Christ's Harrowing of Hell

Hi again! The apostles' creed says that after his crucifixion, "He descended to the dead" (I've also heard some say hell or hades). Here, hell (or Hebrew sheol) is a place where unbelievers awaits the final judgement.
So my question is; why did He do so?
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that descended to set free all the believers that had died before Christ, such as Noah, Abraham, David etc., to let them into heaven.
I also heard a story from the Eastern Orthodox Church that John the Baptist also descended into hell to preach the coming of the Lord.
What does Scripture say? Are these traditions biblical sound, Christian mythology, or fabricated fables?


Hello Marcus,

This is a difficult question to nail down because of translation difficulties and paucity of biblical explanation. Here is an article by an old classmate of mine, which should give some assistance but perhaps not fully cover your question:

http://lutheranreformission.blogspot.com/2010/03/jesus-descent-into-hell.html

I would not characterize most teachings about the Harrowing as fable or mythology, but simply a case of artistic license or adding details to a spare biblical account. Think about the famous Leonardo painting of the Lord's Supper. The events really did happen, but clearly they were not seated in colorful flowing robes at a medieval style table in a square room overlooking the Italian countryside.

It is the same with the Harrowing. Christ, at some point, went to some place, and somehow proclaimed victory over sin death and the devil. He did indeed "Descensus ad Inferos". Both the Apostles and Athanasian Creed make that clear. Our own confessions concur: http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-descent.php

Unfortunately some of the questions that arise from this may have to wait until we meet our Lord face to face.

Christ-Mass Blessings,
Pastor Harris