The dead in hell before Christ

[Warren Bensinger]

Is there any information about who was let loose from hell when Christ went to set the captives free?

Was it all from Adam to the theif on the cross, or was it only the rightious which would include Abraham, Isicac, Jacob, Moses, David and the Prophets?

Or was it any or all that excepted Him as God's Son?

Sorry if some of my past slipped through there.

Thanks
w.
t.s.

[Brian B.]

Is there any information about who was let loose from hell when Christ went to set the captives free?

Dear in Christ Warren,

I cannot give, nor would I presume to give, an Orthodox or Patristic answer to your excellent question, since I am neither Orthodox at this time nor well-versed in Patristics. However, I have recently been meditating on just those questions as you have raised and can offer some of the fruits of those meditations. I would certainly appreciate hearing from others with more theological experience than I.

Could it be that the captives you mention freed from Hades are in fact all of us and not just those who lived prior to the coming of the Lord? If Christ's incarnation, transfiguration, crucifixion, death, and resurrection is the axis between time and the timeless (i.e., eternal), place and the placeless (i.e., the infinite), and the immanent created and the transcendent uncreated, then the breaking of the gates of Hades might be seen as an eternal and infinite 'event' at the origin or 'zero-point' of those axes, an event that has been and will be 'occurring' through all ages equally. In other words, perhaps we should see Christ's actions not just as activities bound to horizontal time and space, but simultaneously as eternal and infinite vertical Holy Activity - an ongoing but absolute manifestation of immutable Truth in and through mutable Creation.

I am always struck by the image of 'gates' in Scripture, and the parallelism of the closing of the Gates of Paradise in Genesis 3:24 - guarding 'the way' to the Tree of Life with the flaming sword - and Christ 'the sword' coming to us and by His death and resurrection breaking the gates wide open again. Could it be that the 'Gates of Hades' and the 'Gates of Paradise' are one and the same gate? If so, then 'Hades' is not some netherworld apart from this world, where the dead exist in some sort of stasis awaiting final judgment. Rather 'Hades' would be this world apart from Christ. And if that is so, then 'Paradise' would be this world in communion with Christ. Both Hades and Paradise therefore encompass all souls, both the living and the dead, of all places and times. We are all captives of sin and death, but the gates of Hades have been thrown open, in all times and places, and thereby become the gates to Paradise and, ultimately, Heaven, God willing.

From this of course one can jump right into consideration of the Church as the earthly Body of Christ (i.e., Paradise) , baptism as the passage from Hades to Paradise, and many many more things about the 'gates' we must all pass through in this life in order to find Life.

Most sincerely,
Brian

[Father David Moser]

Is there any information about who was let loose from hell when Christ went to set the captives free?


I don't know if this will answer your question, but I think a good source on the descent into hell is the "Gospel of Nikodemos" (sometimes referred to as one of the "lost books of the bible" but quite easily available and an edifying read). In it he describes what happened when our Lord descended into Hades and defeated the devil there and set the captives free from the perspective of his sons, who had died but who were among those who came out of their graves at the time of our Lord's death and resurrection (Matt 2:52). Probably not "literally true" but certainly profitable - especially on Holy Saturday.

Fr David Moser

[Warren Bensinger]

Father bless.
Thank you for the note on the Gospel of Nicodemus. I looked and I have it and will re-read it and see what I passed over to quickly. Things are often stored in haste and the path forgotten.
Thank you again.
w.
t.s.
Brian.
Thank you for your post. As you put it better than I there is much to think about in this subject.
God's blessings to you and yours.
w.
t.s.