Letter 179, Gregory the Presbyter and Theodore the Deacon of Constantinople

Letter 179 is addressed to Presbyter Gregory and Deacon Theodore, living in Constantinople. St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) expresses regret at their departure and expresses concern about the widespread opinion about the universal salvation of all who confessed Christ as God in hell. St. Gregory emphasizes that salvation by the grace of Christ is available only to those who during their lifetime believed in Him and lived according to His commandments. At the end of the letter, the saint instructs the addressees that only those who were faithful to faith and virtue during life were freed by Christ from hell, and that after death it is impossible to attract to God those who lived viciously. Remembering your goodwill and love, I greatly reproach myself for letting you go so soon. But since you have repeatedly and persistently insisted on your vacation; Then I was afraid that your further delay with us would be painful for you. But after we learned that, due to winter, you had been on the road for a very long time; then, I admit, I grieved that I let you go so soon. For if your love could not continue on the intended path, then it would be better for you to stay with me than not with me. Moreover, after your departure, I learned from the stories of my beloved sons, the deacons, that your love said that the Almighty Lord our Savior Jesus Christ, having descended into hell, saved everyone who there confessed Him as God and freed them from deserved punishments. I wish that your brotherhood would think about this completely differently, namely, that He who descended into hell freed by His grace only those who believed that He would come and lived according to His commandments. For it is known that even after the incarnation of the Lord, no one can be saved, even among those who believe in Him, unless they live by faith, as it is written: They confess God, but His works are avenged (Titus 1:16); for John says: He says that he knew Him, but does not keep His commandments, it is a lie (1 John 2:4); also James, the brother of the Lord, writes in his epistle: faith without works is dead (James 2:26). And so if today believers are not saved without good deeds, but unbelievers and the condemned are saved without good deeds by the Lord who descended into hell; then the fate of those who did not see the incarnate Lord is much better than those who were born after the mystery of the incarnation. How stupid it is to say and think like this, the Lord himself testifies to this when he says to the disciples: many kings and prophets wanted to see as you see, but did not see (Luke 10:24). But so as not to occupy your love for a long time with my reasoning, I advise you to read what Philastrius 1 wrote about this heresy in his book on heresies. Here are his words: “there are heretics who say that the Lord, having descended into hell, preached about Himself to everyone there, after their death, so that those who confess Him there would be saved, whereas this is contrary to the words of the Prophet David: who in hell will confess to You (Psalm 6:6)? and in the words of the Apostle: those who sin lawlessly will perish lawlessly (Rom. 2:12). Blessed Augustine also agrees with his words in his book on heresies. And so, having considered all this, do not contain anything other than what the true faith of the Catholic Church teaches, namely, that the Lord, having descended into hell, freed from the bonds of hell only those whom, during their life in the flesh, he preserved by his grace in faith and virtue. As for the fact that He says in the Evangelist: if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself: then by all obviously we must mean all the elect, since after death one who had withdrawn from God by a vicious life could not be drawn to God. May Almighty God protect you under His protection, so that wherever you are, you may feel His gracious help in your soul and body. Philastrius († 392), Bishop of Brech, hot denouncer of the Arians. He left “The Book of Heresies” (Migne Patrol. lat. T. 12).