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St. Thomas Aquinas explains that Christ’s descent to hell fulfilled many purposes.
While most Catholics well-versed in their faith could probably provide a robust explanation as to the question of why Jesus suffered and died on the cross, the reasons for why he subsequently descended to hell are more elusive and less known even among the faithful.
Demonstrating the reality of his death on the cross is certainly one reason, but there are many others. In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas offers a total of four explanations.
For Aquinas, the descent to hell is the metaphysical complement to the burial of Christ’s body. In dying, Christ assumed all the consequences of a normal human death — apart from any punishments due to sin that another soul might incur — and that meant that his body was laid in a tomb while his soul went to hell.
For Aquinas, it’s not just the fact of Christ’s descent to hell, but his duration there that is a testament to the truth of his death on the cross:
-As Christ, in order to take our penalties upon Himself, willed His body to be laid in the tomb, so likewise He willed His soul to descend into hell. But the body lay in the tomb for a day and two nights, so as to demonstrate the truth of His death. Consequently, it is to be believed that His soul was in hell, in order that it might be brought back out of hell simultaneously with His body from the tomb” (Summa Theologiae, Part Three, Question 52, Article 4, Answer). -
But Christ’s descent to hell and subsequent sojourn there fulfills his redemptive mission in several other significant ways, according to Aquinas.
In Question 52, the one question in the Summa devoted to the topic, Aquinas pinpoints three other reasons. First,
Continued below.
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While most Catholics well-versed in their faith could probably provide a robust explanation as to the question of why Jesus suffered and died on the cross, the reasons for why he subsequently descended to hell are more elusive and less known even among the faithful.
Demonstrating the reality of his death on the cross is certainly one reason, but there are many others. In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas offers a total of four explanations.
For Aquinas, the descent to hell is the metaphysical complement to the burial of Christ’s body. In dying, Christ assumed all the consequences of a normal human death — apart from any punishments due to sin that another soul might incur — and that meant that his body was laid in a tomb while his soul went to hell.
For Aquinas, it’s not just the fact of Christ’s descent to hell, but his duration there that is a testament to the truth of his death on the cross:
-As Christ, in order to take our penalties upon Himself, willed His body to be laid in the tomb, so likewise He willed His soul to descend into hell. But the body lay in the tomb for a day and two nights, so as to demonstrate the truth of His death. Consequently, it is to be believed that His soul was in hell, in order that it might be brought back out of hell simultaneously with His body from the tomb” (Summa Theologiae, Part Three, Question 52, Article 4, Answer). -
But Christ’s descent to hell and subsequent sojourn there fulfills his redemptive mission in several other significant ways, according to Aquinas.
In Question 52, the one question in the Summa devoted to the topic, Aquinas pinpoints three other reasons. First,
Continued below.
Why Did Christ Descend Into Hell?
St. Thomas Aquinas explains that Christ’s descent to hell fulfilled many purposes.
