HistoricalChristian.Faith
HistoricalChristian.Faith
Dates: c. 240 · Wikipedia
Summary: Origen (c. 184–253), Clement's successor at Alexandria, makes Christ's descent to Hades a structural part of the redemption: alongside the Incarnation it is one of the two "shoes" of the Word, and by it Christ "released those who were held there" and "led captivity captive," reopening the gate of paradise that Adam had closed. To the penitent thief — and to "all the saints for whom he had descended" — he says, "This day you shall be with me in paradise."
I think that the incarnation, when the Son of God takes on flesh and bones, is one of the shoes, and the descent into hell is the other. It is said in Psalm 16: "You will not leave my soul in hell." And Peter, in his general epistle, mentions Jesus' descent into hell. Therefore the one who can show the meaning of both sojourns in a worthy manner is able to unloose Jesus' shoes.
— Commentary on John, Book 6, historicalchristian.faith. Reading John the Baptist's "I am not worthy to untie his sandals," Origen makes the two "shoes" the two descents of the Word — into flesh and into Hades — both grounded in Scripture (Ps 16:10; 1 Peter). The descent is no afterthought but, with the Incarnation, one half of how the Son reaches the dead.
But it was on this account that Christ descended into the underworld, not only because he would not be held by death [Acts 2:24], but also in order that he might release those who were held there, as we said, not so much through the crime of transgression as much as by the condition of dying. As it is written, "Many bodies of saints who were sleeping were resurrected with him and entered into the holy city." [Matthew 27:52-53] In this as well the prophet's sayings were fulfilled, in which he said of Christ, "In ascending on high he led captivity captive." [Ephesians 4:8-9] Thus by his own resurrection he has already destroyed the dominions of death.
— Commentary on Romans, Book 5, §37 (tr. T. Scheck), Google Books. Origen reads Ephesians 4:8 ("he led captivity captive") of the descent: the saints were held in the underworld not by guilt but by "the condition of dying," and Christ goes down to set them free, his own resurrection breaking "the dominions of death." This is the release-of-a-holding-place mechanism that becomes the medieval limbus patrum.
"Today you will be with me in paradise." Through saying this, he also gave to all those who believe and confess access to the entrance that Adam previously had closed by sinning. Who else could remove "the flaming turning sword which was placed to guard the tree of life" and the gates of paradise? … No one else besides him could do these things.
— Homilies on Leviticus 9.5 (tr. G. Barkley), Google Books. Origen reads Luke 23:43 as the reversal of Eden: the "flaming sword" guarding the tree of life is withdrawn, and the gate Adam shut is opened — not to the thief alone but to "all the saints for whom he had descended into the nether regions." The intermediate paradise is thus a Christ-opened place, accessible only since the descent.