Harrowing Of Hell Pt 2 - Scripture and Apocryphal Literature

Christ’s Decent Described in Scripture

All four gospels mention Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, though none of them make any mention of what happened the day he lay in the grave.  However, scripture is not silent on the matter.  Luke writes that Peter, in his famous day of Pentecost preaching in Acts 2:31, tells us that “he (Jesus) was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption”, telling us that Jesus did indeed go to Hades. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 that “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.” In 1 Peter 3:18-19: “Christ also [died] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and [preached] to the spirits in prison” and later in Ch. 4:6, “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.”

Peter and Paul are telling us that after his death, Christ defeated death, went to Hades and preached to the dead. This was, in fact, foreshadowed in the Old Testament.  In the book of Job 38:17 in the Septuagint, God asks Job: “And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee?” and Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” as well as Psalm 107:10-16: 

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

     prisoners in affliction and in irons,

for they had rebelled against the words of God,

     and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

So he bowed their hearts down with hard labour;

     they fell down, with none to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

     and he delivered them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

           and burst their bonds apart.  

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

     for his wondrous works to the children of man!  

For he shatters the doors of bronze

       and cuts in two the bars of iron.

As a result, Revelation 1:18 tells us that Jesus “[is] alive for evermore, and [has] the keys of Death and Hades.”

Christ’s Decent Described in Apocryphal Literature

Christ’s descent into Hell is also mentioned in more detail in much of the early Christian apocryphal literature.  While some of these ‘gospels’ were condemned by the church and rejected as gnostic teaching, some of the books that did not contradict church doctrine were kept in church tradition for some time, even though they did not make the New Testament canon.

One such work, the “Epistle to the Apostles”, commonly dated to the 2nd century, tells us that not only did Christ preach in Hades, but he also baptized the righteous: 

For to that end I went down unto the place of Lazarus, and preached unto the righteous and the prophets, that they might come out of the rest which is below and come up into that which is above; and I poured out upon them with my right hand the water of life and forgiveness and salvation from all evil.

Another text, which heavily influenced church doctrine on this subject, was “The Gospel of Nicodemus”, containing material that dates to apostolic times, around the third century.  Here, Jesus is shown bringing Adam and all the saints out of hell with him.

And the Lord, stretching forth his hand, said: “Come unto me, all ye my saints which bear my image and likeness... And forthwith all the saints were gathered in one under the hand of the Lord... And the Lord stretched forth his hand and made the sign of the cross over Adam and over all his saints, and he took the right hand of Adam and went up out of hell, and all the saints followed him... and he brought them all into the glory and beauty of paradise.”

While Apocryphal literature does not hold the same level of doctrinal authority as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, sacred Scripture, did in fact, grow out of early church tradition with the support of the Patristic Fathers.  It is therefore reasonable to take a look at what they have they have to say about this matter.

...tomorrow! (Click here to go there)