Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Highway Out of Hell

Highway Out of Hell

Last updated on: April 16, 2022 at 9:07 am by C. Don Jones

Highway Out of Hell 2022-04-16T09:07:19-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What was Jesus doing on Holy Saturday? Was he really in or spiritually out of the tomb? Among all the legends surrounding Jesus, my favorite is the Harrowing of Hell. Jesus is busy for the time in the tomb. He is bringing people out of Hell. Many enigmatic passages in the New Testament give credence to an early belief in this story. The atonement theory of Christus Victor is based in the belief. Even though it is not a completely coherent theory, it is still a logical one.

Out of Weird Texts

“Then Jesus cried with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs were also opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and were seen by many.” (Matthew 27:50-53, emphasis added)

The tombs of the saints open, but the saints do not come out of them until after the Resurrection. I wonder what Matthew had in mind. The raised saints are waiting rescue it seems.

The next weird passage is in 1 Peter. “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous and the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive again in the spirit, in which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison,” (3:18-19 emphasis added) 1 Peter goes on to talk about God’s patience in the days of Noah in order to discuss baptism. Jesus’ body may have been in the tomb but he was alive among the dead.

Descended to the Dead

The Apostle’s creed comes in two versions in the United Methodist Hymnal. The longer version contains the sentence, “He descended to the dead.” Another version of the sentence say, “He descended to Hell.” What does it mean?

We don’t know for certain. The idea of Christ alive among the dead appears to soften the idea that he died. After all, where did he say he was taking the Thief on the Cross? And who else left with him?

The harrowing of hell paradoxically leaves us either empty or fills us with joy. Are only a chosen few are taken out? That leaves as bad a taste in my mouth as the Good Friday Lie does for Keith Giles. Did Jesus enter the realm of the dead with a list?

The universalist understanding fits better into Luke’s narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus. And it gives a more complete view of Christ’s victory.

Christ The Victor

Christus Victor has only one pitfall. It is easily mistaken for the “Warrior Jesus” myth perpetuated by many evangelicals. Such a misuse misses the point.

Jesus brings people with him in his Resurrection. The grace and mercy given to us is be given to everyone. Divine love is boundless. Recently I told a confirmation class, “Give me an example of grace.”

One student said, “When your friend forgives you by understanding you are having a bad day.” The other answers were similar. Grace was about family, parents, and friends forgiving us.

There is a common quality involved in their examples. Grace did not enter the relationship after a confrontation. Grace is there before. A friend, family member, or parent forgives a person because the relationship already exists. We often fail to recognize grace until we need mercy and forgiveness. Grace arises from love. In friendship it is a mutual love.

Christ is victor through love. He does not overcome evil by being sinless. Jesus overcomes evil and death through love.

Out of Love

Evangelicals and other “traditionalists” believe God is god because of divine power. Jesus indicates that divine power is greater than any human power. But understanding divine power as force is a mistake. Being a “force for good” merely equates the power with that of evil.

The power of God is in love not in divine strength or force. Salvation is in a relationship that already exists. The harrowing of hell is a good legend that reminds us of that.

Biblical Interpretation

Previous Post

April 11, 2022

Just To Give You An Idea

Next Post

April 18, 2022 Crucifying Jesus On Easter

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Whose dreams of sheaves and stars caused jealousy?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Asher Joseph Judah Issachar