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![Descent into hell Descent into hell](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126619225/583305368.jpg)
This highly important newly discovered Byzantine icon represents the Descent into Hell. In the Orthodox world it is the image by which the painter expresses the essence of the Resurrection: the transcendence of death and the salvation of all those who have been waiting for eternal life since the days of Adam. Second, the phrase “He descended into hell (Hades)” by itself means nothing more than this: that Christ went to the realm of the dead, that is, a spiritual realm. It is correlative to “He was crucified, dead, and buried.” Thus his descent into Hades has to do simply with his identification with the race of Adam.
Author | Charles Williams |
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Publisher | Faber and Faber |
Publication date | 1937 |
Pages | 222 |
Descent Into Hell is a novel written by Charles Williams, first published in 1937.
Overview[edit]
Williams is less well known than his fellow Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Like some of them, however, he wrote a series of novels which combine elements of fantasy fiction and Christian symbolism. Forgoing the detective fiction style of most of his earlier supernatural novels, most of the story's action is spiritual or psychological in nature. It fits the 'theological thriller' description sometimes given to his works. For this reason Descent was initially rejected by publishers, though T. S. Eliot's publishing house Faber and Faber would eventually pick up the novel, as Eliot admired Williams's work, and, though he did not like Descent Into Hell as well as the earlier novels, desired to see it printed.
Allusions[edit]
There are several prominent literary allusions running throughout Descent Into Hell.Battle Hill's resident poet, Peter Stanhope, frequently quotes and references William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's work Prometheus Unbound is also referenced repeatedly, regarding the appearance of a doppelgänger.
Less obvious Biblical allusions are present, as well as several references to mythology and legend, including Lilith, Samael, and succubi.
Summary[edit]
The action takes place in Battle Hill, outside London,[1] amidst the townspeople's staging of a new play by Peter Stanhope. The hill seems to reside at the crux of time, as characters from the past appear, and perhaps at a doorway to the beyond, as characters are alternately summoned Heavenwards or descend into Hell.
Pauline Anstruther, the heroine of the novel, lives in fear of meeting her own doppelgänger, which has appeared to her throughout her life. But Stanhope, in an action central to the author's own theology, takes the burden of her fears upon himself—Williams called this the Doctrine of Substituted Love—and enables Pauline, at long last, to face her true self. Williams drew this idea from the biblical verse, 'Ye shall bear one another's burdens'[2]
And so, Stanhope does take the weight, with no surreptitious motive, in the most affecting scene in the novel, and Pauline, liberated, is able to accept truth.
On the other hand, Lawrence Wentworth, a local historian, finding his desire for Adela Hunt to be unrequited, falls in love instead with a spirit form of Adela, which seems to represent a kind of extreme self-love on his part. As he isolates himself more and more with this insubstantial figure, and dreams of descending a silver rope into a dark pit, Wentworth begins the descent into Hell.
Notes[edit]
- ^Hadfield 1987, p. 141: C.W. may have had the town of St. Albans in mind sfn error: no target: CITEREFHadfield1987 (help)
- ^Galatians 6:2, Authorized Version
References[edit]
- Hadfield, Alice Mary (1987), Charles Williams: An Exploration of His Life and Work, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-503311-6
- Carpenter, Humphrey (2006), The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Their Friends, HarperCollins, ISBN0-0077-4869-8
External links[edit]
- Descent into Hell at Faded Page (Canada)
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Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Descent_into_Hell_(novel)&oldid=908651201'
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,the Creator of heaven and earth,I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended into hell.The third day he arose again from the dead.He ascended into heavenand sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting. Amen.(taken from The Apostles' Creed)The eighth line of the Apostles' Creed reads, 'He descended into hell.' While man-made creeds do not carry the authority of Scripture, they are generally meant as accurate representations of the teaching found in God's inerrant Word. This presents us an interesting question then: how accurate is the Apostles' Creed in its presentation of this point?There are a number of passages from which the teaching arises, but primarily, theologues will use verses from, and to demonstrate Christ's descent to hell. In, Jesus compares himself to Jonah proclaiming, 'As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'
And clearly, when Christ died, he gave up his spirit. But to where did his spirit go?In the end, it comes down to understanding what Scripture means when it speaks of Christ descending into the lower parts of the earth (or the heart of the earth). His soul spent three days and three nights in that abode.
Almost unanimously, this deep part of the earth is interpreted as signifying the netherworld (i.e., that place wherein the spirits of the dead make their abode) — hell didn't begin to take on its modern meaning conoting that particular location wherein the damned are punished eternally until quite recently. There are a number of directions Christians depart at this point — and that is what is the activity in which Christ was engaged these three days.There are three notable perspectives:.Christ spent his three days suffering the wrath of God.Christ spent his three days proclaiming his victory over the Satanic kingdom.Christ spent his three days preaching the Gospel to the Old Testament believers who dwelt in a separated portion of the netherworld.The first position benefits from the comparison between Jonah and Christ. It is not difficult to see that just as Jonah spent his time in suffering in the deep (or the grave), so too might not have Christ suffered in the land of the dead? Peter claims in that Christ, by his resurrection, was loosed from the pangs of death, 'because it was not possible for him to be held or conquered by them' — meaning that until he arose, Christ laboured under the throes of death.
He suffered then, in this case, that we, his sheep, might be spared such.The second perspective presents a more cheery picture — Christ descending into the depths of hell to proclaim his Gospel victory. Satan defeated. Death defeated. And the Lord of life victorious and boasting in triumph! A beautiful picture. Unfortunately, there seems little evidence from Scripture that this occurred during the three days and three nights, and it presumes that Satan and his fallen angels make their abode in 'the heart of the earth' — something else not really stated in Scripture.The third and final position that we will here look at arrives from a difficulty in interpreting.
Christ, it is supposed, entered into the depths to proclaim the Gospel to Old Covenant believers. The biggest question burdening such an interpretation is one of motivation: why did Christ specially go to preach to those who already believed? All of the Old Testament saints had already received the Gospel by grace through faith.
It was accounted them as righteousness. So then, why?
While Christ may indeed have preached the Gospel so, it certainly doesn't seem necessary.In the end, true saints believe along a number of different interpretive lines at this point. The Christian's solemn and joyous duty then is to allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves.
But as this is not a matter of division, every Christian should allow his brother some breadth in his interpretation, always maintaining godly fellowship borne in love and charity.
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