Did Jesus Descend into Hell??
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Many of you grew up reciting the Apostle’s Creed, and as far as a creed goes, it is fairly accurate, but I can’t bring myself to say one part—that Jesus descended into hell.
This is a fairly popular teaching, but is it Biblical? Just because something is worded in a famous historical creed, does it necessarily mean that it is theologically accurate?
Most scholars consider 1 Peter 3:18-20 to be one of the most difficult passages in all the New Testament to understand.
Martin Luther said this about it: “A wonderful text this is, and a more obscure passage than perhaps any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for certainty just what Peter means.”
If Martin Luther can’t figure it out, I am in serious trouble.
Let’s ask the important question: Did Jesus in fact descend into hell between His death and resurrection? And if so, what did He do there?
1 Peter 3:18–20 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
From this text, we must ask four specific questions.
First of all, when did this occur? Secondly, where did Jesus actually go? Thirdly, to whom did He preach—who exactly are the spirits in prison? And fourthly, what was His message? What did He preach to them?
There have been four primary theories on this, and by studying all four, delving into the original languages, and examining the Old Testament, I have arrived at the view I support. I will not be dogmatic about this, as this is an obscure Scripture, and we cannot build an entire theology on this one text.
That is what happens to cults and aberrant streams of the Christian faith. They take an isolated, very difficult passage and build an entire doctrine on it.
Now, what are the four views?
Number One: “Harrowing of Hell”
The earliest view in church history is that the spirits are people who sinned during the time of Noah and are now in hell.
Since they were wiped out in the flood and didn’t have a chance to repent, sometime between His death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus descended to hell to preach the gospel to these people to give them another chance to repent.
I totally reject this theory because nowhere in Scripture are we told that sinners have a second chance after death, and Noah did give them 120 years to repent. He was a preacher of righteousness and was warning them that the flood was coming.
Who held this view?
Ø Clement of Alexander
Ø Origen
Ø Tertullian
Number Two: Limbus partum (Limbo of the Fathers)
The second view holds that the spirits in prison are Old Testament saints who died and now reside in Sheol—a holding tank. They haven’t yet gone to heaven, and Jesus goes to this holding tank, proclaims the gospel to them, and takes them to heaven with Him.
The problem with this is that the spirits in prison are defined as being disobedient. This wouldn’t characterize Old Testament believers. Additionally, Peter appears to narrow the situation to the days of Noah rather than to the entire Old Testament.
Who believed this?
Ø Irenaeus
Ø Thomas Aquinas
Ø Roman Catholic Theology
Number Three: Noah preached Christ to his generation in the power of the Spirit
Augustine first articulated the third view, which has since become the dominant view in Reformed and Puritan circles.
This view was Augustine’s response to the early church’s belief that Jesus descended to hell to offer sinners a second chance. This didn’t sit well with Augustine, so he basically spiritualized what Jesus did.
Instead of Jesus preaching, he states that, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was present in the days of Noah and empowered Noah to preach to his generation.
The spirits in prison are unbelievers in Noah’s day who didn’t believe the message and are now suffering in hell. So in essence, it wasn’t a descent into hell or Hades or Sheol, but it was back in Noah’s day through the Holy Spirit.
Although this is the classic Reformed and Puritan view, I also reject this view.
The main reason is that the term “spirits” refers to demons, not humans. This view also tends to “spiritualize” the text rather than read it at face value.
This view imports the role of the Holy Spirit empowering Noah to preach the gospel to “spirits” during his day who rejected the message and are now in hell. They are suffering in hell as humans, not demonic spirits.
Who holds this view?
Ø Augustine
Ø Calvin
Ø Luther
Ø John Owen
Ø William Perkins
Ø Richard Sibbes
Ø Thomas Watson
Ø B.B. Warfield
Ø Herman Bavinck
Ø Louis Berkhof
Ø R. C. Sproul
Ø Joel Beeke
Ø Wayne Grudem
Ø Michael Horton
So what’s the fourth view?
Number Four: Proclamation of Victory Post-Resurrection
Christ did not descend into hell, but at His resurrection, He proclaimed victory over all demonic powers, not just those limited to Genesis 6 and the time of the flood.
After reading numerous commentaries and digging into the Scriptures myself, I am convinced that this view is probably the most accurate.
So let’s answer the four questions.
To whom did Jesus preach?
Since Peter uses the days of Noah as his context, the spirits in prison are actually demons or fallen angels who came to earth in Genesis 6 and had relations with the daughters of men.
Genesis 6:1-4 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
This was Satan’s failed attempt to corrupt the earth. Spirit beings—fallen angels and demons—entered human bodies and cohabited with women, producing an ungodly offspring—the Nephilim. These were all destroyed in the flood, like the rest of humankind.
Those unclean spirits were sent to prison or the abyss by God for their treachery. They filled the earth with violence and rebellion for 120 years, so much so that no one repented at Noah’s preaching.
In the Greek text, the word “spirits” is used in the plural.
In the New Testament, this almost always refers not to human beings but to angels or demons. In addition, the word for “prison” is never used to describe a place of punishment for humans after death.
It’s actually used of Satan’s being bound for 1000 years in Revelation.
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison.
We also get evidence from 2nd Peter and Jude that demonic spirits are in prison.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day-
So, from the passage in Genesis to the meaning of the Greek words to other evidence, it seems that there are demonic spirits in prison to whom Jesus preached.
Second, where did Jesus go? Did He descend into hell to preach to these demons?
I don’t believe He did.
In verse 19, the text says He “went.” It doesn’t say He descended or went down. Other Greek words could have been used to denote a downward motion. It is a general word for “going.”
But contextually, this word in the Greek shows up in verse 22—“who has gone” into heaven. In both cases, they are in the same Greek construction.
So I take it to mean that when Jesus ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father, He proclaimed to these spirits who were in prison. I don’t believe Jesus went to hell to preach to them, but rather proclaimed the way up to heaven in His ascension.
So this answers the when. I believe it was at His ascension. Not sometime between his death and resurrection. And it wasn’t a descent into hell.
Third, what was the message?
Did Jesus somehow proclaim the gospel to these demons?
What would be the purpose of that? Peter could have used the Greek word “euangelizo,” which means to proclaim the gospel, but he used another Greek word, which means to declare or herald a message publicly.
In other words, Jesus preaches a victory message of His conquering death and sin and demonic powers and His triumph over them. He does this on His way back up to heaven as a vindication and message of victory and judgment against those demons.
Colossians 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Who believes this fourth view?
Modern Day Conservative Baptists
Ø John MacArthur
Ø D. A. Carson
Ø Tom Schreiner
Did Jesus descend into hell? No.
Did Jesus go to Sheol (a holding tank) during His burial, deliver the Old Testament saints, and bring them up to heaven with Him? There is no exegetical evidence for this view.
Did Noah proclaim the message of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to his own generation? Yes, he did, but I don’t think this is what Peter is referring to.
At His resurrection, did Jesus proclaim a message of absolute victory over all demonic spirits who are now in prison?
While not dogmatic, I think this view best explains this very complex text.
Agreed in a non dogmatic application here. Well done. It would be, "not of His character" to desend and bring back, and leading; by implication that would equate to the LORD as being unjust.