Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early Christianity

Oxford Studies in Historical Theology

by Jeffrey A. Trumbower

Christianity is a religion of salvation in which believers have always anticipated post-mortem bliss for the faithful and non-salvation for others. Here, Trumbower examines how and why death came to be perceived as such a firm boundary of salvation. Analyzing exceptions to this principle from ancient Christianity, he finds that the principle itself was slow to develop and not universally accepted in the Christian movement's first four hundred years. In fact, only in the West was this principle definitively articulated, due in large part to the work and influence of Augustine.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, New Testament

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2001

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trumbower surveys the writings of early Christians for the first 500 years on the topic of the possibility of posthumous salvation, the possibility that those who die outside the faith (however defined, whether pagans or apostates or unbaptized Christians) may be given the possibility of coming to salvation by a process in the afterlife. The debate through the centuries have tended to have three aspects: (1) The nature of Christ's descent into hell as the possibility of posthumous salvation, (2) examples of the possibility of effective prayer for the unbelieving dead, and (3) figures that debated the greater theological contours and moral consequences, such as Nyssa or Augustine.

This is a superb historical study without polemic or pause. If anything the study shows a remarkable diversity of orthodox Christian thinkers that disagreed on the subject. Some argued adamantly for its possibility; others argued adamantly against it.

First Peter 3-4 seems most widely and most accurately read as suggesting some kind of posthumous salvation. While there have been Augustinian and Calvinists interpretations that try to dismiss the reading, they are pretty contorted counter-interpretations, and they are absent in the primordial church, emerging with Augustine centuries later. Much of the debate for systematic theology ends here.

Beyond that, perhaps the most decisive aspects of the historical debate have been that there is a strong collection of early documents, which had significant authority in the second century that all support posthumous salvation. Most interesting is the Apocalypse of Peter, a book that was considered on par with the book of Revelation in the emerging canon, which holds that God will grant the unrighteous dead final passage into salvation at the end of their torments. The Gospel of Nicodemus, a theological narrative of the crucifixion and the descent that was widely accepted in the early church, also advocated the possibility. Yet, since both are not canonical now, neither offer decisive points for Christian doctrine. They only remind the modern reader of the fact that their positions were widely accepted by orthodox Christians of their day.

Theologians eventually systematized the arguments. For posthumous salvation, we see thinkers like Clement, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa (bishops that follow in the Alexandrian tradition), and against, we see, notably, Cyprian and Augustine (both bishops in the Carthage tradition). Both sides offered formidable arguments for and against, but their geographic proximity caused the East (Nyssa) to favor posthumous salvation where the West (Augustine) tends to denounce the possibility.

There are interesting examples of saints who prayed for the salvation of lost unbelievers and their prayers were considered legitimate and effective. The most striking of which is Gregory the Great's prayer for the Trajan, a cruel emperor, who persecuted Christians. Gregory, however, is not unique, following an example of several others that Trumbower surveys.

If the Great Tradition of Christian theology offers anything to recommend to this as an ongoing theological debate it is that posthumous salvation can no more easily be dismissed as it can be lightly and flippantly proclaimed. Its possibility must be cautiously remembered lest one forgets the unlimited, incalculable grace that Christ showed in his work, but never made into a means by which moral responsibility is downplayed.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines how and why death came to be perceived as such a firm boundary of salvation chiefly by analyzing exceptions to this general principle from ancient Christianity.

This book was interesting, and the stories of the early Christians and how they viewed salvation for the dead are fascinating. Maybe 3 1/2 stars because of some errors at the beginning.

Even though the Bible quotes Paul preaching baptisms for the dead, and Peter teaching that Jesus visited the spirits of the dead, Augustine rejects posthumous salvation for non-Christians. His views shaped Christianity where “death becomes a deadline” to determine a person’s salvation. This book brings to light the writings showing that the first Christians didn’t assume Augustine's doctrine.

In the Gospel of Nicodemus, John the Baptist goes to visit the dead before Christ comes to them. He tells them to worship Christ when He comes—

“When Jesus actually arrives, Hades personified complains to Satan that all the dead have left him and the implication seems to be that Hades has been emptied: ‘Turn and see that not one dead man is left in me, but that all which you gained through the tree of knowledge you have lost through the tree of the cross…. How were you bent on bringing down such a man (Jesus) into this darkness, through whom you have been deprived of all who have died since the beginning?’ (The Gospel of Nicodemus 23). After he rescues Adam, Jesus says to the multitude of the dead, “Come with me, all you who have suffered death through the tree which this man touched. For behold, I raise you all up again through the tree of the cross.” With that he put them all out.’ (24)”
p. 106-107

Without prophetic revelation, no one could understand this scripture, so Christianity rejected it:
1 Peter 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

[Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. I originally read this to mine for info on posthumous baptisms in the early Christian Church. The this book covers the broader topic of anything that can be done to improve the lot of deceased persons, i.e., baptisms, rituals, prayers, etc. As a result, Trumbower's project only validates the mass existence of posthumous baptisms, because those other elements provide the conceptual framework that death is not a solid boundary for progress toward salvation. To illustrate, 1 Cor. 15:29 ("else what shall they do, which are baptized for the dead") refers to the practice of baptisms for the dead. One isolated verse sheds little light on the practice. But when you have 1 Pet. 3:18 and 1 Pet. 4:6 (Jesus preaching to spirits in prison), you have an entire theology.

So it is with the book. It extends the issue from the New Testament to early Christianity, where the concept was abandoned in the West following Augustine, and then a few hundred years later in the East.

[Elynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a history book and I don't agree with everything (or even most) of what it says. But it does put religious practices such as baptism for the dead into historical perspective compared to what other religions think. It was very interesting and an easy read (for history books).