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Summary
- The Bible does not say where Noah is now. Genesis 9:29 records that he died at 950, and unlike Enoch and Elijah he was not taken up.
- Genesis calls Noah “a just man and perfect in his generations,” Ezekiel names him with Daniel and Job, and Hebrews 11:7 says he “became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
- Catholic teaching holds that the just who died before Christ awaited him in “Abraham’s bosom” and that he freed them when he descended to the dead (Catechism 633, 637).
- The Orthodox Church’s Easter icon shows Christ leading Adam and the Old Testament righteous out of Hades, and the Orthodox Church in America keeps “Righteous Noah” on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers in December.
- Reformed teaching, in the Westminster Confession, holds that believers before Christ were saved by faith in the promised Messiah and that the souls of the righteous go to heaven at death; some evangelicals have taught that the Old Testament saints waited until Christ’s ascension.
- Christians read 1 Peter 3:19–20, where Christ preaches to “the spirits in prison” of Noah’s day, in at least four ways, from Christ’s descent to the dead to hostile angelic powers.
- In the Epic of Gilgamesh the flood survivor finds “eternal life” among the gods; Genesis says of Noah only “and he died.”
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version: Genesis 5:5, 24; 6:8–9; 7:1; 9:21; 9:28–29; Ezekiel 14:14; 2 Kings 2:11; Matthew 8:11; Luke 16:22–26; Ephesians 4:8; Hebrews 11:5, 7, 39–40; 12:1; 1 Peter 3:18–21; 2 Peter 2:5, via BibleGateway.
- New American Bible, Revised Edition, Genesis 6 and 1 Peter 3 with notes, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Genesis 6; 1 Peter 3.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 54–64, “The Stages of Revelation” (including 58 and 61), vatican.va.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 632–637, “Christ Descended into Hell,” vatican.va.
- Orthodox Church in America, “Great and Holy Saturday,” Lives of the Saints, oca.org.
- Fr. Steven Kostoff, “Death’s dominion has been shattered!,” Reflections in Christ, Orthodox Church in America, 10 May 2013, oca.org.
- Orthodox Church in America, “Sunday of the Forefathers,” Lives of the Saints and Troparion and Kontakion; “Righteous Noah,” Lives of the Saints; “Sunday before the Nativity,” Lives of all saints commemorated on December 20.
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 7 and 32, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, opc.org.
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews, on Hebrews 11:7 and 11:39–40, translated and edited by John Owen, Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Hebrews 11:7; Hebrews 11:35–40.
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles, on 1 Peter 3:19–22, translated and edited by John Owen, Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- Augustine of Hippo, Letter 164 (A.D. 414), to Evodius, translated by J. G. Cunningham, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 1, New Advent.
- W. A. Criswell, “Leading Captivity Captive,” sermon on Ephesians 4:8–10, First Baptist Church in Dallas, 31 January 1971, W. A. Criswell Sermon Library.
- The Epic of Gilgameš, Standard Version, Tablet XI, lines 1–163, translation from A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (Oxford, 2003), with minor modifications, SOAS University of London, BAPLAR.
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