‘He descended into hell’
The traditional version of the Apostles’ Creed includes the words:
I believe in…Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
So also the Athanasian Creed:
‘[Christ] suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.’
But what does this mean?
Scriptural basis
Various Bible passages may be relevant.
Mt 12:40 “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”
Mt 27:50-53 Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. 27:51 Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. 27:52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. 27:53 (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.)
Acts 2:24 “But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.”
Acts 2:31 “David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.”
Eph 4:9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?
1 Pet 3:18f Because Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust,
to bring you to God,
by being put to death in the flesh
but by being made alive in the spirit.
3:19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1 Pet 4:6 Now it was for this very purpose that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh by human standards they may live spiritually by God’s standards.
Note also those texts which state that Christ rose ‘from the dead’ (not merely ‘from death’) – Mt 17:9; Lk 24:5; Acts 4:10; Rom 4:24; 1 Cor 15:20.
But:
- Several of these passages are of the nature of ‘tough texts’, whose meaning is disputed and uncertain.
- We should not assume, without careful study, that all these texts are relevant to Christ’s ‘descent’, or, indeed, that they all refer to the same condition or event.
- In none of these references is the word ‘hell’ used. The terminology is ‘Hades’, ‘the heart of the earth’, ‘the lower regions…the earth’, ‘prison’, ‘death’.
In OT teaching, both the righteous and the unrighteous dead go to a shadowy place called ‘Sheol’.
While the NT uses the word ‘Hades’ to identify in general terms the abode of the dead, it distinguishes between the ultimate destinies of the righteous and the unrighteous. The former go, at death, to be ‘with Christ, and finally will partake in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The latter go to ‘Gehenna’, ‘the lake of fire’.
The word ‘hell’ in this context is therefore misleading. As J.I. Packer (Growing in Christ) writes:
‘“Hell” has changed its sense since the English form of the Creed was fixed. Originally, “hell” meant the place of the departed as such, corresponding to the Greek Hades and the Hebrew Sheol. That is what it means here, where the Creed echoes Peter’s statement that Psalm 16:10, “thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades” (so RSV: AV has “hell”), was a prophecy fulfilled when Jesus rose (see Acts 2:27–31). But since the seventeenth century “hell” has been used to signify only the state of final retribution for the godless, for which the New Testament name is Gehenna.’
Packer continues:
‘What the Creed means, however, is that Jesus entered, not Gehenna, but Hades—that is, that he really died, and that it was from a genuine death, not a simulated one, that he rose.’
Accordingly, the modern version of the Apostles’ Creed has: ‘He descended to the dead’ (which may mean no more than ‘he died’).
When?
The ‘descent’ referred to in the Crees is usually understood to have taken place between Christ’s death and resurrection.
What did Christ’s ‘descent’ achieve?
The doctrine of Christ’s descent into hell is sometimes referred to as ‘The harrowing of hell’.
It receives some prominence in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic teaching.
The ‘Harrowing of hell’ includes, not only the idea that Christ descended to the place of the dead, but also that he released its captives (particularly, the saints of OT times).
Aquinas held that Christ’s ‘descent’ was virtual, rather than actual. By his death he brought hope of salvation to those who were detained in Purgatory.
Bucer and Beza regarded Christ’s ‘descent’ as simply a metaphor for the grave (i.e. for death).
In Anglican teaching, Hades is a general term for the abode of the dead, but with an impassable barrier between Gehenna and Paradise.
Among the Reformers and their successors:
‘William Perkins referred to four views on Christ’s descent: (1) a local descent; (2) descent as a synonym for “buried”; (3) descent as a metaphor to describe Christ’s sufferings; and (4) descent as a reference to the curse of death. The majority of Reformed theologians held to the second view (the grave where Christ was entombed). Calvin famously held to the third view, and Zacharias Ursinus joined with him in that interpretation of the Creed. The Westminster Assembly held to the second and third views (WCF, 8.4), although the catechisms express primarily the second view, that Christ was held under the power of death until His resurrection (Larger Catechism, Q. 50). Some at the assembly, like Goodwin, nevertheless adopted Calvin’s view. Love seems to join with Goodwin when he writes “that though Christ did not go down to hell, yet he suffered a great part of the pains and torments of hell upon the cross for thy sake.”’ (Beeke & Jones, A Puritan Theology)
In patristic and Medieval times, Christ’s descent was thought to deliver pre-Christian believers from Hades to heaven.
The descent represents, in the minds of many, Christ’s triumph over death and the powers of evil. It thus resonates with the ‘Christus victor’ image of the atonement.
Following Calvin, many reformed interpreters understood the descent to refer to Christ’s substitutionary sufferings on the cross.
‘In order to interpose between us and God’s anger, and satisfy his righteous judgment, it was necessary that he should feel the weight of divine vengeance. Whence also it was necessary that he should engage, as it were, at close quarters with the powers of hell and the horrors of eternal death…There is nothing strange in its being said that he descended to hell, seeing he endured the death which is inflicted on the wicked by an angry God…Not only was the body of Christ given up as the price of redemption, but that there was a greater and more excellent price—that he bore in his soul the tortures of condemned and ruined man.’ (Inst., Bk. II, Ch. XVI, Section 10.)
In the 19th century, some inferred a doctrine of post-mortem evangelism and salvation, especially for those who have not heard the gospel.
Timothy R. Phillips (Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology) doubts that we can say much about this:
‘The New Testament does not explore Jesus’ precise residence or activity while in Hades, unlike the later church traditions of the “harrowing of hell” or a “Hades Gospel.” It is widely accepted that the proclamation in 1 Peter 3:19 occurs after rather than before his resurrection (v. 18, “made alive by the Spirit”), and that the dead in 1 Peter 4:6 are deceased believers who heard the gospel while alive.’
Packer (op. cit.), on the other hands, outlined what Christ achieved by entering Hades, the realm of the dead:
‘First, by his presence he made Hades into Paradise (a place of pleasure) for the penitent thief (cf. Luke 23:43), and presumably for all others who died trusting him during his earthly ministry, just as he does now for the faithful departed (see Philippians 1:21–23; 2 Corinthians 5:6–8).
‘Second, he perfected the spirits of Old Testament believers (Hebrews 12:23; cf. 11:40), bringing them out of the gloom which Sheol, the “pit,” had hitherto been for them (cf. Psalm 88:3–6, 10–12), into this same Paradise experience. This is the core of truth in Medieval fantasies of the “harrowing of hell.”
‘Third, 1 Peter 3:19 tells us that he “made proclamation” (presumably, of his kingdom and appointment as the world’s judge) to the imprisoned “spirits” who had rebelled in antediluvian times (presumably, the fallen angels of 2 Peter 2:4 ff., who are also the “sons of God” of Genesis 6:1–4). Some have based on this one text a hope that all humans who did not hear the gospel in this life, or who having heard it rejected it, will have it savingly preached to them in the life to come, but Peter’s words do not provide the least warrant for the inference.’
But, most importantly,
‘We can face death knowing that when it comes we shall not find ourselves alone. He has been there before us, and he will see us through.’