GENERALLY was thought to be synonymous with "Hell", but it's really the same word. In English we have the derivative word "infernal", which generally refers to Hell proper and the fires of Hell, and it's why some people think that Christ descended into the actual Hell of the damned, but He did not. I'm not sure how the "n" got added over time, but most official versions (e.g. from Trent) have it without the "n" ... as "inferos".
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Remind me if you wish, but I recall decades ago, listening to radio or such that there was a drilling of the earth to go as far as one could go. the work men heard diabolical screams and cries and the work men ran!
So, that was the one Russia project, the "Kola Superdeep", and it only went 7.5 miles. There's controversy about the screams, whether that was just urban legend made up by someone.