Descent Into Hell
Today is the Easter Vigil, when we wait for Christ to rise from the dead. Many Christian traditions recite the Apostles' or Nicene Creed, which contain the lines He was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to dead. On the third day he rose again. Some translations use the word Hell instead of dead . One of the apocryphal pieces of literature, The Acts of Pilate (popularly renamed The Gospel of Nicodemus during the Middle Ages, tells of Christ's descent into the dead. t was written sometime between the mid 2 nd and mid 3 rd centuries and reflects a particular understanding of the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection among early Christians sometime around 100 to 200 years after the fact. The text paints an unflattering picture of Jewish involvement in Jesus' death. Below is my retelling of Christ's descent into Hell. Even though it is not canonical, I find it a very beautiful, moving and inspiring work of early Christianity. (As it is my retel...