gave it was for the support of Gnosticism. When we look into the Greek and Latin Orthodox Church, we find Hermas (about 150,) holding that even the apostles, after their death, descended to the dead, preached there to the souls of those who had lived in righteousness and purity, but who had not been baptized, administered baptism to them, and brought them into the kingdom of Christ.2 Justin Marytr (150-160,) applies to Christ a passage which he professes to quote from Jeremiah, but which had been fashioned partly from the text in Peter: "The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, hath remembered his dead ones, who slept in the land of dust; and descended to them, that he might preach to them the gospel of his salvation." Irenæus (about 185,) says that when Christ descended into the places under the earth, he remained there three days (that is between his death and resurrection,) to announce to those who were there the glad tidings of his advent, and to grant forgiveness of sins to those who believed on him. "And all, (adds he,) believed on him, who had hoped for himn, namely, the righteous, the Patriarchs, and the prophets."4 Theodotus (earlier than Clement of Alexandria,) mentions that Christ descended to Hades, preached to the souls of the just who were there, removed them, and made them to live under his shadow. But what is peculiar to him, he places this event after Christ's resurrection.5 Clement of Alexandria (190–196,) treats at some length on the subject. The Lord, (says he,) preached the gospel to those who were destroyed in the deluge, who were bound and shut up in prison. . . . And since the Lord descended to Hades for no other purpose than to make the gospel known there, he must have preached either to all, or else to the Hebrews only. If to all, then all were saved who then believed on him, though they had been heathens. If only to the Jews, then the apostles also must have descended thither to preach to those heathens who were disposed to repent; for God is no respecter of persons. In another place, he quotes, with approval, the passage in Hermes, respecting the descent of the apostles to Hades. 2 Herm. Past. Simil. ix. c. 16. 3 Dial. c. 72. 4 Adv. Hæres. iv. 27. conf. iv. 22, 23. iii. 20. 6 Stromat. vi. c. 6. pp. 762-767. Strom. ii. c. 9. p. 452. I omit Before we pass, an important fact ought to be mentioned, that shows, at once, how the oriental students of the Bible, in those times, understood the text in Peter, and what must have been the opinion of the whole Syrian Orthodox Church respecting it. The Peschito, or Syriac translation of the New Testament, the most valuable of all the ancient versions, was made as early as the latter half of the second century-perhaps before; and this renders the passage in question thus: "And he died in body, but lived in spirit. And he preached to those souls which were detained in Hades, which were formerly disobedient, in the days of Noah, when the long-suffering of God commanded an ark to be made, in hope of their repentance; and eight souls only entered into it, and were kept alive in the waters." (1 Pet. iii. 18-20.) "For, on this account the announcement is made also to the dead, that they may be judged as persons in the flesh, and may live according to God in the spirit." (iv. 6). Such was the form in which the Syrian Christians read the words of Peter. Third Century. Tertullian (about 208,) proves that the souls of the deceased are in the underworld, by the acknowledged fact that Christ descended to them there, at his death. He remained three days "in the lower parts of the earth,"-in "the heart of the earth," and "I believe," says Tertullian, that it was to the Patriarchs he went, to make them sharers with himself. Hippolytus (about 220,) says that "while Christ was reckoned among the dead, he made the gospel known to the [ancient] saints who were under the earth; and through his death he conquered death,"-that is, delivered the souls which had been held in Hades. Origen (230-253,) often recurs to the topic. He quotes the text in Peter to show that it was while Christ was separated from the body that he de Adumbrat. in Prior. Pet. Epist. (p. 1007,) where St. Peter's words are applied, allegorically, to living men. Of this fragment, we have only the Latin version extant; and the translator boasts that he had " excluded certain offensive notions, and purified Clement's doctrine, so that it might be the more safely received." (See Note 1, p. 1006).. 7 Murdock's translation of the Peschito, in loc. 8 König refers to De Anima c. 7. conf. cc. 31, 32. This tract was written about A. D. 208. In quoting subsequent testimonies, I shall rely on some of the works mentioned in the first note of this article, unless a special reference is given. scended to Hades; again he quotes it, to illustrate "the hope that remained for those who were destroyed in the deluge ;" and he infers that the souls of those who perished in Sodom and Gomorrah shared in the same favor. It was for the salvation of the world that Christ went and preached in Hades; whence he delivered the first parents of our race, and indeed all the souls who were willing, or whom he judged, for reasons known to himself, to be prepared to receive the grace. Gregory Thaumaturgus (about 260,) represents Christ as saying, "I must also descend to the depths of Hades, for the sake of the dead who are there detained." Fourth Century, and beginning of the Fifth. Lactantius (about 306,) says that Christ was in the underworld of the dead only two days, when he vanquished and threw it open, -that is, set its prisoners free. Eusebius Pamphilus (about 320,) introduces the subject in many passages; the substance of which is, that when Christ put off his fleshly body, he went down among the dead to call thence the souls of those who had long since deceased, and that he broke asunder the gates of Hades, thus enabling the dead to escape. Julius Firmicus Maternus (about 330,) speaks to nearly the same purport with Eusebius. Athanasius the Great (340-360,) represents that while the body of Christ lay in the grave, his soul was in Hades, where he preached the gospel to the souls of the deceased, setting them free from the bonds with which they had been held; and that, when his body rose from the grave, his soul rose from Hades. Hilary of Poitiers (about 350,) comments, in his loose way, on the 82d. ver. of Ps. cxix. (Sept. cxviii.) "Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?"-which he treats as a prophecy. The Psalmist knew, says he, that the saints who reposed in Hades, (Infernus,) longed for this comfort; he knew that, according to the testimony of the apostle Peter, when the Lord should descend to Hades this comfort would be preached also to those who were in prison, and who had once been disobedient in the days of Noah. In other places, Hilary observes that this descent took place while the body of Christ lay in the grave. Cyrill of Jerusalem 9 Hilarii Enarrat. in Ps. cxviii. sub. litt. Caph. conf. De Trinit. x. cc. 34, 65. (abont 360,) makes the three days that Jonah passed in the whale, a figure of Christ's abode in Hades. He went down into the places under the earth, to set the righteous free, who had been held there, in countless numbers, from the time of Adam. Basil the Great (about 370,) comments on Ps. xlix. 15, "God will deliver my soul from the hand of Hades, when it shall take hold of me ; " [Septuag.] and says, Here is anticipated the descent of Christ to Hades, who freed the soul of the Psalmist, along with the other souls, so that it no longer remained there. Gregory of Nazianzum (about 370,) is undecided whether there was a universal, or only a partial, deliverance from the subterranean world. In one place, he says that when Christ descended to Hades, he set free all who were held there; in another passage, either all, or else those who be lieved on him. "Peter," says he, "meant that Christ suffered for the salvation of all men. And were it asked, How were they to be saved who had died before his coming? the apostle solves the difficulty by saying, Wherefore he went and preached to the spirits in prison, and saved those who were already dead. For they who had so lived that, if Christ had then preached they would have believed, were saved by his descending to the dead.10 Gregory of Nyssa (about 370,) takes the acknowledged fact that the disembodied soul of Christ descended to Hades, and argues from it to prove that souls exist separate from their bodies. Didymus of Alexandria (about 370,) does the same. Philastrius of Brescia (about 370,) holds the doctrine of Christ's descent to Hades; but ranks among heretics those who say that he preached the gospel to all who were there, or that even all who there confessed him were saved. Philastrius was the first who branded the belief in this universal deliverance with the stigma of heresy. Epiphanius (about 375,) frequently treats of this subject. Christ was crucified, buried, and went down into the places under the earth, where he led captivity captive. It was his soul, in connexion with his Godhead, and not his body, that descended thither, to bring forth the souls of the deceased Patriarchs and ancient worthies; and Epiphanius adduces this fact to prove, against the 10 I find this last passage in Clarius, as quoted in Critici Sacri in 1 Pet. iii. Apollinarists, that Christ had a soul as well as a Divine nature. "What was the effect of his preaching to those in Hades?" adds he; "did it save all who were there? No; but those only who believed on him." Ambrose of Milan (about 380,) says that "while the body of Christ lay in the grave, he himself (that is, his soul,) was among the dead, but in a state of freedom; and when he had annulled the laws of death, he bestowed forgiveness on those who were in the underworld." He set those at liberty "who were there bound in sin." Ambrosiaster, or Hilary, a Deacon of Rome, (about 380), regards it as one of the objects of Christ's death, that he might descend into the underworld, (which he places in the heart of the earth,) and free those who were confined there by sin. Christ's appearance there was itself "a preaching to the dead;" and he delivered as many as desired him. He despoiled the underworld; for he led forth the captives who had been held there either by Adam's transgression, or by their own sin, and who then submitted to him. Jerome (388-402,) defines that it was with his soul only that Christ descended to Hades, [Infernus;] but that he ascended to heaven both with his soul and with his body. We know not, (says he,) how the angels and those in Hades were benefited by his death; but we know that they were benefited thereby. He annulled the imprisonment, and set those free who had been fast held in bonds. In a work written about 402, he says that Christ" descended into the furnace of Hades [Infernus,] in which the souls of the sinners and of the just were confined.” In this expression, we detect a trace of the change which was progressing in the popular usage of the term Hades, or Infernus. It was beginning to be appropriated, by the Latin Church, to the place of torment; and Jerome here mingles both the former and the newer ideas together. Theophilus of Alexandria (402,) argues against the Apollinarists, who denied that Christ had a human soul, and quotes Ps. xvi. 10, as spoken of Christ: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption." Now, it is not credible, (says he,) that his flesh descended into Hades, and appeared among the dead who were there; but he mentioned his soul, in order to show that, while his body lay in the grave, his perfect ra |