The Mystery of Holy Saturday: Understanding Christ's Descent into Hell

TL;DR

Between his death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter Sunday, Christ descended to the "abode of the dead" (Sheol/Hades)—not the hell of eternal damnation, but a holding place for the righteous who died before his redemptive work. This "Harrowing of Hell" freed Old Testament saints like Adam, Abraham, and Moses, completing Christ's mission to redeem humanity across all time. The doctrine, affirmed in the Apostles' Creed and Catholic teaching (CCC 632-637), has sparked renewed theological debate in recent decades, particularly over whether Christ suffered or triumphed during this descent.

The Three Days That Changed Eternity: What Really Happened Between Cross and Resurrection

When Christians recite the Apostles' Creed declaring that Jesus "descended into hell," they affirm one of Christianity's most misunderstood yet pivotal doctrines. Far from the popular image of Satan ruling a fiery underworld, Catholic theology teaches that Christ journeyed to a realm of the dead to complete his salvific mission—liberating souls who had awaited redemption since the beginning of the world.

The Biblical and Historical Foundation

The descent into hell, known theologically as the Harrowing of Hell (from Old English hergian, meaning "to despoil"), addresses a fundamental question: What happened to the righteous who died before Christ's sacrifice made salvation possible?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that Christ's descent fulfilled multiple purposes. "The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was 'raised from the dead' presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection," states paragraph 632. "This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there."

Biblical support comes from several passages. First Peter 3:19 states that Christ "preached to the spirits in prison," while 1 Peter 4:6 notes "the gospel was preached even to the dead." Ephesians 4:9 refers to Christ descending "into the lower parts of the earth," and Matthew 27:52-53 describes how "the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised" following Christ's death.

The doctrine appears early in Christian tradition. St. Melito of Sardis (died c. 180) wrote of it in his Homily on the Passover, as did Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, and St. Ambrose. The Apostles' Creed, whose earliest form dates to the second century, eventually included the phrase "descended into hell" in its finalized eighth-century version.

Distinguishing the Realms of the Afterlife

Understanding the descent requires distinguishing between several distinct states or places that Catholic theology recognizes:

1. Hell of the Damned (Gehenna): The permanent state of separation from God for those who die in unrepentant mortal sin. This is hell in the modern sense.

2. Purgatory: A temporary state of purification for those who die in God's grace but need cleansing from the temporal effects of sin.

3. Limbo of the Fathers (Abraham's Bosom): The temporary holding place for the righteous who died before Christ. This realm was emptied during Christ's descent and no longer exists.

4. Limbo of the Infants: A speculative theological concept (never formally defined as dogma) for unbaptized infants, now largely set aside in favor of trusting God's mercy.

As the Catechism clarifies, "Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, 'hell'—Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek—because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer" (CCC 633).

Critically, the Church teaches that "Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him" (CCC 633, citing the Council of Rome, 745 AD).

The Ancient Homily: A Dramatic Encounter

An ancient homily for Holy Saturday, quoted in the Catechism and used in the Church's liturgy, captures the dramatic nature of this event:

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages... He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him—He who is both their God and the son of Eve... 'I am your God, who for your sake have become your son... I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.'"

This homily portrays Christ actively seeking humanity's first parents and all the righteous dead, commanding them to awake from their long sleep of death.

Dante's Literary Vision

Dante Alighieri addressed the Harrowing of Hell directly in Inferno, Canto IV. His guide Virgil, who dwells in Limbo as a virtuous pagan, recounts Christ's descent:

"I was new to this condition when I saw a Mighty One descend to us... He took from us the shade of our first parent [Adam], Abel his son, and Noah, and Moses the lawgiver, and obedient Abraham the patriarch, and David the king, Israel with his father and his sons, and Rachel, for whom he did so much, and many others, and He made them blessed; and I would have you know that before these no human souls were saved."

In Dante's cosmology, Limbo occupies the first circle of hell—the outermost, mildest region—while Satan is frozen in ice at the ninth circle's deepest point. This geographic separation underscores that Christ never encountered Satan during the descent; he came to liberate the righteous, not to visit the realm of the damned.

Satan's True Status

Popular culture's depiction of Satan as hell's ruler contradicts Catholic teaching. The Church does not teach that Satan controls or governs hell. Rather:

Satan is imprisoned in hell as punishment, not as its sovereign
The damned suffer separation from God, not torture by demons
Hell is Satan's prison, not his kingdom
Christ's descent was to the Limbo of the Fathers, not to Satan's place of confinement

The Catechism states that "Christ went down into the depths of death so that 'the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.' Jesus, 'the Author of life', by dying destroyed 'him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage'" (CCC 635).

John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) brilliantly illustrates this theological truth through Satan's self-deception. When Satan famously declares, "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n," Milton shows the reader Satan's prideful delusion, not reality. Satan believes he has chosen freedom and sovereignty through rebellion, but he has actually chosen imprisonment and torment. His claimed "reign" is pure fantasy—he rules nothing and no one. As the epic progresses, Satan degrades from his initial magnificent rhetoric to pathetic hissing, unable even to speak. Milton, a deeply religious Christian, uses Satan's seductive but false rhetoric to demonstrate how sin deceives: what sounds like defiant freedom is actually the desperate rationalization of a prisoner trying to convince himself his cell is a throne room. The theological reality remains: Satan has no authority in hell; he suffers there as a captive of his own choices, under God's ultimate sovereignty.

Theological Purposes of the Descent

St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae (Part III, Question 52), identifies several purposes for Christ's descent:

To demonstrate the reality of his death: Christ's soul truly departed his body and went where souls of the dead go, proving he genuinely died.
To complete his redemptive mission: The descent brought Christ's salvific work to all people of all times and places, not just those alive after his resurrection.
To free the just who preceded him: Opening heaven's gates for Abraham, Moses, David, and all who had died in righteousness but could not enter heaven before Christ's sacrifice.
To proclaim his victory: Announcing the Good News to the dead and demonstrating his conquest over death itself.

The Catechism emphasizes this universal scope: "The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption" (CCC 634).

The Timeline Clarified

The apparent contradiction with Christ's post-resurrection appearances to the apostles dissolves when understanding the timeline:

Good Friday: Christ dies on the cross; his body and soul separate
Good Friday to Easter Sunday: Christ's body lies in the tomb while his soul/spirit descends to the abode of the dead
Easter Sunday: Christ rises; body and soul reunite
40 days of appearances: The resurrected Christ appears to the apostles
Ascension: Christ ascends bodily into heaven

The descent occurred during the three days in the tomb, not after the resurrection. As the Catechism explains, "In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him" (CCC 637).

Contemporary Theological Debate

Recent decades have seen renewed theological discussion about the nature of Christ's descent, particularly sparked by the work of Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988).

Traditional View: The mainstream Catholic understanding, reflected in the Catechism, holds that Christ descended in triumph to liberate the righteous dead. This view emphasizes Christ's victory and the proclamation of the Gospel to those who awaited him.

Balthasar's Controversial Thesis: In his influential work Mysterium Paschale, Balthasar proposed that Christ experienced not just physical death but spiritual death—descending into actual hell (not just the Limbo of the Fathers) and experiencing the full weight of damnation in solidarity with sinners. He argued that Christ was utterly passive during this time, experiencing complete abandonment and the "visio mortis" (vision of death)—the ultimate punishment of sin.

This interpretation proved highly controversial. Scholar Alyssa Lyra Pitstick's 2007 book Light in Darkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell argued that Balthasar's theology departed from orthodox Catholic teaching. Her 2016 follow-up, Christ's Descent into Hell: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, and Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Theology of Holy Saturday, demonstrated that despite their general admiration for Balthasar, neither Pope John Paul II nor Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) endorsed his specific theology of Holy Saturday.

The Catechism itself takes a measured stance, noting in its introduction that "newer interpretations, such as that of Hans Urs von Balthasar... however profound and helpful they may be, have not yet experienced that reception which would justify their inclusion in the Catechism."

Protestant Perspectives

The descent doctrine has been received differently across Christian traditions:

Lutheran: Martin Luther taught that Christ descended in victory, conquering death, hell, and the devil. The Formula of Concord states that "the entire person, God and human being, descended to Hell after his burial, conquered the devil, destroyed the power of Hell, and took from the devil all his power."

Reformed/Calvinist: John Calvin interpreted the descent metaphorically, viewing it as Christ's experience of divine judgment on the cross rather than a literal journey after death. This interpretation focuses on Christ's suffering of God's wrath for sinners.

Evangelical: Many evangelical Protestants either interpret the phrase metaphorically or deny a literal descent, arguing that Christ's words to the thief on the cross—"Today you will be with me in paradise"—indicate he went directly to heaven.

Orthodox: Eastern Orthodox Christianity emphasizes the descent as central to redemption, depicting it prominently in iconography showing Christ trampling the gates of hell and leading Adam and Eve from their tombs.

Cultural and Artistic Impact

The Harrowing of Hell has profoundly influenced Western art and literature. Medieval mystery plays frequently dramatized the event with vivid "Hell Mouth" scenes. Artists from Hieronymus Bosch to Fra Angelico created powerful visual interpretations. The theme appears in works ranging from the Anglo-Saxon poetry of Cynewulf to modern fantasy literature, including J.R.R. Tolkien's echoes of the descent in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

The apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (2nd-3rd century), though not Scripture, provided many details that influenced artistic and liturgical traditions. Medieval English mystery plays, including those from Chester, York, Wakefield, and N-Town, each featured dramatic reenactments of Christ's confrontation with hell's gates.

Relevance for Modern Faith

The doctrine of the descent addresses profound theological questions:

Justice for All Generations: It affirms that God's redemptive plan extends to all humanity, not just those fortunate enough to live after Christ's incarnation.

The Reality of Death: It confirms that Christ fully entered into human experience, including the experience of death, yet transformed it from within.

Victory Over Death: It demonstrates that no realm—not even death itself—lies beyond Christ's power to redeem and restore.

Hope for the Departed: While not supporting universalism (the idea that all will be saved), it shows God's desire that salvation reach all who seek him.

Contemporary theologian Regis Martin notes, "All the dungeons of death, including those brought on by both the fear and the fact of this global pandemic, have been thrown open by the Lord of Life, whose love is so powerful as to vanquish even Hell."

Conclusion: The Heart of the Creed

The descent into hell stands at the center of the Apostles' Creed, positioned between Christ's death and resurrection—a placement that underscores its theological significance. As Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Ratzinger) wrote, Holy Saturday represents "the unparalleled experience of our age"—the day when God was dead, when silence reigned, yet when redemption's final phase unfolded in the depths.

The doctrine affirms that Christ's love and salvific power extend to the uttermost reaches of human experience. There is no depth to which he will not go, no corner of creation beyond his redeeming reach. For the righteous dead who awaited him through long ages, his descent meant liberation. For Christians today, it means that the one they follow has conquered even death itself, holding "the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:18).

In the words of the ancient Easter Vigil hymn: "Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever."

Sources and Citations

Primary Church Documents

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraphs 631-637, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992. Available at: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a5p1.htm
Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday (Author unknown, pre-8th century), quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 635. Official Vatican text used in Roman Catholic liturgy.
Council of Rome (745 AD), Denzinger-Schönmetzer 587. Referenced in CCC 633.
Pope Benedict XII, Cum dudum (1341), Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1011. Referenced in CCC 633.
Council of Toledo IV (625 AD), Denzinger-Schönmetzer 485. Referenced in CCC 633.

Theological Works

Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologiae, Part III, Question 52: "Of Christ's Descent into Hell." Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. Benziger Bros., 1947.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter. Translated by Aidan Nichols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1990.
Pitstick, Alyssa Lyra. Light in Darkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007. (Winner of John Templeton Award for Theological Promise)
Pitstick, Lyra. Christ's Descent into Hell: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, and Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Theology of Holy Saturday. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.
Ratzinger, Joseph (Pope Benedict XVI). Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004 [1968].
Lewis, Alan E. Between Cross and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.
Hikota, Riyako Cecilia. And Still We Wait: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theology of Holy Saturday and Its Implications for Christian Suffering and Discipleship. PhD dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 2016. Available at: https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/25479

Historical and Patristic Sources

Melito of Sardis. Homily on the Passover (c. 160-180 AD). In On Pascha and Fragments, translated by Stuart George Hall. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.
Irenaeus of Lyon. Against Heresies, IV.27.2. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995.
Clement of Alexandria. The Stromata, VI.6. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995.
Rufinus of Aquileia. A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed. Translated by J.N.D. Kelly. New York: Newman Press, 1954.
Augustine of Hippo. City of God, XVIII.30. Translated by J.W.C. Wand. London: Oxford University Press, 1963.

Reference Works

Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Creeds, 3rd edition. London: Continuum, 1960.
Warren, Kate Mary. "Harrowing of Hell." In The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07143d.htm
Alfeyev, Metropolitan Hilarion. Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2009.

Literary Sources

Dante Alighieri. Inferno, Canto IV. In The Divine Comedy. Translated by Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost (1667), Book I. Edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Gospel of Nicodemus (also known as Acts of Pilate), 2nd-3rd century. In The Apocryphal New Testament, translated by M.R. James. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.

Biblical References

1 Peter 3:18-19: "For Christ also suffered once for sins... He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison."
1 Peter 4:6: "For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead."
Ephesians 4:8-10: "When he ascended on high... 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?"
Matthew 27:52-53: "The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised... and appearing to many."
Revelation 1:18: "I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades."

Contemporary Analysis

Emerson, Matthew Y. "He Descended to the Dead": An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2019.
Nassif, Melanie. "He Descended to Hell: An Investigation of the Harrowing of Hell in the Apostles' Creed." Christian Research Journal, 2018. Available at: https://www.equip.org/articles/he-descended-to-hell-an-investigation-of-the-harrowing-of-hell-in-the-apostles-creed/
Martin, Regis. "Christ's Descent into Hell is the Strangest Truth of All." National Catholic Register, April 16, 2022. Available at: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/christ-s-descent-into-hell-is-the-strangest-truth-of-all
Beale, Stephen. "Why Did Christ Descend Into Hell?" National Catholic Register, April 8, 2023. Available at: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/why-did-christ-descend-to-hell
Webb, Stephen H. "Why Von Balthasar Was Wrong About Holy Saturday." First Things, March 28, 2013. Available at: https://firstthings.com/why-von-balthasar-was-wrong-about-holy-saturday/

Academic Resources

Sarot, Marcel, and Archibald van Wieringen (eds.). The Apostles' Creed: "He Descended Into Hell". Leiden: Brill, 2018.
St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. "Jesus' Descent into Hell." University of St Andrews, 2024. Available at: https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/JesusDescentintoHell

Article prepared February 2026. All sources verified and accessible as of publication date.

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