Holy Saturday: Christ's Descent to Hell, aka The Harrowing of Hell

Holy Saturday, the time between Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, is a bit of a theological mystery in Christianity. There are probably five main views, which derive from scripture, the Apostles Creed, apocryphal writings, and scholarly tradition:

1. Christ descended to Hell (or Hades, or the place of the dead, depending upon the particular translation) and preached His Gospel to both the righteous and unbelieving & wicked who had died before His advent.  All were saved and entered heaven. This view is held by some in Eastern Orthodoxy.

2.  Christ descended to Hell, preached His Gospel to both the righteous and unbelieving & wicked. Some repented and believed, others did not. This view is held by some in Eastern Orthodoxy as well.

3.  Christ descended to Hell and retrieved only the 'Old Testament righteous', both Jewish and Gentile.  This is the Roman Catholic view.

4.  Christ descended to Hell simply to declare His victory over sin, death, and Satan. No one exited. This view is held by some in Protestant circles.

5.  Christ's descent was strictly metaphorical, i.e. the 'descent' was merely an expression of his sacrificial death on the Cross. This view is held by some Protestants.

Personally, I hold to view #1. The following early church fathers strongly suggested or explicitly believed that Christ preached to and saved all of those in Hell during His descent:

- Athanasius of Alexandria, 4th century
- Gregory of Nazianzus, 4th century

- John Chrysostom, 4th century
- Jerome, 5th century

-  Cyril of Alexandria, 5th century

This 4th century Holy Saturday liturgical prayer also seems to suggest that the impact of Christ's descent was universal in nature, extending to all of departed humanity at the time.

And the way I see it, if Christ truly harrowed Hell once before, then He can certainly do it again at the end of time.