Did Jesus go to Hell
1 Pet. 3:18-20
Eph. 4:8-9
Throughout the course of church history, many people have taught and believed that Jesus’ spirit descended into hell after His death on the cross. Basing this idea on Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1 Peter 3:18–20, most of those who have taught that Jesus’ spirit went to hell after His death have also said that He went there to proclaim judgment to sinners and/or rescue the saints of the Old Testament.
Faithfulness to all of Scripture, however, requires us to deny that Jesus’ spirit went to hell after He died.
Treasure hunters must be willing to dig to find gold. The same is true for Christians searching for spiritual gems in the Bible.
There are many Bible passages used to support the idea that Christ descended into hell be-tween his death and resurrection. I have listed a few of them.
1. Acts 2:27
This is part of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost, where he quotes Psalm 16:10: “because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead [KJV: “leave my soul in hell”], nor will you let your faithful one see decay.”
Psa 16:9-11
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
"Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption": David spoke beyond himself. This was perceived by Peter on the Day of Pentecost, who said that these words went beyond David who was obviously dead, buried in a grave, and whose body had long ago decayed into dust (Acts 2:25-31).
In quoting and applying this passage from Psalm 16 to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Peter showed a remarkably understanding of the work of Jesus on the cross. He under-stood that because Jesus bore our sin without becoming a sinner, He remained the Holy One, even in His death. Since it is incomprehensible that God's Holy One should be bound by death, the resurrection was absolutely inevitable. As Peter said: It was not possible that He should be held by death (Acts 2:24).
The fact that Jesus remained God's Holy One despite the ordeal of the cross demonstrates that Jesus bore the penalty of human sin without becoming a sinner Himself. It also shows that this payment for sins was perfect and complete, they are only a type of payment a Holy One could make. In these ways (as Peter understood), the resurrection proves the perfection of Jesus' work on the cross.
Does this mean Jesus entered hell? Not necessarily. Peter is using David’s psalm to show that Christ’s body did not decay—he is therefore unlike David, who “died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day”
2. Romans 10:6–7
These verses contain two rhetorical questions, again Old Testament quotations (from Deut. 30:13): “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
But this passage hardly teaches that Christ descended into hell. The point of the passage is that Paul is telling people not to ask these questions, because Christ is not far away—he is near—and faith in him is as near as confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart (v. 9).
3. Ephesians 4:8–9
We are going to consider three questions:
\
What is the descent that Paul is thinking about when he says, "he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth" (verse 9)?
What is the captivity that Paul is thinking about when he quotes, "He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men" (verse 8)?\
What is the leading that Paul has in mind in that same quote, "He led captivity captive" (verse 8)?
Paul is quoting from Psalm (Psalms 68:18) and taking this as a prediction of the ascension of Christ. Paul adds that this ascent to the highest heaven should be considered together with a prior descent into the lower parts of the earth.
This lines up with Paul’s teaching that Christ "was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures" (1Corinthians 15:4). Notice that Paul does not teach that Christ “descended into hell”. He says Christ "descended into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9). The descent that Paul has in mind is the fact that Christ died and was buried.
But people are not satisfied with that, and they say, “Yes but what about his soul or spirit? When his body was buried, didn't his soul go into hell?”
To find out where Jesus' soul went when his body was buried, we go to the Psalm which has Christ saying to his Father, "You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you let your Holy One see corruption" (Psalm 16:10). So we see that Jesus was in a place called “Sheol”. In a moment we will see that this is not hell, the place of eternal punishment.
Peter quotes this Psalm in his preaching on the day of Pentecost: "You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption" (Acts 2:27). You will notice the word “Hades” in place of the word “Sheol”. This occurs because the quote in Acts is in Greek rather than the original Hebrew. “Hades” is the Greek equivalent of “Sheol”. Now if Christ were in Hell, the word would be “Gehenna” not “Hades”.
For example, Jesus says, "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell?" (Matt 23:33). The word for “Hell” here is “Gehenna” In a vision which John saw, "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done." (Revelation 20:13). Here “Hades” is a place where all the dead awaited judgment. Hell, seen in the vision as a lake of fire, was where the wicked went after judgment.
Some people might say, “The hell that Jesus went into was not “Gehenna” but the bad side of “Hades” where the rich man who died was in torment: "In Hades he lifted up his eyes being in torments" (Luke 16:23).” But that would contradict Jesus who said to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).
There is, nevertheless, a common belief that Christ “descended into hell” where he preached to the damned. Many in hell took this opportunity to be saved and Christ led them out of hell at his resurrection, and into heaven at his ascension. This host is sometimes identified as those resurrected in Matt 27:51-53.
The “proof” that Christ preached to people in hell, is thought to be Peter's statement that Christ "went and preached to the spirits in prison" (1Peter 3:19). However this is an anachronism, because the time of this preaching is clearly stated as "in the days of Noah". Peter is referring to Christ preaching through Noah to a sinful world (1Peter 3:19).
The simplest explanation of "he led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8) is to think of captivity as slavery. Paul thinks of the new birth as an enslavement to Christ when he releases us from enslavement to sin (Romans 6:6,16-18). When Christ died, was buried, arose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God, he set a host of captives free from sin and took them captive to himself. He continues to do so even today and until he comes again, "that he might fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10).
The statement "he led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8) is a prophecy of redemption. "All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24).
Jesus said, "For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He paid the price to release people from captivity in sin, and to purchase them as his own slaves to righteousness. Thus "he led captivity captive".
So Christ "led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8) in that God "rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:12-14).
When we become the captive slaves of Jesus Christ, we find liberty in that captivity. This is a paradox, but not a contradiction, because Christ’s slaves are "sons of God... heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:14-17).
The statement "When he ascended on high he led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8) has been interpreted to mean that when Jesus ascended into heaven he led a host of captives in train who ascended into heaven with him.
However there is no such event recorded in scripture. The record portrays Jesus as ascending into heaven alone (Acts 1:9-11).
Some point to Matthew 27:52-53 as providing the host who ascended with Jesus. "Many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many". If they did ascend to heaven, the scripture does not record it. Paul for example did not mention it (1Corinthians 15:20-23). Again, Peter, some days after the ascension, preached that David was still in his grave and did not ascend to heaven (Acts 2:29,34).
It may be better to consider the verse (Ephesians 4:7-10 quoting Psalm 68:18) as referring to something much plainer in scripture, something fundamental, namely Christ's leadership of his church "that he might fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10, Colossians 1:18-19). This interpretation certainly reflects the context in which Paul mentions this verse. Paul is discussing Christ's leadership of his body the church and the gifts given to the church. (Ephesians 4:1-16).
This leadership of Christ includes the work Christ has done through the agency of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he was exalted to God's right hand. Peter says, "Having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear" (Acts 2:33).
Christ ruling in heaven as Head of his church, King of his kingdom, "gave gifts unto men" (Ephesians 4:8) through the power of the Holy Spirit, "and he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11).We find that in this passage Paul is speaking about the unity under Christ and the gifts given to men by Christ.
Christ led a host of captives (his church) through the agency of the Holy Spirit who gave certain gifts to men ...some apostles, pastors etc.) . Thus empowered, they could preach to all slaves of sin the true message of liberty, and lead them for Christ into light and liberty as captives of Christ.
It was Christ who exercised this leadership from his throne in heaven, and he continues to do so through providence and the inspired writings of those whom he gifted.
I think we can take this a step further. Since we are viewing the words "he led" (Ephesians 4:8) as an act of Christ begun at his ascension, but continuing throughout the gospel age, then we should see those words as including even his final act of leadership on earth, shouldn't we? That final act is one that he will perform personally at his second coming to earth.
He will gather up the ransomed from the earth, both living and dead, and they will ascend with him into heaven to partake in all its gifts (John 14:3, 1Thessalonians 4:14-18). In his resurrection and ascension, Christ was the "firstfruits" (1Corinthians 15:20-23), and the "forerunner" (Hebrews 6:19-20), for an ingathering of all his ransomed and redeemed from the beginning to the end of creation.
4. 1 Peter 3:18–20
This passage says: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”
For many people this is the most puzzling passage on this entire subject. Let’s unpack several questions surrounding this text:
Does 1 Peter 3:18–20 refer to Christ preaching in hell?
Some have taken “he went and preached to the spirits in prison” to mean that Christ went into hell and preached to the spirits who were there—either proclaiming the gospel and offering a second chance to repent, or just proclaiming that he had triumphed over them and that they were eternally condemned.
But these interpretations fail to explain adequately either the passage itself or its setting in this context. Peter does not say that Christ preached to spirits generally, but only to those “who
formerly did not obey…during the building of the ark.” Such a limited audience—those who
disobeyed during the building of the ark—would be a strange group for Christ to travel to hell and preach to.
If Christ proclaimed his triumph, why only to these sinners and not to all? And if he offered a second chance for salvation, why only to these sinners and not to all? Even more difficult for this view is the fact that Scripture elsewhere indicates that there is no opportunity for repentance after death (Luke 16:26; Heb. 10:26–27).
Moreover, the context of 1 Peter 3 makes “preaching in hell” unlikely. Peter is encouraging his readers to witness boldly to hostile unbelievers around them. He just told them to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).
This evangelistic motif would lose its urgency if Peter were teaching a second chance for
salvation after death. And it would not fit at all with a “preaching” of condemnation.
Does 1 Peter 3:18–20 refer to Christ preaching to fallen angels?
To give a better explanation for these difficulties, several commentators have proposed taking “spirits in prison” to mean demonic spirits, the spirits of fallen angels, and have said that Christ proclaimed condemnation to these demons. This (it is claimed) would comfort Peter’s readers by showing them that the demonic forces oppressing them would also be defeated by Christ.
However, Peter’s readers would have to go through an incredibly complicated reasoning
process to draw this conclusion when Peter does not explicitly teach it. They would have to reason from
(1) some demons who sinned long ago were condemned
(2) other demons are now inciting your human persecutors,
(3) those demons will likewise be condemned someday
(4) therefore your persecutors will finally be judged as well. Finally Peter’s readers would get to Peter’s point:
(5) Therefore don’t fear your persecutors.
Does it not seem too farfetched to say that Peter knew his readers would read all this into the text?
Moreover, Peter emphasizes hostile persons, not demons, in the context (1 Peter 3:14, 16). And where would Peter’s readers get the idea that angels sinned “during the building of the ark”? There is nothing of that in the Genesis story when the ark was being built. And (in spite of what some have claimed), if we look at all the traditions of Jewish interpretation of the flood story, we find no mention of angels sinning specifically “during the building of the ark.” Therefore the view that Peter is speaking of Christ’s proclamation of judgment to fallen angels is really not persuasive either.
Does 1 Peter 3:18–20 refer to Christ’s proclaiming release to Old Testament saints?
Another explanation is that Christ, after his death, went and proclaimed release to Old
Testament believers who had been unable to enter heaven until the completion of Christ’s redemptive work.
But again we may question whether this view adequately accounts for what the text actually says. It does not say that Christ preached to those who were believers or faithful to God, but to those “who formerly did not obey”—the emphasis is on their disobedience. Moreover, Peter does not specify Old Testament believers generally, but only those who were disobedient “in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark” (1 Peter 3:20).
The most satisfactory explanation of 1 Peter 3:18–20 seems rather to refer not to something Christ did between his death and resurrection, but to what he did “in the spiritual realm of
existence” (or “through the Spirit”) at the time of Noah. When Noah was building the ark, Christ “in spirit” was preaching through Noah to the hostile unbelievers around him.
This interpretation is very appropriate to the larger context of 1 Peter 3:13–22. The parallel be-tween the situation of Noah and the situation of Peter’s readers is clear at several points:
? Both were a religious minority
? Both were surrounded by hostile unbelievers
? Both were facing the possibility of imminent judgment
? Both were to witness
? Both were finally saved
Such an understanding of 1 Peter 3:18–20 seems to be by far the most likely solution to a
puzzling passage.
5. 1 Peter 4:6
This fifth and final passage that is used to show that Jesus’ descent into hell says, “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.”
Does this verse mean that Christ went to hell and preached the gospel to those who had died? If so, it would be the only passage in the Bible that taught a “second chance” for salvation after death and would contradict passages such as Luke 16:19–31 and Hebrews 9:27, which clearly deny this possibility.
Moreover, the passage does not explicitly say that Christ preached to people after they had died, and could rather mean that the gospel in general was preached (this verse does not even say that Christ preached) to people who are now dead, but that it was preached to them while they were still alive on earth.
This is a common explanation, and it seems to fit this verse much better. It finds support in the second word of the verse, “this,” which refers back to the final judgment mentioned at the end of verse 5. Peter is saying that it was because of the final judgment that the gospel was preached to the "dead."
Thus, “the dead” are people who have lived and are now dead. They were alive and on earth when the gospel was preached to them.
We conclude, therefore, that this last passage, when viewed in its context, turns out to provide no convincing support for the doctrine of a descent of Christ into hell.
3 passages that indicate Jesus did not descend to hell
In addition to the fact that there is little if any biblical support for a descent of Christ into hell, there are some New Testament texts that argue against the possibility of Christ’s going to hell after his death.
1. Luke 23:43
Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43), imply that after Jesus died his soul (or spirit) went immediately to the presence of the Father in heaven, even though his body remained on earth and was buried.
Some people deny this by arguing that “Paradise” is a place distinct from heaven, but in both of the other New Testament uses the word clearly means “heaven”: in 2 Corinthians 12:4 it is the place to which Paul was caught up in his revelation of heaven, and in Revelation 2:7 it is the place where we find the tree of life–which is clearly heaven in Revelation 22:2 and 14.
2. John 19:30
In addition, the cry of Jesus, “It is finished” (John 19:30) strongly suggests that Christ’s suffering was finished at that moment and so was his alienation from the Father because of bearing our sin. This implies that he would not descend into hell, but would go at once into the Father’s presence.
3. Luke 23:46
Finally, the cry, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), also suggests that Christ expected (correctly) the immediate end of his suffering and estrangement and the welcoming of his spirit into heaven by God the Father (note Stephen’s similar cry in Acts 7:59).
Then how did the concept that Jesus descended to Hell come about?
The concept that Jesus went to hell after His death on the cross comes primarily from the
Apostles’ Creed, which states, among other things that “He descended into hell.” In studying this issue, it is important to first understand what the Bible teaches about the realm of the dead.
The Apostles' Creed states that Jesus, "was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead." The Athanasian Creed, speaking of Jesus, asserts, "Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead." The only creed that does not mention that Christ went to hell between the time of His death and resurrection is the Nicene creed. Therefore, two of the three great ancient creeds affirm that Jesus "descended into hell" sometime between His crucifixion and resurrection. But is that what the Bible teaches?
The short answer to this question is: "No." The biblical authors were more accurate in their use of words than the creed writers because the biblical authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit while the creed writers were not so inspired.
There are two Greek words for the abode of the dead. (Greek is the language in which the New Testament of the Bible was originally written.)
(a) Hell (Gehenna in Greek, also called the lake of fire and the eternal fire) was made for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) and will be occupied by all the unrighteous after the last judgment (Revelation 19:20-21 and 20:10-15). There is no biblical evidence that anyone has gone there or will go there until after Jesus' Second Coming
(b) In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word used to describe the realm of the dead is sheol. It sim-ply means “the place of the dead” or “the place of departed souls/spirits.” The New Testament Greek equivalent of sheol is Hades, which also refers to “the place of the dead.” Other Scriptures in the New Testament indicate that sheol/hades is a temporary place, where souls are kept as they await the final resurrection and judgment.
At the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).
In the Old Testament, Sheol is the place of the souls of the dead, both the righteous (like Jacob, Genesis 37:35, and Samuel, 1 Samuel 28:13–14) and the wicked (Psalm 31:17). In the New Testament, the Hebrew word Sheol is translated as Hades, it is thought to be under the earth (Numbers 16:30–33), and it is like a city with gates (Isaiah 38:10) and bars (Job 17:16). It is the where no work is done and no wisdom exists (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Most significantly, Sheol is a place where no one praises God (Psalm 6:5; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18). Therefore we understand that Sheol/hades was a realm with two divisions—a place of blessing and a place of judgment (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27–31).
In the New Testament, the most extended depiction of the afterlife is found in Luke 16:19–31. The biblical Sheol has two compartments: Hades proper (where the rich man is sent, Luke 16:23) and “Abraham’s bosom” (where the angels carry Lazarus, Luke 16:22). Hades proper is a place of torment, where fire causes anguish to the souls imprisoned there. Abraham’s bosom, on the other hand, while within shouting distance of Hades, is separated from it by “a great chasm” (Luke 16:26) and is, a place of comfort and rest.
Revelation 20:11–15 gives a clear distinction between hades and the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades, then, is a temporary place. Many people refer to both hades and the lake of fire as “hell,” and this causes confusion. Jesus did not go to a place of torment after His death.
Some of the confusion has arisen from such passages as Psalm 16:10–11 as translated in the King James Version: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. . . . Thou wilt show me the path of life.” “Hell” is not a correct translation in this verse. A correct reading would be “the grave” for “sheol.” Jesus said to the thief beside Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43); He did not say, “I will see you in hell.”
As Jesus neared death, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). His suffering in our place was completed.
There is no textual basis in the New Testament for claiming that between Good Friday and Easter Christ was preaching to souls imprisoned in hell or Hades. There is textual basis for saying that he would be with the repentant thief in Paradise . (Luke 23:43). However we do not get the impression that "Paradise" is a defective place from which the thief must then be delivered by more preaching.
No one knows for certain where Jesus was the entire time during the three days between His crucifixion and resurrection. We know for certain where he was part of the time––in Paradise.
Now coming to the Apostles Creed we find that it is the earliest reference outside of the Bible regarding what Jesus might have been doing during those three days between His death and resurrection.
The earlier Old Roman form of the Apostles' Creed (about A.D. 140) did not have the phrase, "He descended into Hell", and it did not appear in the Nicene Creed (A.D. 325). It seems to have been a late addition (perhaps around A.D. 390). The phrase first appeared in the Creed of Aquileia, (4th century, in the Latin words descendit in inferna - descended into Hades).
This “Old Roman Creed,” was in use as early as the second century (Kelly, Creeds, 101). The earliest written form of this creed is found in a letter that Marcellus of Ancyra wrote in Greek to Julius, the bishop of Rome, about AD 341. About 50 years later, Tyrannius Rufinus wrote a commentary on this creed in Latin (Commentarius in symbolum apostolorum). In it, he re-counted the viewpoint that the apostles wrote the creed together after Pentecost, before leaving Jerusalem to preach (Symb. 2). The title “Apostles’ Creed” is also mentioned about 390 by Ambrose, where he refers to “the creed of the Apostles which the Church of Rome keeps and guards in its entirety” (Ep. 42, trans. in Saint Ambrose: Letters). The text of the Old Roman Creed is as follows, with the last phrase (included by Marcellus but omitted by Rufinus) in brackets (Kelly, Creeds, 102):
I believe in God the Father almighty;
and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended into heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
whence he will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh,
[life everlasting].
What we now know as the Apostles’ Creed is an enlargement of the Old Roman Creed. The first known occurrence of the Apostles’ Creed, in a form that is nearly equivalent to its final form, is in the Latin tract De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus by the monk Priminius (sometimes spelled “Pirminius”) from the early eighth century.
The process by which the Old Roman Creed became the Apostles’ Creed cannot be exhaus-tively known, though Kelly notes that creeds that are “practically identical” to the Apostles’ Creed began to appear in South Gaul in the fifth century (Kelly, Creeds, 413). Over the next few
centuries, the Apostles’ Creed in its final form gained acceptance throughout France and Germany. It was officially recognized by Charlemagne throughout the Frankish Empire in the early ninth century, and was eventually incorporated into the liturgy of the Church of Rome. The Apostles' Creed then is a Roman Catholic Church concept.
The creed as it exists today consists of three main articles, like the Old Roman Creed divided according to a Trinitarian arrangement. The text is as follows (Kelly, Creeds, 369):
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born from the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty,
thence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh,
and eternal life.
Amen.
Wayne Grudem argues that the phrase “He descended into hell” is a late addition to the creed. This phrase is commonly understood as a reference to the “harrowing of hell,” which is based on one interpretation of 1 Pet 3:19. The phrase is first mentioned by Rufinus in the late fourth century, and does not appear in any other versions of the creed until AD 650. ( Rufinus, priest of Aquileia, Exposito in Symbolum, c. 400(P.L. xxi. 335 B), Rufinus himself notes that the clause “is not added in the Creed of the Roman Church” (Symb. 18), though he includes it in the version of the creed that was accepted by his own church of Aquileia (see Symb. 3). Moreover, Rufinus makes clear that he did not believe Christ literally descended into hell, but rather that the phrase merely meant He was buried. The Greek form of the creed has ?d?? (hades), which can mean merely “the grave” rather than a place of punishment. Thus a more accurate version would be, “He descended into the grave” or “He descended to the dead” ( Wayne Grudem, “He Did Not Descend,” 102. Wayne A. Grudem is an evangelical theologian, seminary professor, and author. He served as the general editor of the ESV Study Bible.)
Instead of “holy catholic church,” some Protestant churches recite “holy Christian church” to avoid misinterpreting the phrase as a reference to the Catholic Church. The creed used the term “catholic” in the sense of “universal” or “global” (the Latin uses the adjective catholicam); this interpretation fits with the historic nature of the creed, which predates in its tradition the split of the Orthodox and Catholic churches.
In addition, the Athanasian Creed, which does contain the phrase, may not have been written until the time of Charlemagne (8th century). So, why the addition? One possible explanation is that at the end of the fourth century (around A.D. 381) the church was battling the teachings of Apollinaris The Younger, Latin Apollinarius, (born c. 310—died c. 390), bishop of Laodicea . He taught that Jesus was not fully human - He had a human body and soul, but a divine spirit. The church, on the other hand, taught that Jesus had to be fully human for His death to be a true death and an effective sacrifice for sin. To demonstrate that Jesus was fully human, with a human spirit, the church may have added the Latin phrase from the Creed of Aquileia to the more popular Apostles' Creed. By the time of the Middle Ages, the words Hell and Hades had become confused and Jesus was thought to have descended into Hell.
We have looked into the meaning of the different verses used to imply that Jesus went to Hell. First, Ephesians 4:8-10 reads, "Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.' (In saying, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)"
These verses actually quote Psalm 68:18. The controversy centers on the destination of Jesus' descent. Did He descend to hell or to the earth? The ESV provides a literal translation, "the lower regions, the earth," to make this distinction clearer. The passage says Jesus descended to the earth . The passage does not teach that Jesus descended to hell.
Another passage is Psalm 16:10-11: "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life." Some take this passage to refer to Jesus entering hell (Sheol) before His resurrection. This interpretation is due, in large part, to the King James Version, which translates Sheol as "hell" in this passage. However, the Hebrew word sheol is a general reference to the grave, not a particular place in the afterlife.
In Matthew 12:40 Jesus says He will go to the "heart of the earth" just like Jonah went to the belly of the whale. However, here Jesus was speaking of death or the grave, not a particular location in the afterlife. To claim this speaks of Jesus going to hell pushes the analogy too far.
The view of Jesus descending to hell is negated by the words of Jesus Himself. On the cross, Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). His suffering was over; there was no more payment needed for salvation. Also just before His death, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Upon death, His spirit went to the Father, not to hell. Also, Jesus promised the thief on the cross that they would be together today in paradise (Luke 23:43). This could not have happened if Jesus had spent three days in hell.
The clause "He descended into hell" in the Apostles' Creed may have been well intended, but is so controversial that some denominations consider it optional or even exclude that portion of the creed. Jesus' body was in the grave for three days, but He did not go to hell.
Below are definitions of hell and related words:
HELL In common usage, this term refers to the place of future punishment for the wicked. The word properly translated “hell” in the New Testament is the Greek Geenna or Gehenna, a place in the Valley of Hinnom where human sacrifices had been offered and where continuous burning of rubbish made it an apt illustration of the eternal lake of fire (cf. Matt. 5:22).
SHEOL The general idea of this word is “the place of the dead” including the grave (cf. Num. 16:30,33; Ps. 16:10), and the unseen place of those who have departed from this life, the place of departed spirits of both the righteous (Gen. 37:35) and the wicked (Prov. 9:18).
HADES This word is basically the New Testament counterpart of the Sheol. It refers to the unseen world in general, but specifically to the abode of the unsaved dead between death and the final judgment at the great white throne (cf. Lk. 16:23 and Rev. 20:11-15). It differs from hell in that it is temporary while hell is permanent.
LAKE OF FIRE Refers to the eternal state of the wicked who are forever separated from God and consigned to a special abode of suffering because of their rejection of Christ or their lack of the righteousness of Christ. It is equivalent to and identified with the second death in Revelation 20:14.
