Trinity Question

[BrownR]

This may be a simple question for someone to answer for me:

If Jesus is God, how did He descend into Hell following the crucifixion as the Bible states? We know that Hell is ultimate separation from God, so how does God exactly go about separating Himself from…Himself?

 

[LilyM]

A lot versions of the Creed specify that he in fact ‘descended to the dead’, not to hell the abode of the eternally damned as we understand it now.

Remember that before the Crucifixion very likely no-one could go to heaven - Christ’s death was in fact necessary to open it to us. Effectively all, even the righteous, were probably temporarily separated from God, though it is speculated that the righteous went to a limbo-like existence commonly called the ‘bosom of Abraham’. So his descent to THEM was necessary to open heaven up for them as well.

This can be seen in the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man - where Lazarus is in fact in the company of Abraham and isn’t specified as being in heaven at all, though he IS eternally separated from the wicked rich man.

 

[Sabda]

I have heard a different version of the rich man and Lazarus. What I have heard is that Lazarus was actually in heaven and the rich guy was in purgatory. The reason for that is because he showed compassion and concern for his brothers and if he had been eternally damned than he would not have been concerned for his brothers. In fact I have seen people use this passage to show purgatory.

 

[Mommyof02green]

I posted this another thread… However, I thought I would posted it again here seeing it relates.

The book Catholicism for Dummies; The Twelve Aritcles of Catholic Faith cheat sheet.:

The hell that Jesus descended into wasn’t the hell of the damned, where Jews and Christians believe the devil and his demons reside. Hell was merely a word that Jews and Christians used to describe the place of the dead. This passage affirms that on the third day he rose, meaning Jesus came back from the dead of his own divine power. He wasn’t just clinically dead for a few minutes, he was dead, dead, then he rose from the dead. More then a resuscitated corpse, Jesus possessed a glorified and risen body.

 

[prv]

I have heard a different version of the rich man and Lazarus. What I have heard is that Lazarus was actually in heaven and the rich guy was in purgatory. The reason for that is because he showed compassion and concern for his brothers and if he had been eternally damned than he would not have been concerned for his brothers. In fact I have seen people use this passage to show purgatory.

Well, scriptures said that the rich man was tormented—I don’t see how this can be purgatory since those in purgatory are among the elect; they are just attending to their final purification so as to make them able to eat at the wedding banquet of the Lamb and His Church. Remember that Abraham denied the rich man permission to return to his brothers. Remember also the context in which Jesus is teaching—that which states solemnly that to attend to the needs of the poor is His most Holy will. This parable wouldn’t be as powerful if the torments in the parable were only temporary.