In a message dated 98-03-22 18:41:06 EST, you write:
> As I recollect, Adam appears quite prominently in the Gospel of Nicodemus
> but no Eve.
>
> Clint
> Clinton Atchley
> University of Washington
> [log in to unmask]
>
In Nic. 18.4-5, hell is emptied out completely. So he must have taken the
women as well as the men, unless you want to assume that the women weren't in
hell in the first place.
I'd not give too much weight to the text's mentioning Adam but not Eve. It's
very common for writers to imply what isn't overtly stated. When Dante says
Tristan is in hell in the Commedia, the more reasonable assumption is that
Isolde must be with him, even though her name isn't mentioned. If one follows
the thesis you're applying to Nicodemus--that nobody is present unless his or
her name is expressly spelled out--then one would need an explanation of what
logic might lead Dante would to consign Tristan to hell but not Isolde.
Actually, though, what I asked about Nicodemus is whether this is the earlist
version of the story of the Harrowing of Hell. The only other literary
version I know is in Inferno 4, though the subject is so popular in the visual
arts I assume there must be other literary examples.
And of course it shows up in the Apostle's Creed. But why? The idea of
emptying out hell completely doesn't seem consistent with Catholic theology.
Wasn't Origen criticized for saying there was no hell? In the Inferno, Dante
tones down the degree of forgiveness. The illustrious heathens get left behind
in limbo, and hell has not been entirely emptied
pat sloane.
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