HistoricalChristian.Faith

Ignatius of Antioch on the Intermediate State

Dates: c. 107 · Wikipedia
Summary: Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the churches while in chains on his way to martyrdom (d. c. 107), gives one of the earliest hints of Christ's descent: the prophets who awaited Christ as their Teacher were, at his coming, "raised … from the dead" — presupposing that the righteous dead of the old covenant were held below until Christ came to them.

Claims & evidence

The prophets who awaited Christ were raised by Him from the dead

that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master—how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead.

— Epistle to the Magnesians, ch. 9, historicalchristian.faith. Ignatius's point is christological and polemical (against keeping the Sabbath "after the Jewish manner"): the very prophets foresaw Christ "in the Spirit" and waited for Him as Teacher. His closing clause — that at His coming He "raised them from the dead" — presupposes that those righteous dead were detained in the realm of the dead until Christ descended to them and brought them up. This is the descent in seed form: an early, implicit witness, not yet the developed geography of a two-compartment Hades, and Ignatius offers no description of its structure.

Notes

• This is among the earliest (proto-)witnesses to Christ's descent to the dead: Ignatius does not narrate a harrowing of Hades, but his "raised them from the dead" implies that the prophets were below, awaiting the Teacher who would come and raise them. See the descent to the dead argument page for how this strand develops.
• Ignatius writes within years of the apostolic age and is roughly contemporaneous with Polycarp of Smyrna, his fellow recipient of an Ignatian letter; both stand at the very head of the timeline.
• The witness is brief and implicit. Ignatius nowhere describes the structure of Hades, names a place of waiting, or distinguishes compartments — he should not be read as more than an early hint that the righteous dead were held below until Christ's coming. The text used here is the shorter (genuine) recension; the longer recension expands the same chapter but adds nothing to the claim.