Quodlibet 16 - The Harrowing of Hell

What happened during the Harrowing of Hell? Was it only the faithful Jews who were saved at that time or did Christ's work extend to gentiles as well?

The First letter of St. Peter tells us that Jesus 'went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah' (1 Pet 3:18-19) and that the Gospel was 'proclaimed even to the dead' (1 Pet 4:6). Over the centuries a rich tradition has built up around this belief. In Dante's Inferno the Latin poet Virgil describes Christ descending into Hell and rescuing the Hebrew forefathers but leaving him behind. Now this might suggest that it was only the Jews who were saved by Christ when he harrowed Hell but it is not that clear cut. In the English translation of the Apostles' Creed we state our belief that Jesus 'descended into Hell'. The Greek word used for Hell, κατώτατα and the Latin inferos are more precisely translated as "the lowest" or "those below". The Hell referred to is not only the realm of the damned but a general realm of the dead both wicked and just. This is important because it is an affirmation that when Jesus died on the cross it was not a trick or an illusion but a real death. Therefore it is appropriate that his soul, his human soul, united to his divine nature, entered the realm of the dead.

Due to the Fall and Original Sin, humanity is excluded from Heaven. It is deprived of the vision of God. Nevertheless there are holy souls who wait in the bosom of Abraham for their liberation. It is helpful to think of people waiting at a locked gate. Only Christ has the key to this gate. Christ's passion is the universal cause of salvation. It is the salvation of both the living and the dead. Christ's descent into Hades brings the Gospel message to fulfilment. The effects of the Gospel explode and reach throughout time. We must now ask who heard this Gospel in the underworld? There is much debate over whether Christ descended to the domain of the damned or to the "Hell of the Lost". The church teaches that our Lord's death was of "no avail to the damned". St. Thomas argues that Christ descended into all the levels of Hell but in different manners. His soul only descended into the Hell of the Just but through the effect of his death he descended into all parts of Hell. Hans Urs von Balthasar has suggested that Christ's descent into Hell was part of his suffering while others argue that His suffering was complete on the Cross, his descent merely a revelation to all parts of creation of what had been done on the Cross.

Tradition has maintained that faithful Jews were among the Just that Christ leads out of Hell. We can imagine the great Old Testament figures such as Adam and Eve, Abraham, King David and the Prophets waiting for the messiah to free them but I do not think membership of the bosom of Abraham is restricted to the Chosen People. Christ proclaimed the Gospel to Jews but he also brings the Good News to non-Jews such as the woman at the well. It seems to me that virtuous pagans would also be among the just. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

Those who through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation.

In Gaudium et Spes Vatican II declared:

Since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.

When Christ descended into Hell it would seem that He offers this chance of association also to those who had not been born into the Chosen People but had sincerely sought God and, moved by grace, strove by their deeds to do His will.