A few weeks ago, a friend asked me why Jesus did not go to the abode of the damned during the time between His Crucifixion and Resurrection. He asked this because the Church teaches that Jesus descended to the abode of the just dead but not to the abode of the damned (CCC 633). My short answer was that God will not release those who are in the abode of the damned because they chose to eternally oppose Him. So, going there would not have served a purpose. My answer was correct but lacking, as you will see.
Gehenna Vs. Abraham’s Bosom
First, what is the abode of the damned, and how does it differ from the abode of the just (or justified) dead? Before Christ’s Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection, those who died in a state of grace went to the abode of the just dead, where they waited for the Messiah to redeem them from death. Those who died in unrepentant opposition to God chose the abode of the damned, from which they will never be released.
The Jews typically referred to the abode of the damned as Gehenna, what we typically mean by Hell. They referred to the abode of the just dead as Abraham’s Bosom, where the righteous dead awaited the Redeemer. Therefore, the Jews believed Hell/Hades/Sheol consisted of two compartments, Gehenna and Abraham’s Bosom. (Some scholars argue that Hell contained three or four compartments, but their theories are not relevant to this article.) The Apostles’ Creed states that Jesus descended into Hell after His Crucifixion. But the Church has always taught that He descended to the Abraham’s-Bosom part of Hell, not to Gehenna.
Selling Vs. Redeeming
Second, Adam and Eve, through their Original Sin, sold mankind to death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12, 17, RSVCE), not damnation specifically. We place ourselves in damnation by choosing to die in a state of mortal sin, which is a state of obstinate refusal to be with God for eternity. Before Christ, many died in a state of friendship with God but simply needed a redeemer (one who could literally “buy back”) to buy them back from death. Although Christ redeemed all humans from death, all humans must enter His redemption with repentance, forgiveness, and grace.
Those who would eventually go to Abraham’s Bosom avoided damnation the same way we all avoid it – they repented and asked God for His forgiveness and grace. But forgiveness alone does not open the gates of Heaven for a person who remains sold to death. So, the human race needed someone with the power to buy us back from death, not absolutely, but as a matter of justice.
Sin Vs. Sacrifice
Original Sin and personal sin are an infinite dishonor to God’s infinite honor and dignity. Therefore, only someone with infinite value could pay an infinite price to redeem mankind. Accordingly, God the Son, Who is infinite, assumed a human nature. This allowed Him to represent mankind as the last, or new, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) and give an infinite sacrifice to the Father on man’s behalf. (I promise not to use the word infinite again in this article.)
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “In Hell, there is no redemption. But the saints were redeemed from limbo” [Abraham’s Bosom] (Summa Theologiae, Supp. Q. 69, a. 5). When someone is in Gehenna, that person cannot leave because they chose to be there, and God does not override free will. Conversely, before Christ, if someone went to Abraham’s Bosom, they could have been released but only after being redeemed.
Since Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, Abraham’s Bosom is empty because the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, redeemed everyone who was there. Since then, Gehenna has been the only populated compartment of Hell. Believers avoid this damnation by grace and through faith in the Messiah, who previously completed His redemptive work on the Cross.
So, Christ did not need to go to Gehenna because those who are there can never be released; they obstinately rejected God. Abraham’s Bosom is no longer populated (and may not exist at all) because Abraham was redeemed. He now resides in Heaven with all those who were in his bosom, meaning, those who were in friendship with him.
Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell
If you are wondering where Purgatory fits in, Catholic Stand has some excellent articles on the subject. Briefly, Purgatory is a posthumous state of purgation, where God purges all defects and inclinations to sin from justified souls. It is a temporary place/condition for those who have physically died and are on their way to Heaven.
Consequently, we have only two ultimate destinations available to us after physical death: Heaven and Hell. The good folks, who die in a state of grace, Go to Heaven. The bad folks go to Hell. This reminds me of a popular Nirvana song from the 90s: “Where do bad folks go when they die? They don’t go to Heaven where the angels fly. They go to the lake of fire and fry.” (That song will be in your head all day. You’re welcome!) God gives us the free will to choose one or the other. So, choose wisely!
A Future Article
Still, someone mignt ask, what about 1 Peter 3:18-20, which states that Christ preached to the spirits in prison who did not obey God in Noah’s day? This will be the subject of a future article. For now, just note that two major lines of descendants lived at the time of Noah. One line was from Cain and the other was from Seth. I think this makes for some interesting speculation, and the saints give us plenty of it.
25 thoughts on “Why Didn’t Jesus Go to the Abode of the Damned?”
Hi Nate! Awesome article. I’m am a Protestant interesting in the Catholic Church so I’m studying it’s teachings.
Question about your article:
Would it make more sense to say rather than Jesus descended to specifically one side of Hades and not the the other, to say that he descended to hell in general but to specifically redeem the souls from Abraham’s Bosom and not Gehenna? I hope question makes sense.
I ask because the CCC that was sited in this article doesn’t seem to specifically say whether he went to one side of hell or the other, but it does clarify that he when he went to hell it was to deliver the souls of Abraham’s Bosom and not the damned souls.
Hello Akeila! Thank you for your comment! The short answer to your question is that it does not make more sense. The reason is twofold. First, my friend’s question, which introduces and contextualizes the article, was about the abode of the damned. Second, if I had written my answer the way you proposed it, it would have lost clarity. It would be as if I were saying that the souls in Abraham’s Bosom and those in Gehenna were actually in the same place, which was not what I was wanting to communicate. Jesus was clear – a great chasm existed between Abraham’s Bosom and Gehenna. So, the souls would not have coexisted in one place. If I had phrased the answer according to your proposal, the reader would incorrectly surmise that the souls coexisted.
May God guide your journey into the Catholic Church and bless you along the way.
Btw, here’s an article I wrote about the Catholic Church’s Christ-given originality and authority. You may already know everything that’s in it, but I thought it might help with your journey.
https://catholicismexplained.com/how-counterfeit-churches-devalue-christianity-part-i/
Forgot to post the link
Ok, I understand your reason for specifying the different places in Hades. Thanks for the quick reply, I will be sure to read the article.
You’re welcome, Akeila!
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May God watch over you and your family!
Thank you, Robert! So far, so good. Just rain and light winds here. Thanks be to God.
Nate:
Not sure if you are in the path of the coming storm, or the earthquake.
Stay safe.
Thanks Robert! I appreciate it. We are in the storm, but not the earthquake.
Another maybe so not obvious note is that Catholics are not required to believe
as dogma nor tradition, that, ie: Abraham was TOLD by God to kill hi son or any
of the other fabulous theology that is not of our faith, so any reference you make
in this regard is, in fact, interesting, anectodical coincidence vis a vis our own.
Nate:
Just a few observations after reading your recent article.
First, the Nicene Creed doesn’t seem to mention anything about Jesus going to “hell”.
Next, Peter’s speech in Acts 2 after the Ascension mentions that David was not in heaven.
The Apostles Creed didn’t appear until after the 3rd Century AD. Before that, Christians recited the Old Roman Symbol, the Rule of Faith, and later Irenaeus wrote about faith in his “Against Heresies”; …this faith: in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and all the things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who made known through the prophets the plan of salvation, and the coming, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his future appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father to sum up all things and to raise anew all flesh of the whole human race…
Letters attributed to Peter are thought to be written by others. Some biblical scholars date them as late as 150AD. Since Peter was executed in 68AD, they may not be his works.
Finally, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that Jesus descended to hell, nor the existence of Purgatory or Limbo.
Hey Robert! First, thank you for correcting me on the Nicene Creed. I say both creeds frequently and mentally interpolated the “descended into hell” part of the Nicene Creed into the Apostles’ Creed when I wrote this. I corrected this and it is no longer in my article. Thanks again!!
Next, Peter is talking about David in the past tense. We know this because he cites Psalm 16 in Acts 2:25-28 and Psalm 110 in Act 34-35. But David is in Heaven now. Hebrews 11-12 tell us this specifically. Hebrews 11 mentions David along with the other OT greats who were just. Hebrews 12:1 says these people are the great clouds of witnesses. Finally, Hebrews 12:22-23 states that these justified men are part of the “heavenly Jerusalem;” they are the spirits of just men made perfect who are with the angels.
The dates of the creeds and have nothing to do with this article because the Church’s understanding of events develop just as creeds have developed. So, no need for me to respond to this part of your reply any further.
Finally, you’re last sentence is just flat out wrong. According to Peter 3:18-20, Jesus descended to the prison of those “who formerly did not obey.” This most certainly “suggests” hell. Next, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 clearly describes Purgatory. In this passage, every person’s good and evil deeds will be revealed by fire on Judgement Day. If deeds are burned up, the person will “suffer loss,” but he will be saved as through fire. That’s Purgatory.
Revelation 20:14 tells us that death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. This tells me that those who remain in Gehenna will eventually be transferred into the lake of fire.
Thanks, Peter! Vs. 13-14 tell me that Gehenna, which is a place of eternal fire (Matthew 18:9, Mark 9:43-48), will give up its dead for final judgement. The dead will receive their resurrected bodies, and God will send them back to Gehenna for eternity. Death (meaning the power of death; Rev 6:8) will no longer exist. Hades (meaning the abode of the dead generally) will be swallowed up by the Gehenna portion of it thereby rendering Death and Hades nonexistent. But I should have been more precise – Gehenna will be the final destination of the wicked. Hell/Hades/Sheol as a compartmented place for the dead will not exist anymore. Only the Gehenna part will continue.
You should point out that the Nirvana song was pure facetiousness; not unlike the hilarious
‘The Schism Song’ about the courts of Avignon papacy and available on yesterdays Big Pulpit Nope, you’re not going to attract any new souls to the CC with those ‘up the down-stair case’ scenarios from A & E to Noah. It is mere speculation.
Thanks, OP! I think everyone understands the Nirvana song was pure facetiousness. We mustn’t take our theology from rock bands.
So much that I learn day after day! Thank you for an informative and interesting article. This convert humbly acknowledges her monstrous ignorance!
Same here, Ida. The vast knowledge of our faith, not to mention God Himself, is humbling. Thanks for responding!