The Christ victorious over hell

This article by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev addresses the doctrine of Christ's descent into Hades, considered as a central element of Christian soteriology and theodicy. Belonging to the field of dogmatic synthesis, the study draws on a broad corpus of Eastern patristic sources — from Clement of Alexandria to John of Damascus — and sets it against the Western tradition, from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas. The main argument is that the Eastern tradition perceives the descent into hell as an event of universal and cosmic scope, offering salvation to all of humanity, including sinners and virtuous pagans, while the Western tradition progressively narrows its significance through juridical categories. The article makes a twofold contribution: it highlights the structural divergences between East and West on this dogma, and demonstrates its relevance for contemporary Orthodox theodicy and eschatology.