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InChristian theology, theHarrowing of Hell (Latin:Descensus Christi ad Inferos;Greek:Ἡ εἰς ᾍδου κάθοδος τοῦ Χριστοῦ – "the descent of Christinto Hell"or "Hades")[a] is the period of time between theCrucifixion of Jesus and hisresurrection. In triumphant descent,Christ broughtsalvation to the souls held captive there since the beginning of the world.[1]
Christ's descent into the world of the dead is referred to in theApostles' Creed and theAthanasian Creed (Quicumque vult), which state that he "descended into the underworld" (descendit ad inferos), although neither mention that he liberated the dead. Hisdescent to the underworld is alluded to in theNew Testament in1 Peter 4:6, which states that the "good tidings were proclaimed to the dead".[2] TheCatechism of the Catholic Church notesEphesians 4:9, which states that "[Christ] descended into the lower parts of the earth", as also supporting this interpretation.[3] These passages in the New Testament have given rise to differing interpretations.[4] The Harrowing of Hell is commemorated in theliturgical calendar onHoly Saturday.[5]
According toThe Catholic Encyclopedia, the story first appears clearly in theGospel of Nicodemus in the section called theActs of Pilate, which also appears separately at earlier dates within theActs of Peter and Paul.[6] The descent into Hell had been related inOld English poems (e.g.Christ and Satan) connected with the names ofCædmon andCynewulf. It is subsequently repeated inÆlfric of Eynsham's homiliesc. 1000 AD, which is the first known inclusion of the wordharrowing.Middle English dramatic literature contains the fullest and most dramatic development of the subject.[1]
As a subject inChristian art, it is also known as theAnastasis (Greek for "resurrection"), considered a creation ofByzantine culture and first appearing in theWest in the early 8th century.[7]
TheOld Testament view of theafterlife was that all people when they died, whetherrighteous or unrighteous, went toSheol, a dark, still place.[8] Several works from theSecond Temple period elaborate the concept of Sheol, dividing it into sections based on the righteousness or unrighteousness of those who have died.[9]
The New Testament maintains a distinction between Sheol, the common "place of the dead", and the eternal destiny of those condemned at theFinal Judgment, variously described asGehenna,"the outer darkness", or alake of eternal fire.[10]
TheGreek wording in the Apostles' Creed isκατελθόντα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα (katelthonta eis ta katōtata), and inLatin isdescendit ad inferos. The Greekτὰ κατώτατα (ta katōtata, 'the lowest') and the Latininferos ('those below') may also be translated as "underworld", "netherworld", or "abode of the dead".
The realm into which Jesus descended is called Hell, in long-established English usage, but is also calledSheol orLimbo by some Christian theologians to distinguish it from the Hell of the damned.[11] InClassical mythology,Hades is the underworld inhabited by departed souls, and the godPluto is its ruler. Some New Testament translations use the term "Hades" to refer to the abode or state of the dead to represent a neutral place where the dead awaited the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
The wordharrow originally comes from theOld Englishhergian 'to harry or despoil', and is seen in thehomilies ofÆlfric of Eynsham,c. 1000.[b] The termHarrowing of Hell refers not merely to the idea that Jesus descended into Hell, as in the Creed, but to the rich tradition that developed later, asserting that he triumphed overinferos, releasing Hell's captives, particularlyAdam and Eve, and the righteous men and women of the Old Testament period.
The Harrowing of Hell is mentioned or suggested by several verses in the New Testament:[13][c]
TheologianHans Urs von Balthasar sees parallels withMark 3:24: "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And ifSatan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered."
The Harrowing of Hell was taught bytheologians of theearly church: StMelito of Sardis (died c. 180) in hisHomily on thePassover and more explicitly in hisHomily for Holy Saturday,Tertullian (A Treatise on the Soul, 55, though he himself disagrees with the idea),Hippolytus (Treatise on Christ and Anti-Christ),Origen (Against Celsus, 2:43), and, later,Ambrose (died 397) all wrote of the Harrowing of Hell. The early hereticMarcion and his followers also discussed the Harrowing of Hell, as mentioned by Tertullian,Irenaeus, andEpiphanius. The 6th-century sect called theChristolytes, as recorded byJohn of Damascus, believed that Jesus left his soul and body in Hell, and only rose with his divinity to Heaven.[14]
The Gospel of Matthew relates that immediately after Christ died, the earth shook, there wasdarkness, the veil in theSecond Temple was torn in two, and many people rose from the dead, and after the resurrection (Matthew 27:53) walked about inJerusalem and were seen by many people there. Balthasar says this is a "visionary and imaginistic" description of Jesus vanquishing death itself.[15]
According to the apocryphalGospel of Nicodemus, the Harrowing of Hell was foreshadowed by Christ's raising ofLazarus from the dead prior to his own crucifixion.
In the Acts of Pilate – usually incorporated with the widely-read medieval Gospel of Nicodemus – texts built around an original that might have been as old as the 3rd century AD with many improvements and embroidered interpolations, chapters 17 to 27 are called theDecensus Christi ad Inferos. They contain a dramatic dialogue between Hades and Prince Satan, and the entry of the King of Glory, imagined as from withinTartarus.
John Chrysostom'sPaschal Homily also addresses the Harrowing of Hades, and is typically read during thePaschal Vigil, the climactic service of the Orthodox celebration ofPascha (Easter).
In theEastern Orthodox Church, the Harrowing of Hades is celebrated annually onHoly and Great Saturday during theVesperalDivine Liturgy of Saint Basil, as is normative for theByzantine Rite. At the beginning of the service, thehangings in the church and thevestments worn by the clergy are all somberLenten colours (usually purple or black). Then, just before theGospel reading, theliturgical colors are changed to white and the deacon performs acensing, and the priest strewslaurel leaves around the church, symbolizing the broken gates of Hell; this is done in celebration of the harrowing of Hades then taking place, and in anticipation of Christ's imminent resurrection.
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The Harrowing of Hades is generally more common and prominent in Orthodoxiconography compared to the Western tradition. It is the traditionalicon forHoly Saturday, and is used during thePaschal season and on Sundays throughout the year.
The traditional Orthodox icon of theResurrection of Jesus, partially inspired by the apocryphalActs of Pilate (4th c.), does not depict simply the physical act of Christ coming out of theTomb, but rather it reveals what Orthodox Christians believe to be the spiritual reality of what hisDeath and Resurrection accomplished. The icon depicts Jesus, vested in white and gold to symbolize his divine majesty, standing on the brazen gates of Hades (also called the "Doors of Death"), which are broken and have fallen in the form of a cross, illustrating the belief that by his death on the cross, Jesus "trampled down death by death" (seePaschal troparion). He is holdingAdam andEve and pulling them up out of Hades. Traditionally, he is not shown holding them by the hands but by their wrists, to illustrate the theological teaching that mankind could not pull himself out of hisOriginal sin, but that it could come about only by the work (energia) of God. Jesus is surrounded by various righteous figures from the Old Testament (Abraham,David, etc.); the bottom of the icon depicts Hades as a chasm of darkness, often with various pieces of broken locks and chains strewn about. Quite frequently, one or two figures are shown in the darkness, bound in chains, who are generally identified as personifications ofDeath or thedevil.
There is an ancienthomily on the subject, of unknown authorship, usually entitledThe Lord's Descent into Hell that is the second reading at the Office of Readings onHoly Saturday in theRoman Catholic Church.[16][17]
TheCatechism of the Catholic Church states: "By the expression 'He descended into Hell', the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil 'who has the power of death' (Hebrews 2:14). In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened Heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him."[18]
As the Catechism says, the word "Hell"—from the Norse,Hel; in Latin,infernus, infernum, inferni; in Greek,ᾍδης (Hades); in Hebrew,שאול (Sheol)—is used in Scripture and the Apostles' Creed to refer to the abode of all the dead, whether righteous or evil, unless or until they are admitted to Heaven (CCC 633). This abode of the dead is the "Hell" into which the Creed says Christ descended. His death freed from exclusion from Heaven the just who had gone before him: "It is precisely these holy souls who awaited their Savior inAbraham's bosom whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into Hell", the Catechism states (CCC 633), echoing the words of theRoman Catechism, 1, 6, 3.
Conceptualization of the abode of the dead as a place, though possible and customary, is not obligatory (Church documents, such as catechisms, speak of a "state or place"). Some maintain that Christ did not go to the place of the damned, which is what is generally understood today by the word "Hell". For instance,Thomas Aquinas taught that Christ did not descend into the "Hell of the lost" in his essence, but only by the effect of his death, through which "he put them to shame for their unbelief and wickedness: but to them who were detained inPurgatory he gave hope of attaining to glory: while upon the holy Fathers detained in Hell solely on account oforiginal sin, he shed the light of glory everlasting."[19]
While some maintain that Christ merely descended into the "limbo of the fathers", others, notably theologianHans Urs von Balthasar (inspired by the visions ofAdrienne von Speyr), maintain that it was more than this and that the descent involved suffering by Jesus.[20] Some maintain that this is a matter on which differences and theological speculation are permissible without transgressing the limits of orthodoxy.[20]
Martin Luther, in a sermon delivered in Torgau in 1533, stated that Christ descended into Hell.
TheFormula of Concord (a Lutheran confession) states, "we believe simply that the entire person, God and human being, descended to Hell after his burial, conquered the devil, destroyed the power of Hell, and took from the devil all his power" (Solid Declaration, Art. IX).
Many attempts were made following Luther's death to systematize his theology of the descensus, whether Christ descended in victory or humiliation. For Luther, however, the defeat or "humiliation" of Christ is never fully separable from His victorious glorification. Luther himself, when pressed to elaborate on the question of whether Christ descended to Hell in humiliation or victory responded, "It is enough to preach the article to the laypeople as they have learned to know it in the past from the stained glass and other sources."[21]
"Anglican orthodoxy, without protest, has allowed high authorities to teach that there is an intermediate state, Hades, including both Gehenna and Paradise, but with an impassable gulf between the two."[10] The traditional language of the Apostles' Creed affirms that Jesus "descended into hell"; the contemporaryBook of Common Prayer says that Jesus "descended to the dead" (BCP, pp. 53, 96).[13]
John Calvin expressed his concern that many Christians "have never earnestly considered what it is or means that we have been redeemed from God's judgment. Yet this is our wisdom: duly to feel how much our salvation cost the Son of God."
Calvin's conclusion is that "If any persons have scruples about admitting this article into the Creed, it will soon be made plain how important it is to the sum of our redemption: if it is left out, much of the benefit of Christ’s death will be lost."[22] Calvin strongly opposed the notion that Christ freed prisoners, as opposed to traveling to Hell as part of completing his sufferings.[23]
TheReformed interpret the phrase "he descended into Hell" as referring to Christ's pain and humiliationprior to his death, and that this humiliation had a spiritual dimension as part of God's judgement upon the sin which he bore on behalf of Christians. The doctrine of Christ's humiliation is also meant to assure believers that Christ has redeemed them from the pain and suffering of God's judgment on sin.[24]
The Harrowing of Hell has been a unique and important doctrine among members of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its founding in 1830 byJoseph Smith, although members of the church usually call it by other terms, such as "Christ's visit to the spirit world". Like Christian exegetes distinguishing betweenSheol andGehenna, Latter-day Saints distinguish between the realm of departed spirits (the "spirit world") and the portion (or state) of the wicked ("spirit prison"). The portion or state of the righteous is often referred to as "paradise".
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Latter-day Saint beliefs regarding the Harrowing of Hell is their view on the purpose of it, both for the just and the wicked.Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of the Church, explained in what is now a canonized revelation, that when Christ died, "there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, ... rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand. They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death".[25]
In the Latter-day Saint view, while Christ announced freedom from physical death to the just, he had another purpose in descending to Hell regarding the wicked. "The Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces ... and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead, ... to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets".[26] From the Latter-day Saint viewpoint, the rescue of spirits was not a one-time event but an ongoing process that still continues.[27] This concept goes hand-in-hand with the doctrine ofbaptism for the dead, which is based on the Latter-day Saint belief that those who choose to accept the gospel in the spirit world must still receive the saving ordinances in order to dwell in the kingdom of God.[28] These baptisms and other ordinances are performed in Latter-day Saint temples, wherein a church member is baptized vicariously, or in behalf of, those who died without being baptized by proper authority. The recipients in the spirit world then have the opportunity to accept or reject this baptism.[29]
Although the Harrowing of Hell is taught by the Lutheran, Catholic, Reformed, and Orthodox traditions, a number of Christians reject the doctrine of the "harrowing of hell", claiming that "there is scant scriptural evidence for [it], and that Jesus's own words contradict it."[30]John Piper, for example, says "there is no textual [i.e. Biblical] basis for believing that Christ descended into hell", and, therefore, Piper does not recite the "he descended into hell" phrase when saying the Apostles' Creed.[31]Wayne Grudem also skips the phrase when reciting the Creed; he says that the "single argument in ... favor [of the "harrowing of hell" clause in the Creed] seems to be that it has been around so long. ... But an old mistake is still a mistake."[30] In his bookRaised with Christ, Pentecostal Adrian Warnock agrees with Grudem, commenting, "Despite some translations of an ancient creed [i.e. the Apostles' Creed], which suggest that Jesus ... 'descended into hell', there is no biblical evidence to suggest that he actually did so."[32]
Augustine, in his 99th epistle, confesses that this text is replete with difficulties. This he declares is clear, beyond all doubt, that Jesus Christ descended in soul after his death into the regions below, and concludes with these words:Quis ergo nisi infidelis negaverit fuisse apud inferos Christum? ("Who, then, but an unbeliever, has denied that Christ was in hell?") In this prison souls would not be detained unless they were indebted to divine justice, nor would salvation be preached to them unless they were in a state that was capable of receiving salvation.
The above views share the traditional Christian belief in theimmortality of the soul. Themortalist view of theintermediate state requires an alternative view of theActs 2:27 andActs 2:31, taking a view of theNew Testament use ofHell as equivalent to use ofHades in theSeptuagint and therefore toSheol in theOld Testament.[33]William Tyndale andMartin Bucer of Strassburg argued that Hades in Acts 2 was merely a metaphor for the grave. Other reformersChristopher Carlisle andWalter Deloenus in London, argued for the article to be dropped from the creed.[34] The Harrowing of Hell was a major scene in traditional depictions of Christ's life avoided byJohn Milton due to his mortalist views.[35] Mortalist interpretations of the Acts 2 statements of Christ being in Hades are also found among later Anglicans such asE. W. Bullinger.[36]
While those holding mortalist views on the soul would agree on the "harrowing of hell" concerning souls, that there were no conscious dead for Christ to literally visit, the question of whether Christ himself was also dead, unconscious, brings different answers:
Of the three days, Christ says "I was dead" (Greekegenomen nekros ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς, Latinfui mortuus).[39]
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The richest, most circumstantial accounts of the Harrowing of Hell are found in medieval dramatic literature, such as the four great cycles of EnglishMystery plays which each devote a separate scene to depict it.[1] Christ was portrayed as conquering Satan, and then victoriously leading out Adam and Eve, the prophets, and the patriarchs. The earliest surviving Christian drama probably intended to be performed is theHarrowing of Hell found in the 8th-centuryBook of Cerne.
The subject is found also in the Cornish Mystery plays and the York and Wakefield cycles. These medieval versions of the story derive from scripture, but the details come from the Gospel of Nicodemus.
InDante'sInferno the Harrowing of Hell is mentioned in Canto IV by the pilgrim's guideVirgil. Virgil was in Limbo (the first circle of Hell) in the first place because he was not exposed to Christianity in his lifetime, and therefore he describes Christ in generic terms as a "mighty one" who rescued the Hebrew forefathers of Christianity, but left him and othervirtuous pagans behind in the very same circle. It is clear that Virgil does not fully understand the significance of the event as Dante does.
An incompleteMiddle English telling of the Harrowing of Hell is found in theAuchinleck manuscript.[40]
A scene of the Harrowing of Hell is included byWilliam Langland (Willielmus de Langland; circa 1330 – circa 1386) inPiers Plowman (circa 1377). This is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem, written in un-rhymed, alliterative verse divided into sections called passus (Latin for "step").
Although theOrfeo legend has its origin in pagan antiquity, the medievalromance ofSir Orfeo has often been interpreted as drawing parallels between the Greek hero and Jesus freeing souls from Hell,[41][42] with the explication of Orpheus' descent and return from the Underworld as an allegory for Christ's as early as theOvide Moralisé (1340).[43]
The Catholic philologist and fantasy authorJ. R. R. Tolkien echoes the Harrowing of Hell theme in multiple places inThe Silmarillion (1977) andThe Lord of the Rings (1954–55).Identified instances include the tale "Of Beren and Lúthien" in which Beren is rescued fromSauron's dark dungeons, andGandalf's freeing of KingThéoden ofRohan from the dark insinuations of the traitorousWormtongue.[44]
InStephen Lawhead's novelByzantium (1997), a youngIrish monk is asked to explain Jesus Christ's life to a group ofVikings, who were particularly impressed with his "descent to the underworld"(Helreið).[citation needed]
In 2021, Jonathan Jackson wrote “The Harrowing of Hell: An epic poem” about the descent of Jesus to Hell after the crucifixion. It was published by Hilasterion Publishing of Tennessee and illustrated by Anastasia Chybireva-Fender.
Parallels in Jewish literature refer to legends of Enoch and Abraham's harrowings of the Underworld, unrelated to Christian themes. These have been updated inIsaac Leib Peretz's short story "Neilah inGehenna", in which a Jewishhazzan descends to Hell and uses his unique voice to bring about the repentance and liberation of the souls imprisoned there.[citation needed]
For Luther it refers to God's abandonment of Christ during the three days of his death:
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