Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 6

Just as the preaching arrived at the appointed moment, so the law and the prophets were given in their season to the barbarians, and philosophy to the Greeks, to prepare their hearing for the gospel. The Lord who redeemed Israel declares: "In an acceptable time I listened to you, and on a day of salvation I helped you; I gave you as a covenant to the nations, to establish the earth and to inherit the desolate heritages," saying to the prisoners, "Come out," and to those in darkness, "Be revealed" (Isaiah 49:8). If the Jews are the prisoners to whom the Lord said, "Come out of the bonds," then the ones who want to leave are those who bound themselves voluntarily and loaded themselves with unbearable burdens through human contrivance; clearly, those in darkness are the ones who have idolatry rooted in their governing faculty. For those who were righteous according to the law lacked faith, so the Lord healed them as well, saying, "Your faith has saved you"; but for those who were righteous according to philosophy, not only was faith in the Lord lacking, but also the turning away from idolatry. The moment the truth was disclosed, they too repented of their former deeds; therefore the Lord preached the gospel even to those in Hades. Scripture says: "Hades says to Destruction, 'We have not seen his form, but we have heard his voice'" (Psalm 107:20). It was not the place itself that received a voice and spoke those words, but the souls consigned to Hades who gave themselves over to destruction — like men who willingly throw themselves from a ship into the sea — and these are the ones who heard the divine power and voice. Who in their right mind would suppose that in a single condemnation the souls of the righteous and the wicked are lumped together, charging providence with injustice? What then? Does this not show that the Lord preached the gospel to those lost in the flood — or rather, to those who were bound — and to those held in prison and under guard (1 Peter 3:19)? It has also been demonstrated in the second Stromata that the apostles, following the Lord, preached the gospel to those in Hades as well; for it was necessary, I think, that just as the best disciples imitated the Teacher here, so they would do the same there, so that some would bring the Hebrews and others the nations to repentance — that is, those who had lived righteously according to the law and according to philosophy, yet not perfectly, but who passed through life in a sinful manner.