He Descended to the Dead: The Christian Theology of Death

The famous book written by Lewis entitled Problem of Pain can be said as the must read book of all time pertaining this issue. His "megaphone" sentence champion the argument for defending God amid suffering. However, not many have known the story behind the making of the book. This is the story. When Lewis was asked to write a book on the topic of pain, he asked permission not to put his name as the author, why? Simply because he feel that he is only kindergarten in the whole things on pain. The problem of pain and suffering are not easy to tackle. Those who said they already mastered it actually know nothing about that subject, hyperbolically speaking. If that the very case for problem of pain, how more when we said about death, in which all will agree with me that this issue is massively incongruous with all knowledge we might have know about death? Can we say that the best is to remain silent and close the case?  Even people like Herbert Fingarette a philosopher who wrote many books on death in his old age as he faces his death when felt that he already solved the problem of death but then he conclude, it is not "resolvable." Maybe, the wise rhetorical question of Confucius worth to ponder, if we cannot understand life, how can we even understand death?

Death is death. Not a word can best describe death besides the word death itself. Sadly, death can happened to everyone, anytime. Our loved one, our enemy, even ourselves. I remember when I was a child, as I opened my eyes, I saw my parents crying out loud. With a confusion I asked why? Then they reply, "your cousin Sam died,  he trucked by a big truck!" What I knew firmly that I was very close with my cousin and years ago we still kept in touch. He always teased me, he was very funny man and also full of energy. Hearing the death news, deepest in my heart, echoes questions: Why now? Why that way? I did not remember precisely what happened after but for sure, I scream and cry non-stop even though I know nothing about death. Death for me at that time was a terrible feeling for it cut harshly the existence and the very being of person from this world. The being can now only exists in the realm of memories not reality.  Reflecting more on death surely, we can feel the force of death more and more as we slowly arrive at the edge of our life. Christopher Hitchens, a very famous atheist when He fought with cancer in his book he mentioned that at his hospital bed he sometimes watched his old YouTube movie, when he was very young and healthy. Can we Imagine this If we are in his position. What do we feel? What do we think? 

In Christian faith, the Mystery of Death can be understood In the light of Christ. As we try to ponder this word deeply, "He descended to the Dead." (We are not dealing long with the textual issue whether 1 Peter 3:18-20 was authentic or not) we will know about death in depth when we know Christ. What does that verse mean is simply this, Christ died and he as God-Man experienced death. Therefore when we face the shadow of death, we can rest assure knowing that Christ our Lord has known about death more than anyone who ever feel of think about it. Why? If we face the death of others, we only feel the affect of death that is to say the feeling of lost because of the death of our love one, but it is not the experience death itself.  And when we say we fear about death, that is the sign that we have not dead yet, we are only close to death but has not experience death. But Christ, as Balthasar said that His soul descend to the place of the dead, he experience all of it and Urs von Balthasar also says, "the difference of course is that "Christ does not experience the darkness of the "sinful state", not in the same way as the (God-hating) sinner experiences it (unless the sinner is spared such experience), but nonetheless in a deeper and darker experience. This is because it takes in the profound depths of the relations between the divine Hypostates-which are inaccessible to any creature." Christ experienced the existential separation (not ontologically) as He bears the wrath of God and the torment of Hell for the sake of saving us. If Christ experienced death and the affect of death which was "darker" than we sinners might or will experience thus, if we are looking for the comfort of death, we certainly need only Jesus more than ever as we face the shadow of death for He is the true Lord over death. 

Moreover, we also know from our Scripture that Christ was not remain dead in the underworld for at the same time, He descended to dead to declare that the victory over the death itself through His wonderous work at the cross and then He rose again from the dead to show that he tame death and it deadly implication  completely! Romans 10:6-7 makes a clear reference to going down to "abyss" or "pit" which means to bring Christ up from the dead one (Sheol or Hades). John 11:25-26 also stated, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die" As the result of Christ's resurrection, the meaning of death is not about the end of life or the end of physical existence but rather now become a door, a portal and a gate to a new world that Christ has prepared for those who believe in Him. This truth give us a practical implication in pastoral care and especially an assurance and comfort in the midst of the fast escalation of Covid-19. As Matthew Y. Emerson aptly describes in his book:

"When we, or those we love, face death, we can find assurance in the fact that Christ, too, has experienced death in all its fallen sinfulness. He really, truly died. His soul was separated from his body for three days. This is just as we will remain dead and just our souls will remain separated from our bodies until Christ returns. Our savior has gone before us. Just as the Ark of the Covenant went before the people of Israel through the wilderness for three days to find a place for them to rest (Num 10:33), so Christ has gone before us through wilderness of Hades to prepare a place for us to rest in Him."