Virtuous Pagans and The Harrowing of Hell

[Samson33]

I read somewhere a while back the pagans who lived good lives before the coming of our Lord Christ were sent to hell. However they were sent to a place called Limbo were there was no torture unlike the rest of hell. I also read the the Old Testament prophets were there. I read somewhere that it was the church’s opinion and St. Thomas Aquinas’s that Jesus freed these people from hell during an event called the harrowing of hell. Is there any truth to this? It would be unfortunate if men like Plato, Aristotle, Julius Cesar, Ramses the Great, etc and Abraham, Moses, King David were in hell, and what about bad Jews and Pagans who lived before Jesus. Surely Jesus would have given them a chance to repent. Specifically I’m thinking of Solomon here. thanks for reading my question, I apologize If someone has asked it before.

 

[R_C]

I read somewhere a while back the pagans who lived good lives before the coming of our Lord Christ were sent to hell.

Hell is the state in which a soul finds herself after rejecting God. If people followed their conscience, we have no ground to presume their damnation…

However they were sent to a place called Limbo were there was no torture unlike the rest of hell. I also read the the Old Testament prophets were there. I read somewhere that it was the church’s opinion and St. Thomas Aquinas’s that Jesus freed these people from hell during an event called the harrowing of hell. Is there any truth to this?

:yup: Check Harrowing of Hell and Limbo

It would be unfortunate if men like Plato, Aristotle, Julius Cesar, Ramses the Great, etc and Abraham, Moses, King David were in hell, and what about bad Jews and Pagans who lived before Jesus.
**
I don’t know about Cesar and Ramses the Great But it’s totally up to how much they obeyed their conscience to the best of their ability. And btw we know from the Holy Scriptures that Abraham and Moses were in heaven (or, at least, in the limbo of the Holy Fathers, awaiting to be saved by Christ), and as for David, the fact that the Christ was born in the city of David, of the House of David, and was given the throne of David, does suggest that David was not damned **

Surely Jesus would have given them a chance to repent. Specifically I’m thinking of Solomon here.

Great point, indeed! That is what we describe when we say “descendet ad inferos”, that is, “descended in the place of the dead” (not hell!). Salvation through Christ is universal and eternal, for our God is the God of infinite justice and infinite mercy.

 

[bzkoss236]

I read somewhere a while back the pagans who lived good lives before the coming of our Lord Christ were sent to hell. However they were sent to a place called Limbo were there was no torture unlike the rest of hell. I also read the the Old Testament prophets were there. I read somewhere that it was the church’s opinion and St. Thomas Aquinas’s that Jesus freed these people from hell during an event called the harrowing of hell. Is there any truth to this? It would be unfortunate if men like Plato, Aristotle, Julius Cesar, Ramses the Great, etc and Abraham, Moses, King David were in hell, and what about bad Jews and Pagans who lived before Jesus. Surely Jesus would have given them a chance to repent. Specifically I’m thinking of Solomon here. thanks for reading my question, I apologize If someone has asked it before.

It’s called Abraham’s Bosom. Read up on Jesus’ parable of the Rich man and Lazarus, which gives a description of what it’s like. And as is professed by our beliefs, when Jesus died, He descended to the land of the dead (or into hell depending on how you translate it), and to Abraham’s Bosom where He preached to the souls there before His resurrection on Earth and ascension into Heaven.