236 EEV. CANON MACCULLOCH, D.D._, OX THE DESCENT INTO HAUES. 



right" in the Other-world, and such a popular but erroneous view is 

 not a fair deduction from the teachings of those who trust the 

 larger hope, or from the sentences at the close of the paper. 



I should have liked more criticism directed towards what is the 

 main purpose of the paper, viz., the inquiry regarding the sources 

 of the doctrine — is it original to Christianity or was it entirely 

 borrowed from pagan sources ? The Descent doctrine has been 

 much discussed in Germany, and there is hardly a German 

 theologian of any repute who has not written a book or pamphlet 

 on the subject. There is a strong tendency, exemplified in the 

 writings of Professors Bousset and Pfleedeser, to regard the 

 doctrine as borrowed from pagan sources, probably by way of the 

 Mandsean religion. But there are two objections to this theory, 

 both of which seem fatal : (1) AVe know nothing regarding the 

 date of the documents in which the Mandtean myths occur ; 

 (2) None of those Mandaean " descent " myths has any reference 

 to a descent to the world of the dead. Men were created after the 

 descent of Manda?an mythical personages to the regions inhabited 

 by demoniac beings. 



I should add that I chose the account in the Gospel of Xicodemus 

 as introductory to the study of the Christian Descent doctrine, not 

 because it is particularly early in date, but because it gives 

 comprehensively most of the ideas connected with this doctrine 

 which are found as a general rule separately in other writings. 

 Chancellor Lias's criticisms, which have reached me since reading 

 my paper, are valuable, but I do not imderstand his reference to 

 my citations from Irenaeus on p. 216, as I think I am in agreement 

 with him that Irenaeus is not referring to a release from Hades in 

 connection with the binding of Satan. Elsewhere, of course, he 

 refers to a preaching in Hades. The passage in Ignatius is, I 

 think, open to the interpretation I have put upon it. Cf. Light- 

 foot's note in his Apostolic Fathers to this passage (Ignatius, Ep. ad 

 Ephes., 19). 



