Adam came to us through Christ, writes St. Gregory of Nyssa in his Greek poems on Scripture. Christ’s descent into Hades is one of the most important teachings in Holy Orthodoxy. That theme is connected to many other dogmas. In the Church’s hymnography, Christ’s coming to save the whole of Adam’s race and lead humanity as a whole out of captivity from death and hell is heard most often in the Festal Hymns, Holy Friday, and Pentecost. The First Epistle of Peter and the Apostle Paul, many of the patristic writings, and early Christian traditional belief also holds to this core idea of Christ saving us by His descent to all of those who were hoping for salvation, both the virtuous and sinners.
The Orthodox teaching emphasizes the total victory of Christ who conquered Hades and all who were trapped there in gloominess. True freedom for Christians is salvation from every part of Hell, and that encompasses a freedom from death, corruption, passions and even the very prison that once held all souls, which is now destroyed once and for all. In contrast, Roman Catholic dogma teaches a “partial victory” because only the righteous are taken out of infernum partum. That is a Latin phrase that designates a part of Hell where the holy patriarchs of the Old Testament were kept; but other sinful souls were not saved by the preaching of Christ to “the spirits in prison.” Orthodox teaching does not divide Hell into sections as the Thomistic and scholastic tradition does in the West. The Revelation of Jesus Christ according to St. John speaks about Christ holding the “keys of Hades” that is a powerful image of our coming salvation against all infernal enemies and territories throughout any time, even outside of time. The Psalter too speaks of “the king of glory” who destroys “the gates of Hades.” Hell has no power in the kingdom of God.
The descent of Christ is also part of the wider theme of recapitulation, the reversal of all that is sorrowful, evil and grief-stricken in our human nature. The tree was used by the serpent to trick mankind, the demons are mocked by the wood of the Cross. Death and Hell devoured souls like sheep, we are found and led out by the Good Shepherd. The Devil bound us in chains, Christ frees us and binds the demons in chains. Death kept us in darkness, Christ’s descent enlightened us. Our true home is in Paradise, not Hades, which is a place that was assigned only to the demonic angels, a different fallen race who are the sole source of genuine wrath, suffering, sin, as Metropolitan Hilarion writes. The reversal is finished. Christ entered and departed from Hades as the conqueror in a complete way for the human race. His descent is tied closely to the dogma of redemption and the resurrection. The holy fathers did not need to treat this topic separately or systematically because of the wide-ranging connections the descent into Hades already has to the teaching on salvation of souls and bodies. Eastern iconography depicts Christ with a glowing, white robe coming out of the tomb and pulling the wrists of Adam and Eve out of Hades. The resurrection of Christ, then, is celebrated joyfully during the great feast of Pascha.