Did Christ Really Descend
into Hell?
Peter Haas
https://www.peterhaas.org/did-christ-really-descend-into-hell/#:~:text=Now%2C%20it's%20important%20to%20point,exist%20in%20the%20apostles%20Creed
[Edited]
EDIT THIS POST. TOO MANY
ERRORSOver the years, especially every Good Friday,
people ask me the question: “Where in the Bible does it say that Christ
descended into hell?“
If you grew up in a good Catholic or Lutheran
church, chances are you were forced to memorize the Apostles Creed, which
says: “[Christ] was crucified, died and was buried,” followed by the
statement: “he descended into hell.”
Now, it’s important to point out
that this phrase “he descended into hell” exists nowhere in Scripture. Even
more importantly, this phrase didn’t even exist in the apostles Creed until
around the mid-seventh century. All of the earlier versions of the apostles
Creed stated that
“Christ descended to the
grave” – which is why I excluded the phrase when I preached through
the Apostle’s Creed in our series, “This I Believe” in Fall 2017.
I’m
not saying it didn’t happen! Indeed, the message of Christ’s victory was
broadcast in one way or another. But, IF it happened,
it certainly wasn’t to liberate righteous people from hell (which
would create a boatload of complicated ethical complications).
Most
people aren’t surprised to hear that medieval Catholicism started a lot of
scriptural myths (things like Purgatory, Limbo, etc). Yet they
simultaneously fail to see just how many of these myths still afflict people
when they read their Bibles. For example, a lot of Evangelicals honestly
believe that righteous people went to hell before Jesus died on the cross –
(thus, creating the need for Christ to descend into hell). But, I’m about to
argue that, this concept has very little basis in the Bible. And normally
I’m quite tolerant of Christians having diverse interpretations about
theology; however, there will be a giant amount of New Testament concepts
that simply won’t make sense until we unravel some of these assumptions.
So, it begs the question, what does the Bible really teach? How did the
Apostles Creed get this updated clause? And what are some of the common
proof texts that Christians use to substantiate this?
Well, for
starters, I want to remind you of the time when Jesus was on the cross. If
you remember, there was a thief who realized that Jesus was the Christ. And
in Luke 23:43, we read that Jesus said to him: “Today you will be with me in
paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Notice that
Jesus did not say: “Hey, do you wanna descend into hell with me for a couple
days?” He also didn’t say, “in three days, I’ll catch up to you in
heaven.” Rather he said, “today.” And why? When Christians die, we go
directly into the presence of the Lord (see the martyrs narrative in
Revelation 6:9-11).
As the Apostle Paul puts it: “to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord” 2 Cor. 5:8. And specifically, Jesus
used the term “Paradise” – the same term Paul used when he described being
caught up to the third heaven in 2 Cor. 12:4 (where he “was caught up to
paradise and heard inexpressible things.”)
Thus, the expressions “today” and “paradise” are rather difficult to explain
if we believe that Christ was just starting a descent into hell.
Then, where did this phrase come from in the Apostles Creed?
Theologian Wayne Grudem wrote:
“it is surprising to find that the
phrase “he descended into hell” was not found in any of the early versions
of the Creed (in the versions used in Rome, and the rest of Italy, and in
Africa) until it appeared in one of two versions from Rufinus in A.D. 390.
Then it was not included again in any version of the Creed until A.D. 650.
Moreover, Rufinus, the only person who included it before A.D. 650, did not
think that it meant that Christ descended into hell, but understood the
phrase simply to mean that Christ was “buried.” [Thus] it was not in the
Roman form of the creed that he preserved.” (Systematic Theology, P.586).
Some scholars argue that, this phrase was acquired through a translation
error of the Greek word
Hades (which can
mean both “grave” as well as “hell” depending upon the context.) But this
was merely one of many mythological beliefs that crept into the church
during that era.
For example, Pope Gregory the first (in the 500’s)
was notorious for taking many of St. Augustine’s theological hunches and
turning them into doctrines — such as purgatory. After this doctrine became
an economic backbone (to support Medieval power through indulgences), by the
1500’s, the papacy was desperate to find Biblical support – even to the
degree where they added additional books to the Bible that simply didn’t
belong (like 2nd Maccabees) – hence the addition of the Apocrypha to the
Catholic Bible.
To put it bluntly, the Middle Ages were not the
golden age of sound doctrine. Most medieval priests didn’t even know more
than a few Latin prayers – let alone the Bible.[1]
Thankfully,
throughout the Reformation, the Bible was finally translated into common
languages – which enabled a larger swath of literate people to begin
educating themselves. Yet, illiteracy still enabled many of these medieval
Catholic myths to perpetuate. And I believe that one of those lingering
ideas is Christ’s descent into hell.
Keep in mind, I’m not against
the idea entirely (from a Biblical standpoint). But I think we need to be
careful about this idea because it can subtly unravel your ability to
understand entire books of the New Testament (like Galatians or Hebrews).
“But, what about the Bible texts that seem to teach this?”
Many
people try to find biblical support for Christ’s descent into hell in the
following five Bible texts: Acts 2:27; Romans 10:6-7; Ephesians 4:8-9; 1
Peter 3:18-20 and 1 Peter 4:6. However, a careful reading of these five
Bible texts will reveal that,
none of them are
remotely conclusive of such a doctrine.Allow me to take on
two of the most commonly quoted passages: 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Ephesians
4:8-10.
DOES 1 Peter 3:18-20 TEACH THAT
CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL?“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. 19 After being made
alive,[d] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to
those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of
Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all,
were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now
saves you also…” (1 Peter 3:18)
Before we dive into this passage,
let’s start by asking a greater question:
Why
in the world would Christ need to preach to people in Hell?1
Peter 3:18 does NOT say that the Spirit of Christ preached to everyone;
rather, only, “those who disobeyed in the days of Noah.” So, why would
Christ leave the cross and go all the way to hell to preach to such a
specific group? Why not those who disobeyed in the days of Moses, or Ezra,
or David? Why didn’t Christ go to those who “obeyed” as well (if Catholic
theology is right)?
At some point, the careful reader will say:
“There is no way Peter is talking about Christ
descending into hell.” An alternate interpretation of this
passage (based on the intertestamental book of 1 Enoch – which clearly
inspired this section of scripture) suggests that, Christ descended into
Hades to declare victory over certain principalities and powers – not to
evangelize – which is a significantly more plausible interpretation to me
for numerous reasons which I put into the footnote here.[2]
DOES EPHESIANS 4:8-10 TEACH THAT CHRIST
DESCENDED INTO HELL?
Another text that some people try to make
work (as evidence for Christ descending into hell) is Ephesians 4:8-10. And
they particularly like how the New King James translation renders it:
“When [Christ] ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave
gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also
first descended into the lower parts of the earth? Ephesians 4:8-10 NKJV
But what does Paul mean by “the lower parts of the earth?” Does “lower
parts” refer to hell? Or does this simply mean that “Christ descended to our
lowly world” as the NLT translates it?
For starters, the Greek word,
translated “earth” (Greek, Tes Ges) generally means, “the surface of the
Earth” or the “place where human beings dwell”- the exact opposite word that
one would use if they were attempting to refer to the underworld – in which
case, they would likely use the Greek word hades.
Some people
believe that Paul was using this descending and ascending language to allude
to the basic geography of Jerusalem. Allow me to quickly explain:
When kings went off to war, they had to descend down Mount Zion in order to
fight. But then they would often do ornate victory parades as they ascended
back to God’s holy city. Pilgrims also made this ascent (hence there are
Psalms of Ascent). Thus, some believe that the apostle Paul was saying that,
Christ, the king of Zion, descended to do battle with Satan and won. Yet,
rather than ascending the hill of earthly Zion, he ascended into heavenly
Zion.
So, with this in mind, allow me to approach Ephesians 4 in a
more contextual way:
If we return to the beginning of the chapter,
Paul is making an appeal for God’s people to get along with one another – to
stay in unity with one another. And to accomplish this, God’s people need to
acknowledge the various leadership gifts and roles within Christ’s church.
These leaders are literally “gifts from God.”
Hence Paul starts out
in Ephesians 4:7 “But to each one of us, grace has been given, as Christ
apportioned it.” And then Paul quotes Psalm 68, yet he strikingly changes a
word to make a point. But, before I explain this passage, let’s read it all
the way through to verse 12.
Paul writes Ephesians 4:8-12 “This is
why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and
gave gifts to men.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also
descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one
who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole
universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets,
some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare
God’s people for works of service…”
Paul begins this section by
quoting Psalm 68 – a Psalm about God conquering Bashan. In the times of
Christ, many Jews believed that Bashan was where elohim rebelled from God –
leaving heaven to take human wives – thus joining Satan in his fallen state.
Some even believed Bashan was ground zero of an angelic rebellion
(hence, some called it the “Gates of Hell.”) Thus, it’s the first place God
had the Israelites march before the conquest of Canaan (see Og of Bashan
Deut.3:1-11; Num 21:33-35). And Christ repeated this pattern in the New
Testament (before his conquest of the cross) when he ascended the mountain
of Transfiguration (near Bashan). Both of these acts were declarations of
war against evil. And both ended with the conquest and ascension of Zion.
However, in Psalm 68, it says God “received gifts;” yet, when Paul
quotes it, he adds a clever twist,
“He gave gifts.”
When
Zion’s kings returned from war, they naturally came home with plunder to
give away in Jerusalem. In a similar way, Christ’s conquest of the cross
purchased people back for his purposes (2 Cor. 5:15). And after he ascended
into heaven (Acts 1), he sent his Holy Spirit to descend (Act 2), giving
gifts of apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers.
Unfortunately, a lot of Christians get lost in Paul’s metaphor and miss the
entire point which was this: Christ is our victorious king, who purchased
leaders – who now serve the church. And when we acknowledge these leaders,
God’s people can finally become mature by avoiding bad teaching – (a point
which is rather ironic in light of our conversation.)
So, in my
opinion, there’s nothing in this passage that explicitly says, “Christ died,
went to hell in order to preach to people, and/ or set them free before
rising from the dead.”
However, if you approached this text already
believing in this idea, one could, at the very least, see how people might
interpret Paul’s Zion metaphor as an allusion to it. But, it definitely
requires us to artificially insert it into this passage — not to mention,
miss Paul’s greater argument.
Now, for the sake of time, I won’t go
through each and every proof text listed above. However, in every case of
the five texts mentioned above, none of them definitively uphold this
mythological doctrine. All of them are an awkward fit that requires us to
jam this concept into passages where it simply doesn’t exist.
Last,
but not least, does it really matter?
Well, aside from making a mess
out of the critical Old Testament Covenant of Abraham… I suppose not.[3] In
the end, it’s probably more of a theological pet-peave of mine than it is a
critical point of doctrine. I certainly wouldn’t burn anyone at the stake
from your aunt Susie’s bible Study for wanting to believe it. And, if it was
true, it would make that old song from Carmen more exciting! (Remember “the
Champion” lol).
Some have theorized that, sometime after Christ’s
death and resurrection, Christ descended into Hades to proclaim to the evil
spirits that they have lost.[4] As strange as this sounds, I could see this
type of descent as consistent with the teachings of scripture. But, the
other type of descent – where God liberates righteous people and suddenly
relocates a holding tank (called paradise or Abraham’s Bosem) into heaven,
seems a bit far fetched from a scriptural standpoint.
At the end of
the day, we don’t exactly know what Christ was doing between Good Friday and
Easter Sunday. I’m imagining there was a full on coronation of sorts
happening… perhaps similar to how Daniel described it in Dan 7:13-14?
But whether you agree with me or not I’m just glad you are seeking out
the great and glorious Scriptures with me.
(For further reading,
Wayne Grudem covers all of these Bible texts and more – Systematic Theology
– Pgs 586-594).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Historian, Rodney Stark proves
that most priests didn’t know the 10 commands or even know the Lord’s Prayer
(from Matthew 6). See, chapter 15, “The People’s Religion” – Defective
Clergy (Pp. 260-261).
[2] If you’re interested in understanding the
Apostle Peter’s obsession with “the days of Noah,” it’s critical you
understand 1 Enoch and the Old Testament narrative regarding the Nephilim
(beginning in Genesis 6 and culminating again with the story of Noah).
Here’s a blog that does a great job summarizing the basic ideas:
https://jaminbradley.com/2019/04/20/what-did-jesus-do-while-he-was-dead/
[3] A lot of Christians falsely think that righteous people in the Old
Testament still went to Hades – which is why Jesus had to go there to
liberate them. This is based on the old Catholic idea of limbo (the idea
that God created holding tanks – like purgatory; paradise and limbus
infantum – a place for babies). Thus, it’s critical people understand that,
in the Old Testament, there was a covenant of Grace through faith – just
like we have in the New Testament (called the Abrahamic Covenant). It was
“Grace 1.0.” Thankfully, Christ upgraded the Abrahamic covenant through the
cross. And if you’re curious, I have an entire message on how this worked
called “How To Understand Covenants” from First Wednesday (March 2021) –
https://youtu.be/29DnALqUh1w. Or check out my more recent message: “The
Mountain View of Scripture” from June 16, 2024.
[4] Some people argue
that 1 Peter 3:19ff is following the tradition of the books of Enoch – where
Christ essentially explains the final defeat of the Nephilim – the rebellion
started at Genesis 6. Many believe that demons are the spirits of departed
Nephilim. And though a portion were allowed to roam the earth looking for
hosts, many were locked up.
