Bart Ehrman on the Acts of Pilate, version Latin A

 Bart Ehrman on the Acts of Pilate, version Latin A

"The earliest Latin witness to the Acts of Pilate, Vindobensis 563, the “Vienna palimpsest,” dates to the fifth or sixth century but lacks the descent narrative. The account is found, however, in the other Latin forms of the text: Latin A, B, and C, the Troyes Redaction, and their various subgroups and intermediaries. As indicated, Latin A provides us with the earliest version. Regrettably, no critical edition yet exists, and so I follow standard practice by citing the text as found in one of the oldest and best witnesses, the tenth-century Codex Einsidlensis (Einsiedeln Stiftsbibliothek, MS 326). It has been widely recognized that this account does indeed present a complete Harrowing of Hell, achieved by the unstoppable power of Christ who robs Hades of all its human inhabitants and sends them to heaven. As Gounelle and Izydorczyk emphatically stated in their popular 1997 introduction to the text, the account narrates “the deliverance of Adam and all his children, without exception (that is, all of humanity) from the world of the dead to bring them to paradise.” Gounelle independently argued this case for some years but more recently has set forth the alternative view—that the harrowing brought salvation only to the saints, not to the wicked as well. His original view is more convincing. It is true that the clear emphasis in the text, as noted above, is on the “saints.” They are the only humans provided with speaking parts in Hades (e.g., in chs. 18–19)—Adam, Isaiah, Simeon, John the Baptist, and Seth—and are expressly the ones repeatedly filled with joy (e.g., “Adam, the father of the entire human race, with all the patriarchs and prophets, rejoiced,” 18.1; “the patriarchs and prophets rejoiced,” 19.2; “all the saints rejoiced,” 20.1). They are also the ones, obviously, who proclaim that what they had earlier predicted is now being fulfilled: Christ has come to bring salvation. But this proclamation of salvation extends not just to the saints but also to everyone else dwelling in the darkness, as anticipated already in an early part of the narrative, where Isaiah declares that Christ’s appearance fulfills his prophecy: “O land of Zebulon and land of Nephtali across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles. The people who sit in darkness will see a great light, and the light will shine upon those who are in the region of the shadow of death” (quoting Isa 9:1–2). That light has now come and enlightened “we who sit in death” (Gos. Nic. 18.1). That Christ’s salvation extends to all becomes clear in the feverish discussions between Satan and Hades. Hades frets that “no one is able to resist [Christ’s] power” (20.2), which, for him, means that if Christ arrives in Hades, “He will release all those who are shut up here in the unbelief of prison and held by the indissoluble chains of sin; and he will lead them to life by his own divinity, for eternity” (20.3). The key terms, for our purposes are “all” and “indissoluble chains of sin.” None of the sinners remains bound, even though their chains are (or were thought to be) unbreakable. So too the legions of demons and death bemoan Christ’s imminent appearance “to deliver everyone (omnes) from their chains,” as one who would “receive the dominion of the whole world” (potestam totius mundi; 22.1). When Christ appears, these fears are fully realized. He puts to flight “all the darkness of death by his own brilliance” and casts forth all the imprisoned. Hades now complains to Satan: “Everyone (omnes) who has long sighed under our torments abuses us,” and in fact no one of the entire human race stands in any fear before them (23.1). This comprises all who have ever lived, including those who had no hope of salvation: “Those who from the beginning until now had despaired of salvation and life—now none of them (nullus eorum . . . solito) can be heard howling . . . nor can a trace of tears be found on any of their faces” (23.1). The text removes all doubts about whether this is a universal salvation when Hades lambastes Satan for allowing Christ to remove all the wicked (specifically the wicked) from his realm: “Why for no reason did you dare to crucify him unjustly and bring that innocent and righteous one to our region, and lose the guilty, impious, and unrighteous of the entire world” (et totius mundi noxios, impios et iniustos perdidisti; 23.1). Following Hades’ verbal barrage, Christ appears and delivers the entire human race—“Adam and his children”—speaking of them as “you my holy ones (sancti mei omnes), who have my image and likeness” (24.1). The “image and likeness,” of course, refers to the creation of humans in Genesis 1:26, not just to saints. For this text, it is “all” the “children” of Adam (omnibus filiis), all who were affected by his sin. All of Adam’s descendants have been “sanctified” and made “holy” by the salvific act of Christ. The “guilty, impious, and unrighteous” (noxii, impii, et iniusti)—all those condemned by sin—are now “my holy ones” (sancti mei). The tree of Christ’s obedience (the cross) and the salvation it brings have conquered the tree of Adam’s disobedience (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and the condemnation it effected—on all people. Christ proclaims: “You who had been condemned by the tree, the Devil, and Death, now see the Devil and Death condemned through the tree” (24.1). The devil is assigned to become the lone inhabitant of Hades, to be tormented forever, and death is no more. From this point in the account, the saved are “righteous”—and that is “all” the children of Adam, as Jesus himself indicates: “Peace be to all of you, my just ones” (24.1). What is more, this universal salvation applies not only to those who had previously died and been delivered from Hades but also to those who are still alive at the time or have not yet been born. The saints whom Christ has delivered implore him: “Lord, place the sign of your victory through your cross in Hades, so that death may no longer have dominion” (24.1). The cross planted in Hades serves not merely as a reminder that Christ had once been there; it is the power that prevents anyone from entering that realm again, both an emblem of the victory and a protective shield to ensure that the conquest of hell will never be compromised. Salvation, as Izydorczyk and Gounelle stressed, is both universal and eternal. Christ ascends to heaven, taking with him the descendants of Adam, all of them now saints (omnes sancti; 24.2). They are not saved because they became convinced by Jesus’s preaching once he arrived in Hades, but because he is all-powerful and the forces opposed to God could not resist him. His power is stressed throughout the text, nowhere more emphatically than in Hades’ opening words to Satan (Latin potens and derivatives emphasized here): 

'Who is this one who is so powerful if he is a man fearing death? For all the powerful people on earth whom you have led (here) subject to your power are held, subjected to my power. If then you are powerful, what sort of man is that Jesus who opposes your power even though he is afraid of death? If he is so powerful in his humanity, truly I tell you that he is all-powerful in his divinity, and no one is able (= has the power) to resist his power.' (20.2) 

Christ harrows hell, in its entirety, because he has the will and sheer power to do so." (Bart Ehrman, Journeys to Heaven and Hell, chapter 6, pp. 225-7)

As Ehrman points out, other versions of the 'Acts of Pilate' (also known as 'Gospel of Nicodemus') aren't so optimistic...