„Zstąpienie do piekieł” w tradycji wschodniej

Abstract

The article of faith speaking of Christ's descent into hell was added to the apostolic Creed only in the second half of the fourth century. The Eastern tradition of the Greek Fathers gave it a particularly vivid expression. It often appears in their paschal homilies as one of the most typical elements of the ancient conception of the paschal mystery of Christ. His descent into hell (sheol, hades) was intended to express the very core of the redemption of mankind through the language of images and symbols. The underlying idea is Christ's victory over death and devil, described by the Fathers and later shown by the monographers in its three main stages: the conquest of the gates of hell defended by the devil, the liberation of those held captive, and the proclamation to the spirits. The early Christian tradition departed in many ways from the sobriety and the reticence of the New Testament, which prefers to pass over in silence the time between the burial and the Resurrection of Christ, rather than to describe the destination of the dead behind the grave. The author tries to find out a proper meaning of the mysterious event of Christ s descent among the dead, always shown in the Eastern tradition in the light of the Resurrection. A critical reinterpretation of this theologoumenon does not mean the rejection of the very long Christian tradition, but rather implies rediscovering its essential content, free from mythological clothing. That Christ descended among the dead means first of all that he truly died, sharing in all the human destiny. His solidarity with the living people is also solidarity with all human dead. His descent into hell is, however, a salutary event, whose extent and effects should not be a priori restricted (as it was the case in the scolastic theology and in the handbooks of dogmatics). Theology has to respect the mystery of God whose ways are always inscrutable (cf. Rom. 11, 33). Christ's going (poreutheis: 1 Pt 3,19) to the dead, His stay among them and His "proclamation to the spirits” do not stand for His separate activity in the underworld; they mean the radiation of redemption brought about actively on the Cross, and the manifestation of the already yained victory.