the baptism for the dead in early christianity

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The Harrowing of Hell: Salvation for the Dead inEarly Christianity

David L. Paulsen, Roger D. Cook, and Kendel J.Christensen

Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other RestorationScripture 19/1 (2010): 56–77.

1948-7487 (print), 2167-7565 (online)

One of the largest theological issues throughoutChristian history is the fate of the unevangelizeddead: Will they be eternally damned? Will they belesser citizens in the kingdom of God? Will they have

a chance to accept Christ postmortally? These issuesare related to the soteriological problem of evil. Thebelief of the earliest Christians, even through thetime of the church fathers Origen and Clement of

Alexandria, was that postmortal evangelization waspossible. One of the origins of this belief is seen inapocalyptic Judaism, in which righteous gentiles arenot left to suffer eternally but, however, are givena lesser status than righteous Jews. Early Christiandoctrine goes even further through the belief of

Christ’s preaching in Hades—all people have a chance,through accepting Christ, to be save in the same state.Later, however, many Christian theologians such as

Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin rejected this doctrine andcontended that righteousness and unrighteousness arefixed at death.

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56 VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1, 2010

The Harrowing of HellSALVATION FOR THE DEAD IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY

DAVID L. PAULSEN, ROGER D. COOK, AND KENDEL J. CHRISTENSEN 1

C h r i s t ’ s D e s c e n t t o L i m b o ,

b y F r a A n g e l i c o

( 1 3 8 7 –

1 4 5 5

) . E r i c h L e s s i n g / A r t R e s o u r c e ,

N Y .



LORD, ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED?”

(Luke 13:23). Tis question has troubled

thinkers rom Christianity’s beginning.

Te aithul readily accept that, save Jesus Christ,

there is “none other name under heaven given

among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Yet, the same loyal ollowers o Christ wrestle with

the puzzling reality that countless numbers o souls

have lived and died never having heard o Jesus

Christ, let alone having had an adequate chance

to accept the salvation he offers. What is their ate

in the eternities? Are these orever excluded rom

salvation? Tomas Morris, philosophy proessor at

Notre Dame, describes this unexplained “scandal”

in his book Te Logic o God Incarnate:

he scandal . . . arises with a simple set o questions asked o the

Christian theologian who claims that it is only through the lie and

death o God incarnated in Jesus Christ that all can be saved and

reconciled to God: How can the many humans who lived and died

beore the time o Christ be saved through him? hey surely can-

not be held accountable or responding appropriately to something

o which they could have no knowledge. Furthermore, what about

all the people who have lived since the time o Christ in cultures

with dierent religious traditions, untouched by the Christiangospel? . . . How could a just God set up a particular condition o

salvation, the highest end o human lie possible, which was and is

inaccessible to most people? Is not the love o God better under-

stood as universal, rather than as limited to a mediation through

the one particular individual, Jesus o Nazareth? Is it not a moral

as well as a religious scandal to claim otherwise?2



JOURNAL OF THE BOOK OF MOR MON AND OTHER RESTORATION SCRIPTURE 59

conduct during mortality.13 But Enochian Jews treata portion o Sheol as a temporary holding placeor the spirits o the righteous departed, placingthe righteous in a place o rest and light and thewicked in places o darkness and confinement, butnot physical punishment.14 Tey also taught o therighteous leaving Sheol, their resurrection rom thedead, and their subsequent existence in an Edenlikeparadise (1 Enoch 22:1–14; 24:1–25:6).

Although these ideas were commonplace inapocalyptic Judaism by the end o the Second em-ple period, awareness o the theological dilemma

created by the Enochian Jews’ view o Sheol’seternal punishment also emerges in writings nearthe end o that period.15 exts rom the apocalyp-tic Jewish tradition dated to the late first century or early first century draw attention to thesoteriological problem as their authors attempt toreconcile the endless torment o the underworldwith the existence o a loving and merciul God.Te Book o Parables, generally considered an Eno-chian work o the late first century or the firstcentury , records that even the archangel Michaelat first recoils at the “harshness o the judgment”

Christ in Limbo , by Benvenuto di Giovanni. Samuel H. Kress Collection. Image cour tesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Ar t, Washington.




o the allen angels. He exclaims to Raphael, “Whois there who would not sofen his heart over it, and. . . not be troubled by this word?” Michael findssome comort knowing that the worst punishmentsare reserved or the allen archangels alone: “orno angel or human will receive their lot” (1 Enoch

68:2–5). Still, the question remains: How can a lov-ing and merciul God justiy tormenting any ohis creations, especially i this torment is “withoutend” ?

Tis dilemma is addressed in 4 Ezra, an apoca-lyptic Jewish work dating to the first century . Inthe text, an angel shows the ancient prophet Ezrathe “urnace o hell” where the disobedient are des-tined to live afer this lie and the paradise and exal-tation reserved or the righteous. He tells Ezra thatthe wicked will “wander about in torments,” whilethose who ollow God will be “guarded by angels

in proound quiet,” having bodies whose aces will“shine like the sun, and . . . be made like the lighto the stars” (4 Ezra 7:36, 80, 95, 97)—a literal exal-tation o the righteous to an angelic status.16 Ezralaments, however, that he cannot reconcile God’soverabundant goodness and mercy with what seemsto be an overly rigorous justice. I all have sinnedand become unclean, then how is it that any deservesalvation at all? How can the final judgment be justwith its division o those entering paradise andthose entering hell? Ezra ends his lament with a pleato God or mercy or the disobedient:

What does it proit us that we shall be preserved

alive but cruelly tormented? . . . And i we were

not to come into judgment ater death, perhaps

it would have been better or us. . . . It would

have been better i the earth had not produced

Adam, or else, when it had produced him, had

restrained him rom sinning. For what good is

it to all that they live in sorrow now and expect

punishment ater death? . . . For in truth there

is no one among those who have been born who

has not acted wickedly, and among those who

have existed there is no one who has not trans-

gressed. For in this, O Lord, your righteousness

and goodness will be declared, when you are

merciul to those who have no store o good

works. (4 Ezra 7:65–67, 69, 116–17; 8:35–36)

Additionally, it should be noted that a part othe soteriological problem o evil is at least some-

what mitigated in apocalyptic Judaism in that itdoes not consign righteous Gentiles to the punish-ments o Sheol. Te Enochian text known as Enoch’sDream Visions, written approximately 164 dur-ing the persecutions o the Jews under Antiochanrule, speaks o the eventual victory o righteous

Judaism over the gentile nations and the buildingo a vast, new temple complex to replace Jerusalemand its temple. It is the first apocalyptic Jewish textthat explains the ull angelic exaltation o righteousJews in the paradisiacal world that will be createdon the earth, with the righteous being symboli-cally described as “sheep” that are “white” and theirwool “thick and pure,” a transormation rom theirprevious mortal state, where they were plain sheep.Significantly, righteous Gentiles, symbolicallydescribed as the “animals on the earth and all thebirds o heaven,” are subservient to the exalted Jews

who reign over the earth rom the temple complex,they “alling down and worshiping those sheep. . . and obeying them in every thing” (1 Enoch 90:28–32). Tough still not granted the same statusas righteous Jews, these Gentiles are not subject tothe same fiery punishment that the allen angels,wicked kings, and apostate Jews receive in Sheol(1 Enoch 90:20–27).

Tis is significant because the righteous Gen-tiles are not immediately consigned to eternalpunishment; they apparently do not need to eartorment in Sheol. Tey continue to live on the earth,

and they seemingly learn o and ollow the God othe Jews, or he rejoices over them (1 Enoch 90:38).Indeed, a transormation is also available or themas the wild animals are “changed, and they allbecame white cattle” (1 Enoch 90:37), but it is alsoclear that their eternal status will be as everlast-ing ineriors to the exalted Jews, or they are whitecattle as compared to the brilliantly white sheep thatrule over them.17 Tis partially, but not ully, solvespart o the soteriological problem. A more completeresolution o the problem would demand that eventhe righteous Gentiles could be ully redeemed andexalted, the position that apocalyptic Christianswould later adopt.

Apocalyptic Christianity

Apocalyptic Christians, having inherited romapocalyptic Judaism the idea that the just are savedand the wicked condemned, were also troubled by




this soteriological problem, but they advanced aunique solution during the first century : Godwill show an abundance o mercy by redeemingrom Sheol all who can and will be saved. Teyaffirm that Christ descended to the underworld asa divinely empowered spiritual being, smashed its

gates, preached repentance to the captive disobedi-ent, and began the salvific rites that would open orthem the gates o heaven.18 So, apocalyptic Chris-tians solved the soteriological problem by (1) con-ceiving the punishment o those in Sheol as tempo-rary and (2) conceiving God as offering repentanceto the unevangelized and wicked o Sheol.19

Comments made byPaul the apostle showthat salvation or the deadhad been on the mindso apocalyptic Christians

since its earliest days. Tefirst reerence is oundin Paul’s letter to theEphesians, likely writtenabout 60.20 He reersto Jesus’s triumph over allthings, even over “cap-tivity” itsel, and brieflydescribes Christ’s descentto hades: “He [Jesus] hadalso descended into thelower parts o the earth”

(Ephesians 4:8–10 NRSV).Extant interpretationso this passage includeJesus’s victory over sin

and his triumph over the captivity o hades. I Paulis reerring to the latter, then by overcoming captiv-ity Jesus reed the prisoners o the underworld.21 Indeed, Christ’s triumph over all things heavenlyand earthly—elaborated in detail by Paul as theFather having lifed Jesus above all angelic “rule andauthority and power and dominion” and “put allthings under his [Jesus’s] eet” (Ephesians 1:21–22NRSV)—would not be complete unless Jesus alsotriumphed over the captivity o the underworld.I this interpretation is correct, then the act thatJesus’s descent is mentioned without any additionalcomment implies that this is an idea amiliar toChristianity’s ormative years.22

Another apocalyptic Christian text written atabout the same time as Paul’s letter to the Ephe-

sians, 1 Peter,23 gives additional insight into Christ’sredeeming the repentant captives o hades. In thepassage quoted below, Peter explains that Christ wasmade “alive in the spirit,” presumably meaning thatbetween his death and resurrection Jesus descendedto hades and there opened the way or salvation o

the dead. Tere he preached to those who had diedin sin the hope that even disobedient spirits may beredeemed and returned to God:

For Christ also suered or sins once or all, the

righteous or the unrighteous, in order to bring

you to God. He was put to death in the lesh,

but made alive in the spirit, in which also he

went and made a proclamation to the spirits in

prison, who in ormer times did not obey, when

God waited patiently in the days o Noah, dur-

ing the building o the ark, in which a ew, that

is, eight persons, were saved through water.24 . . .For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed

even to the dead, so that, though they had been

judged in the lesh as everyone is judged, they

might live in the spirit as God does. (1 Peter

3:18–20; 4:6 NRSV)25

Believed to be the oldest im-age in existence of Paul theApostle. Late 4th-centuryfresco found in the Catacomb

of Santa Tecia in Rome in2009. © Photographic Service“L’Osservatore Romano.”

Saint Peter, by Pompeo Batoni (1708–87). National Trust PhotoLibrary / Art Resource, NY.




Peter seems to have a vindication o God’s jus-tice in mind when writing these passages. I God didnot arrange or Christ to proclaim the good newsto the captives and allow those who could yet beredeemed to be reed, then his goodness would besuspect. A truly just and merciul God must give ull

opportunity or all to repent and live righteously,including the multitudes that died at the time oNoah. Despite their actions, God patiently waits orthe spiritually dead to change so that he may grantthem mercy, both now and in hades. It is not merelyescape rom Sheol but exaltation that Peter prom-ises,26 or the captives are reed so that they might“live in the spirit as God does” (1 Peter 4:6). Godis no respecter o persons according to Peter (see1 Peter 1:17), and he includes the deceased amongthose to whom God shows an abundance o mercy.

Given Peter’s stand on redeeming the dead, it

should be no surprise to find that other apocalypticJews o the same time period attempted to solve theproblem as well. A description o an opportunityor repentance or those in hades is ound in the

Apocalypse o Zephaniah, a work dating roughly tothe first century and preserved by Christians. 27 In it, the Old estament prophet Zephaniah is givena tour o the multiple heavens28 and o hades, andhe prays to God or compassion or those under-going torment in the underworld ( Apocalypse oZephaniah 2:8–9). Later he sees a multitude o theexalted righteous, including Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob ( Apocalypse o Zephaniah 8:1–9:5), who alsopray to God or mercy or the inhabitants o hades( Apocalypse o Zephaniah 11:1–6). Te sufferingso the underworld are deserved, according to theauthor, but the petitions o the exalted righteous arean appeal to God’s compassion, or he can choose toshow mercy and orgive whom he will.29 Zephaniahalso sees some inhabitants o hades who are blindand is told by his angelic escort that they are “cate-chumens [one who receives instruction in prepara-tion or baptism] who heard the word o God, butthey were not perected in the work which theyheard.” Zephaniah asks, “Ten do they not haverepentance here?” with the angel replying, “Yes . . .until the day when the Lord will judge” ( Apocalypseo Zephaniah 10:9–12). As the exalted righteouspray on behal o all o the inhabitants o hades, itis understood that all—not just the catechumens—have a possibility o either some sort o escape romhades or relie rom its torments. However, the

author does not explain when or how this redemp-tion will take place.

Te book o Revelation, likely written in 96during the reign o the Roman Emperor Domitian,explains the release o the underworld’s captivesas Christ having overcome death and opening up

hades. Christ says to John that he is the “living one.I was dead, and see, I am alive orever and ever; andI have the keys o Death and o Hades” (Revela-tion 1:18 NRSV). And at the great judgment, deathand hades will give up “the dead that [are] in them,and all [will be] judged according to what they haddone” (Revelation 20:13 NRSV).30 Ten all thosewho have not turned to God, those whose names arenot written in the book o lie, will be thrown withdeath and hades into a lake o fire, identified as the“second death” (Revelation 20:11–15). Tose whohave ully turned toward God, however, now belong

to Christ, the holder o the keys o death and hades.John, who adheres to a view o salvation similar toPeter and the author o the Apocalypse o Zephaniah,states that all who turn to God will be exalted.31

Another early Christian text provides convinc-ing evidence or interpreting Ephesians, 1 Peter, andRevelation as portraying Christ’s descent to Sheoland reeing its captives. Tis text, known as theOdes o Solomon, is a collection o Christian hymnsconnected to the Johannine community o the latefirst or early second century .32 In the text, theChristian author speaks as i he were Christ and

describes Christ’s original descent rom God andthe highest heaven and his subsequent descent toSheol: “He who caused me to descend rom on high,and to ascend rom the regions below” (Ode 22:1).33 He indicates that “I opened the doors which wereclosed” (Ode 17:9), ollowed by the claim that “Ishattered the bars o iron, or my own iron(s) hadgrown hot and melted beore me” (Ode 17:10). Teshattering o the bars reers to Christ destroyingthe inamous gates o hades, and the melting ohis binding chains caused by the fierce heat radiat-ing rom his fiery, divine glory that is once againrevealed. Te opening o the door is best explainedas Christ allowing or vicarious baptism34 or thedead, baptism being the door to salvation or apoca-lyptic Christians, rather than a urther reerenceto the gates o the underworld, as that which isshattered need not be opened.35 Christ then states,“I went toward all my bondsmen in order to loosethem, that I might not abandon anyone bound or




binding” (Ode 17:12), revealing his intent to ree theprisoners who belong to him.

In Ode 42, Christ again details his descent tothe underworld and his triumphant overcoming odeath and Sheol. Christ is a departed spirit, so hedescends to Sheol as do all departed spirits in the

apocalyptic Jewish tradition.36 But the Son o Godcannot be contained by either death or hell. Hiseternal nature repulses death, it being as “vinegarand bitterness” to death. Additional inormationabout the shattering o the gates o hades is alsorevealed. It is Christ’s very appearance, the blind-ing, divine light that streams rom his ace, whichpenetrates and overcomes Sheol, or the utter dark-ness cannot withstand effulgent, celestial light.Christ shatters the gates, Sheol is breached, and thecaptives are set ree:

Sheol saw me and was shattered,and Death ejected me and many with me.

I have been vinegar and bitterness to it,

and I went down with it as ar as its depth.

(Ode 42:11–12)

Shattering Sheol is equivalent to the breach-ing o an otherwise inescapable prison. Te Booko the Watchers attempts to describe the spiritworld, explaining that our immense, hollowed-out chambers hold the spirits o the departed asthey wait or the final judgment. One chamber,

which is illuminated and has a ountain o water,is designated as the abode o the righteous. In thischamber the righteous spirits call upon God, withone petitioner described as “the spirit that wentorth rom Abel, whom Cain his brother murdered.”But even or the righteous, Sheol is impossible toescape, or the chambers are hewn out o “a greatand high mountain o hard rock,” and the authordescribes the chambers as “deep” and their walls as“very smooth” to help his readers understand thatone could never climb out o the abyss (1 Enoch 22:1–7). Te world o the departed spirits, there-ore, is divided between a place o reward and otherplaces dedicated to confinement. Te unrighteousdead in the Odes o Solomon are in a vast chamberreserved or the disobedient as they wait or thefinal judgment, but Christ’s opening o Sheol allowsor release.

Ode 42 next speaks o Christ’s spiritual bodyand his ormation o a community o the righteous

among the dead. Te author explains that deathcould not long endure Christ’s blazing countenance,and it first releases his eet and then his head. Addi-tionally, Christ has a ace and speaks with lips.Clearly, the author holds that the departed Christretains some kind o material embodiment, a spiri-

tual body, one with head, eet, lips, and a ace, andothers with a similar spiritual embodiment runto him and cry out or mercy. Teirs would be aninerior embodiment, however, or their aces do notshine with effulgent light, and they cannot effecttheir own release rom Sheol.37 Christ then makes aproclamation to the departed spirits, offering themthe eternal lie o the righteous even as they stand inthe world o the dead:

hen the eet and the head it released,38

because it was not able to endure my ace.

And I made a congregation o living among hisdead;

and I spoke with them by living lips;

in order that my word may not ail.

(Ode 42:13–14)

Te response o the captives is a wholeheartedturning to God. Tey cry out and plead or Christ’spity and kindness. Tey have wallowed in the shad-ows o Sheol, chained in an endless darkness thatcould never be lifed, but Christ, the Light,39 nowbrilliantly illuminates the most penetrating dark-

ness and offers them the promise o escape:

And those who had died ran toward me;

and they cried out and said, “Son o God, have

pity on us.

And deal with us according to your kindness,

and bring us out rom the chains o darkness.”

(Ode 42:15–16)

In another possible reerence to baptism orthe dead, Ode 42 records that the departed spiritsask Jesus to open the door or them and or theirsalvation to be with the Savior. Teir plea or anopening o the door indicates that this is a utureevent; thereore, like Ode 17:9 (above), it is not theshattered gates o Sheol that need to be opened,but an acknowledgment that they need the wayopened or a vicarious baptism to take place. Note,in act, that even though Christ now stands intheir midst, they request the door to be opened so




that they may “go orth to [him],” an indicationthat they are in some sense still separated romhim; the gates o the heavens are still closed tothem. Vicarious baptism will allow them to enterthe Way,40 the Christian path to salvation, endingthat separation.

Interestingly, they do not desire salvation alone,meaning an entrance into one o the heavenlyrealms; they request that they be saved with Jesus,the appointed Savior. Tis is similar to the request

o the apostles James and Johnthat they may have the right torule at Christ’s right and lefhands, with Jesus explaining thatthe right to assign those thrones o honor belongs to the Father

(Mark 10:35–40). It also echoesPaul’s assertion that the righteouswill be exalted over all angelsto rule at Christ’s right hand.41 Indeed, in an earlier Ode, Christproclaims, “upon my right handI have set my elect ones” (Ode8:18). Te dead who are beingreed understand that to be savedby Jesus equates to being exaltedwith him:42

“And open or us the doorby which we may go orth to

you,

or we perceive that our death

does not approach you.

May we also be saved with you,

because you are our Savior.”

(Ode 42:17–18)

Te final verses o Ode 42indicate that Christ will ulfillall their requests. He hears their

pleas and responds to their sin-cere aith by internalizing it. In areerence to the Christian rite oanointing or chrism,43 by whichthe redeemed are made holy andheavenly, Christ then places hisname on the oreheads o the ini-tiates in the new community othe righteous by using olive oil.44 Te chrism connects the initiatesto Christ as they now perma-

nently bear the divine name that has been givento Christ by the Father.45 Tey now belong to him;indeed, Christ says, “they are mine” :46

hen I heard their voice,

and placed their aith in my heart.

And I placed my name upon their head,

because they are ree and they are mine.

(Ode 42:19–20)

Christ Descending into Limbo , number 11 from the Large Passion woodcut series by AlbrechtDürer. Courtesy Kulturgeschichtliches Museum Osnabrück, L 153-12-12.




exchange between the apostle Bartholomew and theresurrected Christ. Christ tells Bartholomew abouthis descent into hell, how the angels announce hiscoming, and how the devils react:

hen I went down into Hades that I might

bring up Adam and all those who were withhim, according to the supplication o Michael

the archangel . . .

And the angels cried to the powers saying,

“Remove your gates, you princes, remove the

everlasting doors or behold the King o glory

comes down.” . . .

And when I had descended ive hundred

steps, Hades was troubled saying, “I hear the

breathing o the Most High, and I cannot en-

dure it.” . . .

hen did I [Christ] enter in and scourged

him [Hades] and bound him with chains that

cannot be loosed, and brought orth thence all

the patriarchs.51

In a similar text that was supposedly authoredby Bartholomew and that James calls Te Booko the Resurrection o Christ by Bartholomew the

Apostle, James summarizes the harrowing o hellafer Christ’s burial as ollows: “Ten Jesus roseand mounted into the chariot o the Cherubim. Hewrought havoc in Hell, breaking the doors, bindingthe demons Beliar and Melkir and delivered Adam

and the holy souls.”52

Te Shepherd o Hermas, likely dating rom theearly to mid-second century , is another apoca-lyptic Christian text that urther describes the res-cue o the dead rom hades. Like the Odes o Solo-mon, the author o the portion o the text knownas the Parables indicates that a vicarious baptism isgiven to the repentant dead:

It was necessary . . . or them to come up

through water in order to be made alive, or

otherwise they could not enter the kingdom o

God, unless they laid aside the deadness o their

ormer lie. So even those who had allen asleep

received the seal o the Son o God and entered

the kingdom o God. . . . he seal, thereore, is

the water; so they go down into the water dead

and they come up alive. (Shepherd o Hermas,

Parable 9.16.2–4)53

Righteous Christians who have passed on par-ticipate in rescuing the dead: “when these apostlesand teachers who preached the name o the Son oGod ell asleep . . . they preached also to those whohad previously allen asleep, and they themselvesgave them the seal o the preaching” (Shepherd o

Hermas, Parable 9.16.5). Additional instances o thisrite’s perormance include a group in Asia Minorwho baptized the living using the names o thedead,54 as well as the Marcionites who would ask analready baptized, living ollower a baptismal ques-tion in behal o a departed and then baptize thatollower, with “the benefits accruing to the deadperson.”55

In sum, apocalyptic Christianity inherited thesoteriological problem o evil rom apocalypticJudaism, but in its ormative years set out to finda solution to the problem, which is that God per-

sonally sent his Son to redeem mankind, with anoverabundance o mercy offered so that even therepentant wicked who have passed on are offeredsalvation. And unlike other versions o apocalypticJudaism, there is no distinction in these early Chris-tian texts between the level o salvation offered toJews and the unevangelized. All are reely offeredredemption upon accepting Christ. Te result is thatthe soteriological problem o evil and suffering isgreatly mitigated.

The Apostles’ Creed

Tese themes rom Peter and apocalyptic Juda-ism are echoed in the Apostles’ Creed, which is theoldest Christian creed56 and is still used today aspart o the baptismal liturgy o the Roman Catholic,Anglican, and Lutheran churches.57 Te Apostles’Creed acknowledges a belie in “God, the Fatheralmighty” and in “Jesus Christ, his only Son” who“descended into Hell.”58 Tis latter phrase is centralto untangling the soteriological knot, or with itcomes the possibility o evangelizing those who hadpassed rom mortality. Indeed, this was the verypurpose o its insertion, as one scholar illuminates:

his article expresses the aith o the primi-

tive Church in two belies: First, it meant that

God had not let anyone without the chance o

salvation but had sent Jesus into hell in order to

save those who had not known him on earth.

he article was inserted in the Creed because




the Creed is a brie outline o the saving acts o

Christ, and the descent into hell is an impor-

tant part o his saving work. It is important to

remember that hell to the early Church was not

the ghastly place o torment it was to become in

the mind o the medieval Church.59

Rather, the abode or departed spirits was known asa “resting place . . . until Jesus came.” 60

Consider how the Apostles’ Creed has influ-enced contemporary Catholic thought. According toone Catholic writer, the doctrine o the descent intohell involves a place o our divisions:

Hell as a whole may be dierentiated into at

least three species: gehenna, purgatory, and

sheol; according to a long-standing theologi-

cal view, there is also a limbo (rom the Latin

limbus, meaning edge or threshold ) or unbap-tized children, the limbus puerorum. Although

it may sound strange to the contemporary ear,

one can use the generic name in reerence to

each species: the hell o the damned (gehenna),

the hell o puriication (purgatory), the hell o

the Fathers (sheol), and the hell o the children.

hough these our abodes o the dead are very

dierent in character, hell in all these cases can

be represented with the generic Latin neuter,

inernum.61

Te Limbo o the Father, where “all the holy menand women who died beore the death o Christ”rest, “ceased to exist afer Christ’s descent.” 62 It wasthese who Christ descended to rescue: “Jesus didnot descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor todestroy the hell o damnation, but to ree the justwho had gone beore him.”63 Te Limbo o the Chil-dren, however, “remains a topic o unresolved theo-logical understanding.”64

According to popular legend, the Creed wasoriginally dictated rom the welve Apostles them-selves, though researchers trace the origin to cones-sions o aith in early baptismal rites.65 Researchersdo not know the precise authorship and occasiono its writing, only that it likely originated out oRome between 150–75, when there was “everyreason or the ormation o some creedal statementto guard against the misconceptions o Christian-ity which were widely prevalent and were causingserious trouble.”66 It thus came to be known as the

“Rule o Faith” and was used as a check againstheretical interpretations o the scriptures.67

Yet despite heresy, “there was no more well-known and popular belie . . . and its popularitysteadily increased.”68 Irenaeus, writing near theend o the second century, strongly confirmed

the doctrine o the descent, teaching that Christ“descended into the lower parts o the earth toseek the sheep that was lost,” a clear indication othe salvific nature o his visit there.69 In Irenaeus’smind, “a strict theodicy demanded that those wholived beore . . . should share in the Gospel.”70 Clem-ent o Alexandria (ca. 150–215) agrees, stating that“it is not right to condemn some without trial, andonly give credit or righteousness to others wholived afer the coming o the Lord.” 71 Emphasizingeven more clearly the evangelic purpose o Christ’sdescent, Clement urther states that “Christ went

down to Hades or no other purpose than to preachthe gospel.”72

Origen (ca. 185–254) taught that Christ visitedand preached to the dead: “When he was in thebody he convinced not merely a ew . . . and thatwhen he became a soul unclothed by a body he con- versed with souls unclothed by bodies, convertingalso those o them who were willing to accept himor those who, or reasons which he himsel knew,he saw to be ready to do so.”73 Origen deended thisidea against Celsus, who argued that the descentwas mere mythology.74

Te Creed was still used widely and consid-ered authoritative in the ourth and fifh centuries.yrannius (ca. 400), who translated many o Ori-gen’s works into Latin, wrote a ull, original com-mentary on the Creed in which he notes that oneo the apostles’ main intents or writing the Creedwas or “uture preaching . . . [and to be] handedout as standard teaching to converts.”75 He alsoacknowledges that there are some variations o theCreed circulating among the various churches,some without the phrase “descended into hell.”yrannius comments, however, that “the act thatHe descended to hell is unmistakeabl[e]” ; he citesscriptures confirming the idea76 and affirms thatChrist descended or the purpose o preaching toand redeeming the souls in hell.77

Many other church authorities confirm thedoctrine o the Creed that Christ descended intohell. Cyril o Jerusalem (ca. 315–86) affirms thatChrist “descended . . . beneath the earth, that rom




the word until in Psalm 110:1 to the same word inMatthew, but ultimately concedes that “it is betterto escape [the possibility o being sent to eternalpunishment] than to learn its nature.”98 Indeed,any serious delving into the possibility o a tempo-rary hell approaches heresy or Augustine, or “imercy leads us to believe that the punishment o thewicked will come to an end, what are we to believeconcerning the reward o the just, when in eachcase eternity is mentioned in the same passage?” 99 Privately, Augustine wished that holy writ did noteven mention a descent into hell.100

Although Tomas Aquinas believed that Christdescended to hell, he concluded that it served nosalvific purpose. Evangelizing has no effect in hellsince repentance is no longer possible afer death,and repentance is impossible because individuals’characters become set at death—the righteous willorever remain righteous, and the unrighteous willorever remain unrighteous.101 Although Aquinas

taught that repentance is not possible afer death,he affirmed that in mortality all people can believeand be saved. Nevertheless the belies necessary orsalvation differ, depending on the times, places, andconditions in which people live. For example, anacceptance o the rinity is required o those who

live afer the time o Jesus.102 So, although Aqui-nas and Augustine differed as to whether Christdescended to hell, they agreed that evangelizing andthus repentance did not exist afer death.

Under Augustine’s influence,103 ProtestantReormers also denied Christ’s descent to hell. JohnCalvin, or example, completely rejects any notiono Christ visiting hell to save anyone. For Calvin,the idea o a “descent into hell” is simply a reerenceto the intense suffering that Christ endured on thecross. Calvin explains it away, much like Augustine,into metaphor by reerring to Isaiah’s prophecy o

Christ’s sufferings in chapter 53: “Tere is nothingstrange in its being said that he descended to hell,seeing he endured the death which is inflicted onthe wicked by an angry God.”104 He calls any objec-tions to that explanation (specifically, the questionas to why the Creed mentions Christ visiting hellafer his burial when his suffering preceded it) mere“trifling” and dismisses the popular idea that Christliterally visited hell to save souls as “nothing but aable” and “childish.”105 Te Church o the Palati-nate as well as the catechism o Geneva took a simi-lar view.106

Martin Luther was just as firm in closing thedoor on the possibility o salvation afer death. Hedenied “the existence o a purgatory and o a Limboo the Fathers in which they say that there is hopeand a sure expectation o liberation. . . . Tese arefigments o some stupid and bungling sophist.” 107 Luther also interprets 1 Peter metaphorically, tak-ing the “spirits in prison” to mean those in mortal-ity who do not respond to the gospel message.108 Inthe afermath o the Reormation, Christ’s descentinto hell would be reduced to an obscure minority view, with but ew witnesses to the once-ubiquitousdoctrine.109

One might understand why religious leaderswould want to squelch the notion o repentanceafer death: congregants can live immorally nowand convert later. Tus, Augustine and otherswould declare that only this lie determines ourstatus in the next.110 How do Mormons respond tothis problem since we affirm repentance afer death?

John Calvin. Bridgeman-Giraudon / Art Resource, NY.




We address this issue in a subsequent paper whereinwe set out the latter-day restoration o postmortem

evangelization. A urther complication or religiousleaders who believe in repentance afer death is theimplication that “the theory o postmortem evange-lism takes the wind out o the sails o missions.” 111 As one researcher surmises, the acceptance o post-mortem salvation would “weaken the appeal o theChristian preachers to the terrors o the Lord, and. . . make the condition o the heathen preerable tothat o Christians. It would involve, e.g ., the pos-sibility o salvation without baptism, without theknowledge o what Christ had done, and this wouldclash with the dogma which Augustine [and others]maintained so tenaciously.”112 However, althoughdenying posthumous repentance restored urgencyto evangelism, it did so at the cost o exacerbatingthe soteriological problem o evil. It was “commonor ministers such as Augustine and Calvin to speako the massa damnata as though it pained God notat all to damn anyone.”113 Sadly, some view God asso powerul and emotionally detached that, as one

British philosopher points out, “or God a billionrational creatures are as dust in the balance; i a bil-lion perish, God suffers no loss.”114

Additionally, the Reormers’ rejection oChrist’s harrowing comes not rom one belie butrom a package o theological commitments. It

would be nearly impossible to teach the doctrineo predestination i people had an opportunity toprogress afer death.115 Furthermore, they “lookedon the popular belie as traditional, not scriptural,they wished to wrest out o the hands o their oppo-nents a belie which seemed to them to give somesupport to the Romish theory o purgatory, and tothe practices which grew out o it.”116

Divine Perseverance and Other ContemporaryViews

Despite Christianity’s well-nigh universal rejec-tion o the harrowing and its implications, the ideathat salvation is possible or mankind even aferdeath can still be ound among a ew contempo-rary theologians. Most notably, Gabriel Fackre,Abbot Proessor o Christian Teology, Emeritus,at Andover Newton Teological School, supports a view he calls “divine perseverance,” or the idea that“those who die unevangelized receive an opportu-nity or salvation afer death. God condemns noone without first seeing what his or her responseto Christ is.”117 He resolutely deends this position,

which is strikingly congruent with the Latter-daySaint notion o postmortem evangelism, in hiscoauthored book What about Tose Who HaveNever Heard? Tree Views on the Destiny o theUnevangelized.

In the book, Fackre deends his view againsttwo competing contemporary theologies: restrictiv-ism espoused by Ronald H. Nash and inclusivism championed by John Sanders. Restrictivism affirmsthat salvation requires that one accept Christ beoredeath.118 Inclusivism proposes that some may besaved who did not know about Christ’s atonement,provided they respond in aith to the general reve-lation o God’s goodness that he gives to all o hischildren in some measure.119

Fackre begins by explaining that his view ol-lows directly rom what we know o God’s attri-butes, “that the power o God is, mysteriously,the way o the cross, the ‘weakness o God.’ Teultimate power is not machismo but the divine

Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Bildarchiv PreussischerKulturbesitz / Art Resource, NY.




the act that so many have died without hearingthe Son’s message o salvation. Tis doctrine waspresent in apocalyptic Judaism and in apocalyp-tic Christianity, and Christ taught the doctrine tohis disciples. It was also confirmed by the churchathers and in the Apostles’ Creed. Subsequently, it

was rejected first by Augustine and later by Reorm-ers such as Calvin and Luther, Tis led, regrettably,to its almost universal disappearance rom theteachings o modern-day Christendom.

In a sequel to this paper, we will describe therestoration o the doctrine in the vibrant revelationso Joseph Smith and Joseph F. Smith and its urtherelaboration in Mormon datum discourse. Teselatter-day revelations and teachings disclose onceagain how Christ reopened the gates o hell to “letthe prisoners go ree,” thus once again resolving thesoteriological problem o evil. n

Notes

1. David L. Paulsen is a proessor and Roger D. Cook an adjunctinstructor, both in the Depart ment o Philosophy at BrighamYoung University. Kendel J. Christensen is a BYU undergrad-uate majoring in sociology with a minor in philosophy. BYUundergraduates Michael Hansen (philosophy), David Lasset-ter (English), and, especially, Zachary Elison (philosophy),and Aaron ress (philosophy) have each made valuable con-tributions to both orm and content. Shirley Ricks (MaxwellInstitute) and Laura Rawlins (director o BYU Faculty Edit-ing Service) have skillully edited the document. he authorsgrateully acknowledge the generous unding or the projectprovided by the BYU College o Humanities and Departmento Philosophy.

2. homas V. Morris, he Logic o God Incarnate (Ithaca: Cor-nell University Press, 1986), 174–75. For more on this topic,see David L. Paulsen and Brent Alvord, “Joseph Smith andthe Problem o the Unevangelized,” FARMS Review 17/1(2005): 171–204.

3. he list includes ertullian, Augustine, Philip Melanchthon,Blaise Pascal, John Calvin, a nd others. See John Sanders, NoOther Name (1992; repr., Eugene, OR: Wip and Stock, 2001),74–79. Representative statements rom Augustine and Calvinillustrate the point: “Many more are let under punishmentthan are delivered rom it, in order that it may thus be shownwhat was due to all.” Augustine, City o God , trans. MarcusDods (New York: Random House, 1950), 783. Calvin assertedgrimly and simply that “the vast majority o mankind wil l belost.” F. W. Farrar, Mercy and Judgment (London: MacMillan,1894), 58.

4. Charles Darwin remarked, “I can indeed hardly see how any-one ought to wish Christianity to be true; or i so the plain

language o the text seems to show that the men who donot believe, and this would include my Father, Brother andalmost all my best riends, will be everlastingly punished.And this is a damnable doctrine.” Autobiography (New York:Harcourt, Brace, 1958), 87.

5. For an excellent exposition on the loss o the baptismal ordi-nance or the dead, see Hugh Nibley’s “Baptism or the Deadin Ancient imes,” in Mormonism and Early Christianity (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1987), 100–167.Our discussion here draws on Nibley’s work but ocuses moreon the history o the belie in Christ’s visit to hell, the work

he was believed to have accomplished there, and its implica-tions or the soteriological problem o evil. In a subsequentarticle, we will examine the scholarly work on baptism orthe dead that has been published since Nibley’s piece.

6. One meaning o the term harrowing is “to break up land bypulling a harrow over it.” It is this imagery, Christ’s “break-ing up” and delivering souls rom hell, that is evoked by theterm in this context; see Encarta World English Dictionary ,

s.v. “Harrow.” CD-ROM (Microsot Corporation, 2000).7. Christopher Rowland, he Open Heaven: A Study o Apocalyp-tic in Judaism and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982),9–72; Christopher Rowland, Christian Origins: An Accounto the Setting and Character o the Most Important MessianicSect o Judaism (London: SPCK, 1985), 56–64; Matt Jackson-McCabe, ed., Jewish Christianity Reconsidered: Rethinking

Ancient Groups and exts (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007),7–80, 119–256; Adam H. Becker and Annette Y. Reed, eds.,he Ways hat Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late

Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Minneapolis: Fortress,2007), 1–158; Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik, eds.,

Jewish Believers in Jesus: he Early Centuries (Peabody, MA:Hendrickson, 2007), 3–416; John J. Collins, Apocalypticismin the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: Routledge, 1997), 1–162;James C. Vanderkam and William Adler, eds., he Jewish

Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity (Minneapolis: For-

tress, 1996), 1–100, 129–38; John J. Coll ins, Seers, Sibyls andSages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism (Boston: Brill Academic,2001), 3–127, 261–383; John J. Collins, he Apocalyptic Imagi-nation: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, 2nded. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 1–255; James H.Charlesworth, he Old estament Pseudepigrapha and theNew estament: Prolegomena or the Study o Christian Origins (Harrisburg, PA: rinity Press International, 1998), 47–69.

8. Adler points out the scholarly consensus that “primitiveChristianity” not only preserved the apocalyptic Jewish textsbut also that the movement “took root on the same soil thatproduced the Jewish apocalyptic literature”; see Jewish Apoc-alyptic Heritage, 2. In he Apocalyptic Imagination, Collinsstates that “Apocalyptic ideas undeniably play an importantrole in the early stages o Christianity” (1; see 256–79).

9. 1 Enoch 1:4; 14:8–21; 46:1; 60:2; 71:5–10, 13; 2 Enoch 22:1–7;24:1–5; 25:4; 39:5; 44:1–2; Lie o Adam and Eve 12:1–15:3

(Vita); Lie o Adam and Eve 22:1–25:1; 33:1–5 ( Apocalypse); Apocalypse o Zephaniah 6:11–15; Daniel 7:9–10; Revelation4:2–5, 7; 11:19; 21:3–4. All texts rom 1 Enoch in this paperare taken rom George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C.Vanderkam, 1 Enoch: A New ranslation (Minneapolis: For-tress, 2004). Other pseudepigraphic texts (e.g., 4 Ezra) aretaken rom James H. Charlesworth, ed., he Old estamentPseudepigrapha , 2 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1983, 1985).

10. 1 Enoch 41:9; 84:2–3; 2 Enoch 47:3–6; 53:3; 66:1–4; Matthew10:29.

11. 1 Enoch 47:1–4; 61:13; 63:1–8; 2 Enoch 8:1–10:6; Daniel 12:2–4; 1 John 3:1–10; 4:7–16; Revelation 3:14–22; 11:16–18.

12. See also 1 Enoch 54:6; 63:10; 90:26–27; 103:5–8.13. Philip S. Johnston, Shades o Sheol: Death and Aterlie in

the Old estament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002),26–28, 33–35, 69–97; Alan F. Segal, Lie ater Death: A His-tory o the Aterlie in Western Religion (New York: Double-

day, 2004), 134–40.14. Gloria Frank contrasts and compares the “graphic punish-ments” o the dead generally ound in apocalyptic works(such as 4 Ezra and Apocalypse o Zephaniah , both quotedbelow) with apocalyptic Chr istian texts associated withChrist’s release o Sheol’s captives: “Unlike apocalypses w ithgraphic punishments o the wicked dead, the dead whomJesus visits endure no bodily torment. Instead, their sueringis temporal in nature: the misortune o having lived beorethe coming o Christ i nto the world. And so these r ighteousones remain captive in hell’s dark abode until their liberation




war ( 132–35). But this should come as no surprise, orirst- and second-century apocalyptic Christians contin-ued to think o themselves as the true path within Judaism,rather than as a completely new religious tradition, whileRabbinic Jews, descendants o Pharisaic Judaism, divorcedthemselves rom the apocalyptic t radition entirely. See Col-lins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 1–255. Stephen Robinson hasobjected to the way apocryphal sources are sometimes used.

He asserts that we ought not to use these texts as proo thatLDS doctrines are true, but we may use them as ev idence owhat early Christians believed. He writes: “he apocry phado oten prove that ideas peculiar to t he Latter-day Saintsin modern times were widely known and widely believedanciently, but this is not the same as proving that the ideasthemselves are true, or that t hose who believed them wereright in doing so, or that they would have had anything elsein common with the Latter-day Saints.” “Lying or God: heUses o Apocrypha,” in Apocryphal Writings and the Latter-day Saints, ed. C. Wilred Griggs (Provo, U: BYU ReligiousStudies Center, 1986), 133–54, 148. It is in this sense that weuse these texts.

28. “And a spirit took me and brought me up into the ithheaven. And I saw angels who are called ‘ lords,’ and the d ia-dem was set upon them in the Holy Spirit, and the throne oeach o them was sevenold more (brilliant) than the light

o the rising sun. (And they were) dwelling in the temples osalvation and singing hymns to the ineable most high God.” Apocalypse o Zephaniah A, in Charlesworth, Old estamentPseudepigrapha, 508.

29. See Romans 9:18. he apocry phal book 2 Maccabees, writ-ten in the late second to early irst centuries , records theprayers o Judas Maccabee and his army on behal o Jewswho died in idolatry, as well as his collecting two thousanddrachmas to be delivered to the temple as an atonementor the dead, so that they might be delivered rom sin (see12:39–45 NRSV). In addition, the apocryphal Gospel oNicodemus contains a section entitled “Christ’s Descentinto Hell.” he text gives a third-century interpretationo the period o time al lowed or the dead o Chr ist’s dayto repent, and it places John the Baptist in hades preachingrepentance to its captives: “[Christ] sent me to you, to preachthat the only begotten Son o God comes here, in order that

whoever believes in him should be saved, and whoever doesnot believe in him should be condemned. hereore I say toyou all that when you see h im, all o you worship him. Fornow only have you opportunity or repentance because youworshipped idols in the vain world above and sinned. At anyother time this is impossible.” James K. Ell iot, ed., he Apoc-ryphal New estament , 2nd ed. (Oxord: Oxord UniversityPress, 1993), 186.

30. See also the claim o 1 Enoch 51:1 that “Sheol will restorewhat it has received.”

31. Revelation 2:7, 10, 17, 26–28; 3:4–5, 9–12, 20–21; 4:4; 5:8; 7:3,9; 14:1; 20:4.

32. he Odes o Solomon has, sadly, received scant attention romNear Eastern scholars. However, a recently published criticaledition o the Odes is Michael Lattke, he Odes o Solomon (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009). his hopeully will begi n toremedy the neglect. See pages 1–14 or the provenance and

likely dates or the text.33. See also Odes 28:10 and 29:4. he translation o the Odes oSolomon that we use is rom James H. Charlesworth, trans.,Odes o Solomon, in he Old estament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1985).

34. hat the harrowing o hell and vicarious baptism are tiedtogether is nothing new to Chr istianity. Richard E. DeMaris,“Corinthian Religion and Baptism or t he Dead (1 Corinthi-ans 15:29): Insights rom Archaeology and Anthropology,”

Journal o Biblical Literature 114/4 (1995): 672. John vedtnesshows that “though most Christians stopped baptizing or

the dead in the early centuries ater Christ, documentaryevidence makes it clear that the practice was known in various parts o the Mediterranean world.” John vedtnes,“Baptism or the Dead in Early Christianity,” in he emplein ime and Eternity (Provo, U: FARMS, 1999), 72. Scrip-tural evidence or the practice is 1 C orinthians 15:29, andMichael Hull writes that modern scholarship acknowledgesits historicity: “With reerence to our verse, the designation

‘vicarious baptism’ is simple: living persons . . . were baptizedin the place o dead unbaptized persons. he raison d’être orthis seemingly aberrant custom? o secure the (presumed)beneits o baptism or those who died without baptism.Since it is widely held that ‘none o the attempts to escape atheory o vicarious baptism in primitive Chr istianity seemsto be wholly successul,’ the vast majority o exegetes andcommentators hold that 15:29 is a reerence to some ormo vicarious baptism—even those who reject such a readingacknowledge its preponderance—and it is aptly labeled the‘majority reading.’ ’’ Michael F. Hull, Baptism on Account othe Dead (1 Cor 15:29): An Act o Faith in the Resurrection (Atlanta: Society o Biblical Literature, 2005), 10–11. As parto the scholarly consensus, one work explains, “ he normalreading o the text is t hat some Corinthians are being bap-tized, apparently vicariously, in behal o some people whohave already died. It would be air to add that t his reading

is such a plain understanding o the Greek text that no onewould ever have imagined the various alternatives wereit not or the d iiculties involved.” Gordon Fee, he FirstEpistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,1988), 763–64. he New International Commentary on theNew estament is o the same opinion: “he objection thatthe apostle could not have meant anything l ike a baptism orthe beneit o others is exegetically out o place.” Frederik W.Grosheide, “Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corin-thians,” in he New International Commentary on the Newestament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1955), 372. Andin his master’s thesis on the topic, John Pryce-Davies writes,“All interpretations which seek to evade vicarious baptismor the dead are misleading,” in “heological Signiicanceso 1 Corinthians 15:29 in the Lie o the Christian Commu-nity” (RHD thesis, Griith University, 2005), 123, quotingAlbrecht Oepke, “Βάπτω,” in A heological Dictionary o the

New estament , ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964), 1:542.35. See the arguments on Odes 42:17 and 42:20 (below) or

urther evidence that Ode 17:9 reers to vicarious baptismor the dead. he Odist urther reers to the inhabitants oSheol waiting or Christ’s death and his escape rom it, withthe understanding that his escape will open the way or theescape o all: “And the chasms were opened and closed; andthey were seeking the Lord as those who are about to givebirth; . . . and the end o t heir labor was lie” (Ode 24:5, 8; seealso 31:1).

36. See 1 Enoch 102:4–103:4.37. Luke 16:19–26 speaks o an impassable chasm that separates

the righteous dead rom the d isobedient in hades. he richman who was wicked in lie wishes or Lazarus to cool histongue with water, to temper his torment or a moment, buthe is told that “they which would pass rom hence to you

cannot” (v. 26). Note that both o the departed are thoughtto retain a kind o material embodiment despite the act thatthey are spirits.

38. he Odist’s worldview holds that a soul will irst depart thebody’s urthest extremity, the eet, exiting the head only atthe inal point o death. Death’s release o Christ ollows thesame pattern.

39. See Odes 10:1, 6; 11:13, 19; 15:2; 21:3; 36:3.40. See Odes 11:3; 33:8; 39:7; John 14:6; Acts 9:2; 24:14.41. See Odes 19:5; Luke 20:36; 1 Corinthians 6:3; Ephesians 2:6,

20–21; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 4:4.




42. See Odes 3:7; 11:16–19, 23; 17:1, 4; 20:1, 7–9; 29:8; 31:4; 33:12–13; 38:17–19; 39:7–8; 41:4, 6.

43. . W. Manson lists Galatians 4:6–7; Romans 8:15–16; 1 Cor-inthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22; 1 John 5:7–8 as passagesrelating to the chrism, with 1 John 5:7 linking chrism withbaptism; see Paul F. Bradshaw, he Search or the Originso Christian Worship: Sources and Methods or the Study oEarly Liturgy (New York: Oxord University Press, 1992), 165,

but 1 John 2:20 should also be added to his list.44. Ezekiel 9:4–6 is the source o the Christian chrism: “ ‘Gothrough the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on theoreheads o those who sigh and groan over all the abomi-nations that are committed in it.’ o the others he said inmy hearing, ‘Pass through the city ater him, and kill; . . .but touch no one who has the mark” (NRSV). he Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions, an apocalyptic Christian text o thesecond century , elaborates on the chrism, explaining theheavenly nature o the rite: “But He is called Christ by a certainexcellent rite o religion; . . . Although indeed He was the Sono God, and the beginning o all things, He became man; Himirst God anointed with oil which was taken rom the woodo the tree o lie: rom that anointing thereore He is calledChrist . hence, moreover, He Himsel also, according to theappointment o His Father, anoints with similar oil every oneo the pious when they come to His kingdom, or their reresh-

ment ater their labours, as having got over the diiculties othe way; so that their light may shine, and being illed with theHoly Spirit, they may be endowed with immortality.” Recogni-tions o Clement 1.45, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. AlexanderRoberts and James Donaldson (1885; repr., Peabody, MA: Hen-drickson, 1994), 8:89. Compare the irst-century 2 Enoch,where an anointing with heavenly oil transorms Enoch into abrilliantly shining angelic being and which recounts Enoch’seventual exaltation to God’s let hand (22:8–10; 24:1–2).

45. he book o Revelation explains that those who conquerwill personally receive the chrism rom Christ: “I will writeon you the name o my God, and the name o the city o myGod, the new Jerusalem that comes down rom my God outo heaven, and my own new name” (3:12 NRSV).

46. In a clear reerence to a premortal existence, the Odist indi-cates that God knew those who would be aithul and placedthe chrism on their aces: “And he who created me when yet I

was not knew what I would do when I came into being” (Ode 7:9); “and beore they had existed I recognized them; andimprinted a seal on their aces” (8:13).

47. Bradshaw, Search or the Origins o Christian Worship, 163–74; Edward C. Whitaker, Documents o the Baptismal Liturgy , 3rd ed., rev. and exp. Max well E. Johnson (Collegeville,MN: Liturgical Press, 2003), xvi, 9, 14, 23–62; Alastair H. B.Logan, “he Mystery o the Five Seals: Gnostic InitiationReconsidered,” Vigiliae Christianae 51/2 (May 1997): 193–99.

48. Gabriele Winkler, “he Original Meaning o the Prebaptis-mal Anointing and Its Implications,” Worship 52 (1978): 36.

49. Helmut Koester, From Jesus to the Gospels: Interpreting theNew estament in Its Context (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007),149; and Montague R. James, he Apocryphal New esta-ment , ed. J. K. Elliott (Oxord: Clarendon, 1993), 556, citesCarl Schmidt as reporting a second-century date o com-position. Speaking o the harrowing o hell, Hugh Nibley

wrote: “he central theme [o the orty-day ministry] is t heDescensus, a mission to the spirits below closely resemblingthe Lord’s earthly calling. He brings the kerygma [procla-mation o salvation through Christ] to all, and those whoaccept it ollow him out o the depths into the light, receivebaptism, and hence mount up by degrees to realms o glory.”“Evangelium Quadraginta Dierum: he Forty-day Mission oChrist—he Forgotten Heritage,” in Mormonism and EarlyChristianity , 16.

50. he text here is taken rom James, Apocryphal New esta-ment , 570–73; see vv. 21 and 27.

51. See Gospel o Bartholomew, vv. 9, 11, 13, and 20 in James, Apocryphal New estament , 656–57.

52. James, Apocryphal New estament , 669.53. Jerey rumbower, in Rescue or the Dead: he Posthumous

Salvation o Non-Christians in Early Christianity (New York:Oxord University Press, 2001), also cites this as evidence orearly Christians baptizing on behal o the dead. He urtherelaborates, saying that “we should not be surprised at the

appearance o these traditions, since Christianity was a newreligious expression embedded in a culture where t he bound-aries between the living and the dead were oten quite per-meable” (see pp. 33–34). William Wall (1647–1728), a Britishpriest in the Church o England who wrote extensively aboutinant baptism, held the Shepherd o Hermas in high regardbut seemed perplexed by the idea o baptism or the deadwithin it. Writing about the section o the text rom whichthe above passage is quoted, he says: “he Passage itsel,which represents the Patriarchs and Prophets o the Oldestament to stand in need o Baptism, and o the Apostlespreaching the Name o Christ to them ater they were dead,beore they could be capable o entering the Kingdom oGod, does indeed seem strange to us, and is the oddest Pas-sage in all the book; . . . yet Clemens Alexandrinus, who liv’dabout one hundred years ater this Book was written, citesthis Passage, and ta kes it or real matter o act. And those

texts, 1 Pet. 3. 19; and 4. 6, which speak o the Gospel being preached to them that were dead , though they be now by mostProtestants understood in another sense, were by most o theancients understood in a Sense like to th is.” he History oInant Baptism (London: Rivington, 1705), 1:5:52–53. “hisPassage does also lead one to think anew o Paul’s mention-ing a Practice o some Men in those times being baptized orthe dead . A thing t hat has never yet been agreed on in whatsense it is to be understood” (ibid., 53). “Whether these weretrue Visions, or only the author’s Sense given under such aRepresentation, still t he Scope o the place is to represent theNecessity o Water-Baptism to Salvation, or to Entrance intothe Kingdom o God, in the Opinion o the then Christians,i.e. the Christians o the Apostles times. Since even they thatwere dead beore the Institution o Baptism in the Name oChrist, are in way o Vision represented as incapable o theKingdom o God without it” (ibid., 54). Helmut Koester has

written that the Shepherd o Hermas, at speciically Simili-tudes 9.16.5, “speaks about the descent to Hades o the apos-tles and teachers or the preaching and baptism o the dead.”Introduction to the New estament: History and Literature oEarly Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982), 2:258. Caro-lyn Osiek also supports this view: “he absolute necessity obaptism is implicit here, and these verses, without saying so,present a good argument in avor o baptism in the name othe dead, apparently already an act o piety in irst-centuryCorinth [see 1 Corinthians 15:29]. . . . his is a version o thetradition o the ‘harrowing o hell,’ usually said to be per-ormed by Christ during the period o his burial. Here, theapostles and teachers are sent to be the agents by which thissoteriological mission is accomplished. . . . Whereas or theliving, the problem has been to get the baptized to take onthe lie o virtue, here with the pre-Christian dead, the prob-lem is the opposite: they practiced virtue in their lives, but

had not received baptism. hrough the apostles and teachers,this problem is solved.” Helmut Koester, ed., Shepherd oHermas: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999), 238.

54. rumbower, Rescue, 38.55. rumbower, Rescue, 36. hough, in these examples, rum-

bower points out the dead beneiciaries had to have shown adesire to be baptized beore the Marcionites would considerperorming it.

56. James Orr, “he Apostles’ Creed: he Oldest Creed,” inInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids,MI: Eerdmans, 1960), 1:204.




57. Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons, “he Harrow-ing o Hell,” Bible Review 19/3 (2003): 19. he tradition othe harrowing remains alive in Eastern Orthodoxy withits “preservation o certain opportunities or the dead inthe next world.” Russian Eastern Orthodox scholar SergeyAntonenko, quoted in Marvin R. VanDam, “Baptism or theDead in Ancient Ukraine,” Meridian Magazine, ldsmag.com/ancients/080227ancient.html (accessed 16 March 2010). he

Catechetical Sermon o John Chrysostom, which speciicallymentions the harrowing, is also read every year during theOrthodox Pascha (Easter) services. See Orthodox Church oAmerica. www.oca.org/FSsermons-details.asp?SID=4&ID=10(accessed 16 March 2010).

58. Catechism o the Catholic Church (Chicago: Loyola, 1994),49–50. “he creeds that do not explicitly mention theDescent into hell may be divided into two groups based onthe dierent ormulations o the Resurrection article. In bothwe will ind that Christ’s descent is implicit in the proes-sion o His resurrection.” See Alyssa Lyra Pitstick, Light inDarkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrineo Christ’s Descent into Hell (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,2007), 10–11.

59. Gardiner M. Day, he Apostles’ Creed: An Interpretation oroday (New York: Scribner, 1963), 81.

60. Hornik and Parsons, “Harrowing o Hell,” 20.

61. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 14. For a critique o her work, seePaul J. Griiths, “Is here a Doctrine o the Descent intoHell?” Pro Ecclesia 17/3 (2008): 257–68.

62. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 15–16.63. See “he Catechism o the Catholic Church,” quoted in Pit-

stick, Light in Darkness, 16.64. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 16.65. Orr, “Apostles’ Creed,” 1:204.66. Arthur McGiert, he Apostles’ Creed: Its Origin, Its Pur-

pose, and Its Historical Interpretation (New York: Scribner,1902), 9.

67. McGiert, Apostles’ Creed , 9–10.68. John A. MacCulloch, he Harrowing o Hell: A Compara-

tive Study o an Early Christian Doctrine (Edinburgh: Clark,1930), 45.

69. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 88. Irenaeus reerences Mat-thew 22:40; Ephesians 4:9; and Psalm 86:13 as justiication o

this v iew.70. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 91.71. Clement o Alexandria, Stromata 6.6, in Patrologiae Graeca

(PG) 9:272.72. Stromata 6.6, in PG 9:268, quoted in Nibley, “Baptism or the

Dead in Ancient imes,” 102, 118.73. Origen, Contra Celsus 2.43, trans. Henry Chadwick (London:

Cambridge, 1953).74. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 105.75. yrannius Ruinus, Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed ,

trans. J. N. D. Kelly (Westminster, MD: Newman, 1955), 29–30.

76. Namely Psalms 16:10; 30:3, 9; 69:2; Luke 7:20; and 1 Peter3:18–20. See Ruinus, Commentary , 61. He also states that,even in the versions that omit the phrase, the meaning othe descent is contained “precisely” in the airmation “bur-ied.” Ruinus, Commentary , 52. yrannius inds allusions to

Christ’s descent all throughout the scriptures, especially inthe Old estament. He writes, “No prophet, no lawgiver, nopsalmist is silent on th is theme: almost without exception,the sacred pages all reer to these events [the death o Christ,his descent into hell, his liberating the captive spirits there,and his resurrection].” Ruinus, Commentary , 63.

77. Ruinus, Commentary , 61. yrannius sees it as a uli llmento Psalm 29:4.

78. E. H. Plumptre, he Spirits in Prison and Other Studies onthe Lie ater Death (New York: Bible House, 1884), 86–87.

79. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 120.

80. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 94.81. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 19.82. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 75.83. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 71; see also Plumptre, Spirits

in Prison, 86.84. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 71.85. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 71.86. Pitstick, Light in Darkness, 20. he Fourth Ecumenical Lat-

eran Council (1215) and the Second Council o Lyons (1274)may also be taken as conirmations o the doctrine.87. Barclay explains, “In connection with [Christ’s preaching to

the dead] there is one interesting act which no one has everbeen able to explain. he early Christian thinkers alwaysaimed to clinch every argument with a quotation rom Scrip-ture. In par ticular they were always eager to produce a pas-sage rom the prophets which the actions o Jesus ul illed.Now when Justin Martyr a nd Irenaeus speak about thisdoctrine between them they quote no ewer than six times aproo text, attributing it sometimes to Jeremiah, sometimesto Isaiah. he text is: ‘he Lord God remembered his deadpeople o Israel, who lay in the graves, and he descended topreach to them his own salvation.’ hat indeed would be aprecise prediction o this interpretation o the descent; butthe odd thing is that that text occurs in no known part othe Old estament in any language or in any manuscript.

Where Justin Martyr and Irenaeus got that text is one o theunsolved mysteries” ( Apostles’ Creed or Everyman, 128).Martyr taught: “From the sayings o Jeremiah they have cutout the ollowing: ‘I [was] like a lamb that is brought to theslaughter: they devised a device against me, saying, Come,let us lay on wood on His bread, and let us blot Him outrom the land o the living; and His name shal l no more beremembered.’ And since th is passage rom the sayings oJeremiah is sti ll written in some copies [o the Scriptures] inthe synagogues o the Jews (or it is only a short time sincethey were cut out), and since rom these words it is demon-strated that the Jews deliberated about the Christ Himsel, tocruciy and put Him to death, He Himsel is both declaredto be led as a sheep to the slaughter, as was predicted byIsaiah, and is here represented as a harmless lamb; but beingin a di iculty about them, they give themselves over to blas-phemy. And again, rom the sayings o the sa me Jeremiah

these have been cut out: ‘he Lord God remembered Hisdead people o Israel who lay in the graves; and He descendedto preach to them His own salvation.’ ” Justin Martyr, Dia-logue with rypho 72, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:234–35. AndIrenaeus likewise taught: “It was or this reason, too, that theLord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preach-ing His advent there a lso, and [declaring] the remission osins received by those who believe in Him.” Irenaeus, AgainstHeresies 4.27.2, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:499.

88. Frank, “Christ’s Descent to the Underworld,” 211; see 211–26.89. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 95. Although, it should be men-

tioned, they talked about it in a more limited orm, due toAugustine’s writing as well as to the theory o purgatory.Another reason or its lack o discussion was probablybecause o the apparently shrinking need or such an idea.he church was so successul in Aquinas’s time, or example,that he thought there “was only a handul” o unevange-

lized persons. Sanders, No Other Name, 19. Also o note is acontroversy involving Antonius when he deended the tradi-tional interpretation o the doctrine against two phi losopherstrying to teach that Christ’s descent was simply igurative.See Hornik and Parsons, “Harrowing o Hell,” 22.

90. rumbower, Rescue, 126. O note, however, is the act thatAugustine’s contemporary and correspondent Jerome taught“the old tradition in its completeness.” Plumptre, Spirits inPrison, 93.

91. Sanders, No Other Name, 51; see also Farrar, Mercy and Judg-ment , 75–79.




92. “It is clearly shown that the Lord died in the lesh anddescended into hell. . . . W ho, then, but an unbeliever willdeny that Christ was in hell?” rom Augustine’s letter to Evo-dius, 164, in he Fathers o the Church: Saint Augustine Let-ters, vol. 3, trans. Sister Wilrid Parsons (Washington, DC:he Catholic University o America, 1953), 383.

93. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 50–51.94. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 57.

95. August ine does not deny that Christ visited hell—but hewas irm that whatever work o salvation that happenedthere was possible only or those who died beore his resur-rection.

96. Augustine, Epistula (Letters) 164.4.13, quoted in rumbower,Rescue, 132, 140.

97. rumbower, Rescue, 128.98. rumbower, Rescue, 129.99. rumbower, Rescue, 131.100. Augustine states in a letter that “i the holy Scripture had

said that Christ ater death came into the bosom o Abra-ham, without naming hell and its sorrows, I wonder ianyone would dare to airm that He descended into hell.”Fathers o the Church: Saint Augustine Letters, 3:386.

101. homas Aquinas, Summa heologica 3.52.1–8, t rans. Fatherso the English Dominican Province, 3 vols. (New York: Benz-inger Brothers, 1947).

102. Aquinas, Summa heologica 2.2.3–8. For a discussion onother medieval thinkers who shared Aquinas’s view o a non-evangelic descent and a universally accessible message, seeSanders, No Other Name, 159–62.

103. Sanders, No Other Name, 51 and 186 n. 19; see also rum-bower, Rescue, 3, 108.

104. John Calvin, Institutes o the Christian Religion, trans. HenryBeveridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1957), 1:443.

105. Calvin, Institutes o the Christian Religion, 1:442.106. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 96107. Martin Luther, “First Lectures on the Psalms (Psalm 86),” in

Luther’s Works II (St. Louis: Concordia, 1976), 175, cited inHornik and Parsons, “Harrowing o Hell,” 26.

108. MacCulloch, Harrowing o Hell , 52.109. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 97. Plumptre cites Jeremy aylor

and Bishop Samuel Horsley as notable exceptions in the mid-seventeenth and late-eighteenth centuries, respectively (see

97–99).110. rumbower, Rescue, 108.111. Sanders, No Other Name, 209.112. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 92.113. Sanders, No Other Name, 55, 72.114. Peter Geach, Providence and Evil (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1977), 128, quoted in Sanders, No OtherName, 72.

115. Interesti ngly, even Augustine seems to enterta in some ormo this logic. “Christ, knowing that the world was so ull ounbelievers . . . , was justly unwilling to appear or to preachto them who He oreknew would believe neither in His wordsnor in His miracles.” he Fathers o the Church: Saint Augus-tine Letters, vol. 2, t rans. Sister Wilrid Parsons (Washington,DC: he Catholic University o America, 1953), 158.

116. Plumptre, Spirits in Prison, 95.117. Gabriel Fackre, Ronald H. Nash, and John Sanders, What

about hose Who Have Never Heard? hree Views on the Des-tiny o the Unevangelized , ed. John Sanders (Downers Grove,IL: InterVarsity, 1995), 13.

118. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 12, 25.

119. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 36.

120. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 78, emphasis in original.


122. Fackre makes reerence to Romans 10:14, which states: “Howare they to believe in One o whom they have never heard?And how are they to hear without someone proclaim Him?”Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 79.

123. Fackre is quick to point out, though, that “No preaching byChrist to the dead is going to make it ‘easier’ or the deadthan the living.” Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about

hose Who Have Never Heard? 154.124. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 81.




128. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 86–87.

129. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 92–93.


131. he Early Days o Christianity (1883), 78, quoted in ad R.Callister, “Joseph Smith—Prophet o the Restoration,”

Ensign, November 2009, 36.132. Fackre, Nash, and Sanders, What about hose Who HaveNever Heard? 13–15. For more detailed inormation on any othese views, see ibid., 157 n. 6.