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Home , Harrowing of Hell

ST. IN THE LOWER WORLD

BY

DANIEL SHEERIN

Romanus Melodus

The theme of John the Baptist's mission after as precursor of to the has been generally neglected or given only partial treatment in the literature concerning both John the Baptist as well as Christ's descensus ad inferos.1 This note will attempt to document the genesis of this theme, to suggest the dimensions of its fortleben and use in . The position of John the Baptist in the is an ambiguous one. He was given a pivotal place in history, '0 v6gog Kai oi

... (Luc.16,16). John is more than a prophet (Mt.11,9; Luc.7,26) and the greatest of men (Mt.11,11; Luc. 7,28), but the fact remains that 6 gllCp6TaTO; TT) PaCYtXF-iaiou OEOU JlEiçrov aviov gaTtV (Mt.11,11; § Luc. 7,28). Hence arises the question, yet to be solved in any precise way, of the nature of John the Baptist's relationship to the Kingdom. An attempt was made in the ancient church to clarify John's place in salvation history by providing a role for him in the extension of salvation to those who died before the completion of redemption, Christ's descensus ad inferos. 0

1 See J. Monnier, La Descente aux enfers: Etude de pensée religeuse, d'art et de littérature (Paris 1905) 117; L. Capéran, Le problème du salut des infidèles, essai historique (Paris 1912) I, 66-67 ; C. Schmidt, Gespräche Jesu mit seinem Jiingern nach der Auferstehung, Texte und Untersuchungen,43 (Leipzig 1919) Exkurs II: "Der Descensusad inferos in der alte Kirche", 507 (+n.2), 541 (+n.3), 574 (+n.2); J. Kroll, Gott und Hölle: Der Mythos vom Descensuskampfe(Leipzig 1932)89 (+n.1), 99 (+n.1), 107 (+n.1); J.Daniélou, Jean-Baptiste, Témoin de l'Agneau (Paris 1964) 183. 2

1. BACKGROUND Following Grillmeier2 one may divide the complexity of the descensus into three soteriological themes or aspects of Christ's activity in the Underworld: 1) Christ's preaching to the dead (the preaching theme, Predigtmotiv),3 the oldest theme; 2) Christ's administration of in the Underworld (the baptism theme, Taufmotiv);4 and 3) Christ's sub- jugation of and the liberation of the just (the battle theme, Kampf- motiv), the most common and enduring theme. The descensus, particu- larly in its preaching and baptism themes, was of central importance in Jewish in dealing with the matter of the salvation of the just 5 who died before Christ.5 These themes suggest an extension to the Underworld of an economy of salvation parallel to that which had been elaborated in the world of the living. This approach is to be found particularly in the Alexandrian church, in Clement, in , as late as Ammonius, and elsewhere as well As controversy arose over the extent of the salvation of the dead, sc. whether Christ liberated all, sinner and just alike, whether He converted the sinner and the incredulous in the Underworld or liberated only those whose behaviour in this life warranted salvation, the preaching and baptism themes declined somewhat, generally leaving the field to the battle theme of the "Harrowing of Hell John

2 A. Grillmeier,Der Gottesohn im Totenreich, Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie 71 (1949) 4-5; Christ in the Christian Tradition, tr. J.S.Bowden (New York 1965) 87; Höllenabstieg Christi, Höllenfahrt Christi, LexThK, V, 453-454. 3 U. Holzmeister, Comm. in Epp. Ss. Petri et Iudae, I (Paris 1937) 307, conveniently divides the preaching theme into three aspects, 1)preaching for conversion, 2) preaching as announcement of liberation, and 3) preaching of a condemnatory judgement. 4 For the sources of the preaching and baptism themes see the note of J. B. Cotelier in his S.S. Patrum ... Opera, ed. Joannes Clericus (Antwerp 1698) 117-118; Grillmeier, art. cit., nn.11 and 12; R. Cantalamessa, L'Omelia "In S. Pascha" dello Pseudo-Ippolito di Roma (Milan 1967) 246, n.176. 5 See J. Daniélou, The Theologyof JewishChristianity, tr. J. A. Baker(London 1964) 233 sqq., and Cantalamessa, 245-253. 6 See Clement, Stromata 6,6,48:

(ed. L. Früchtel, GCS [Berlin 1960] 456,12-14). On this parallel economy of salvation on earth and in the lower world see Capéran, 63-70; Holzmeister, 327-328; W. J. Dalton, Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits, Analecta Biblica, 23 (Rome 1965) 16-18. 7 On the controversy concerning the extension of salvation in the Lower World see Capéran, 51-132; Holzmeister, 323-337; Dalton, 16-20; J.N.D.Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 3rd ed. (New York 1972) 380-382; J. Galot, La Descente du Christ aux enfers, Nouvelle Revue Théologique83 (1961) 481-482. On the character of this salvation see the materials collected by J.H.Waszink, Tertulliani De anima (Amsterdam 1947) 553-558.