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He Descended Into Hell
He Descended Into Hell
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell.1 I have recited the words to the Apostles
Creed countless times, usually without thinking about the words. What was there to think about?
Much of Christian theology and doctrine was arguable, and had been argued regularly among my
friends. It was fun for us to question the more confusing and debatable doctrines. We spent
hours talking over the implications of predestination, or considering the evidence against a young
earth. It was okay to question these things even healthy. But there were some truths that
couldnt be questioned. These capital T Truths were contained in the creeds: God created the
earth, Jesus was the Son of God, and so on. And, of all the creeds, the Apostles Creed was
supposed to be the most fundamental a concise and accurate summary of Christian belief. This
may be why I never questioned the statement, He descended into hell. However, once I
noticed this seemingly un-Scriptural doctrine, I struggled with its place in the creed. I have even
omitted the line during readings at church, in order not to profess something I did not believe as
truth. Jesus alleged descent into hell was not present in any of the crucifixion-resurrection
accounts, and seemed to have no representation in other Scripture. Additionally, it didnt make
sense. What was the only human to die without sin doing in hell? To answer this question, we
The Apostles Creed, despite its name, was written and formed after the apostolic age by
the Fathers of the early church. It did not come about all at once, but was made through the
combination and development of several earlier Christian creeds. 2 The first recorded instance of
the title Apostles Creed (Latin symbolum apostolorum) dates to 390 AD, in a letter from the
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Council of Milan to Pope Siricius.3 The creed presented in this letter was missing some of the
clauses present in the modern creed, including the descent clause, which, though present in
documents dating back to 359 AD, was not generally accepted as part of the creed until the early
seventh century.4 This further calls into question the validity of this doctrine, and begs the
question: where did it come from? As I will demonstrate, this idea had a significant presence in
early church writings. However, in order to fully understand these writings, we must understand
The New Testament made many revisions and additions to the theology in the Hebrew
Bible. One of these changes was the New Testaments view on the afterlife. In the Old
Testament, the dead were thought to exist in the realm of Sheol (Hebrew the grave), a place of
darkness5 holding both the faithful and unfaithful, where there is neither working nor planning
nor knowledge nor wisdom.6 In the Septuagint, the word Sheol was replaced with Hades, a
rough equivalent in Greek mythology, where both righteous and unrighteous souls were kept.7 In
the intertestamental period, however, a shift seems to have taken place. Instead of one catch-
all resting place for the dead, Hades was divided into two compartments. Hades proper
became a place of suffering for the unrighteous, while the righteous were harbored in a place of
comfort and rest, known as Abrahams bosom. Now, the actual ancient belief in this doctrine,
as well as its theological accuracy and value, is debated among scholars and theologians today,
and has been throughout history. However, we know that ancient Jews were at least familiar
with the doctrine, as Jesus referenced it in his parable about the rich man and Lazarus. 8 After
3 Ibid., 20.
4 Scharlemann, He Descended Into Hell, 311.
5 Psalm 88:12, NIV.
6 Ecclesiastes 9:10.
7 Phipps, op. cit., 150.
8 Luke 16:19-31.
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Jesus death and resurrection, a new Christian theology developed that Christ would return
someday to judge, and bringing those who knew him to live with him eternally, while those in
Hades (anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life, 9), would be thrown into
the lake of fire, along with death and Hades. But what would happen to the patriarchs and
righteous ones, such as Abraham, David, and Isaiah, who lived before the time of Christ? This is
The descent motif was a doctrine present in the early church that claimed that Jesus,
between his death and resurrection, visited Hades to proclaim the gospel to those who had not
had the chance to hear it. This idea is well documented in early Christian writings. Some of the
earliest mentions of the doctrine are actually found in some second century gnostic writings.
One work entitled The Testimony of Truth portrays Jesus time in Hades as a sort of extension of
his earthly ministry, in which he went down to Hades, and performed many mighty works. He
raised the dead therein[and]the lame, the blind, the paralytic, the dumb, (and) the demon-
possessed were granted healing. And he walked upon the waters of the sea. 10. It almost seems
as if Christ were recreating his earthly ministry as a witness to those in Hades. Another gnostic
writing from the late second century has Jesus descending to the underworld to free the children
of death, to [seal] up the underworld, and to [break] its strong bows.11 This may represent a
broadening of the theology of descent, at least in the context of the gnostic tradition. However,
The late second century church father Irenaeus, in a writing denouncing the beliefs of
those such as the Gnostics, references the descent narrative, and quotes scripture (as the prophet
says) to defend his claim: And the Lord remembered his dead saints who slept formerly in
9 Revelation 20:15
10 Testimony of Truth, para. 6.
11 Teachings of Silvanus, para. 46.
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the land of sepulture; and He descended to them to rescue and save them. 12 It is unsure what
source Irenaeus is using, but it seems to suggest that this idea had an even earlier precedent in the
Judeo-Christian tradition. More importantly, it narrows the scope of the descent narrative and
makes Jesus purpose a specific rescue mission to the righteous and the saints that had died
before Christ, and were still being kept in Hades. This is the theme that would become most
prominent among the early church. Regarding those who were righteous without faith in the
Lord (i.e. Lord Jesus), Father Clement of Alexandria wrote: Wherefore the Lord preached the
recognized the popular doctrine among Christians that already the patriarchs and prophets have
removed from Hades in the retinue of the Lords resurrection.14 Our most detailed account of
Jesus descent, however, comes from the mid-fourth century apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.
The Gospel of Nicodemus (alternatively titled The Acts of Pilate) is divided into two
parts. The second part, The Descent into Hell, was not originally part of the gospel. Most
probably, it was an earlier document added onto the end of the gospel at a later date. 15 The story
starts with an ensemble of New Testament characters Annas, Caiaphas, Joseph of Arimathea,
Nicodemus, and Gamaliel meeting the sons of Simeon, 16 Karinus and Leucius, who had been
raised from the dead by Christ (who had by now ascended), and were crying out and praying in
the city.17 And so, the sons of Simeon meet with the others and relate to them the story of their
resurrection:
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Now when we were set together with all our fathers in the deep, in obscurity of darkness,
on a sudden there came a golden heat of the sun and a purple and royal light shining upon
us. And immediately the father of the whole race of men, together with all the patriarchs
and prophets, rejoiced, saying: This light is the beginning (author) of everlasting light
which did promise to send unto us his co-eternal light. And Esaias cried out and said:
This is the light of the Father, even the Son of God, according as I prophesied when I
lived upon the earth: The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim beyond Jordan, of
Galilee of the Gentiles, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them did the light shine. And
These acts of prophecy continue, with various of the righteous, pre-crucifixion deceased
attesting the fulfillment of their predictions about the coming of such a light. And then the story
And while all the saints were rejoicing, behold Satan the prince and chief of death said
unto Hell: Make thyself ready to receive Jesus who boasteth himself that he is the Son of
God, whereas he is a man that feareth death, and sayeth: My soul is sorrowful even unto
death. And he hath been much mine enemy, doing me great hurt, and many that I had
made blind, lame, dumb, leprous, and possessed he hath healed with a word: and some
whom I have brought unto thee dead, them hath he taken away from thee.19
Despite Satans hopes to oppose Christ, he is trampled and delivered to the confinement
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And the Lord stretched forth his hand and made the sign of the cross over Adam and over
all his saints, and he took the right hand of Adam and went up out of hell, and all the
saints followed him. Then did holy David cry aloud and say: Sing unto the Lord a new
song, for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand hath wrought salvation for him
and his holy arm. The Lord hath made known his saving health, before the face of all
nations hath he revealed his righteousness. And the whole multitude of the saints
answered, saying: Such honour have all his saints. Amen, Alleluia.20
This picture of Christs descent to Hades was a well-known, if not accepted, part of early
church Christology. Most early sources portray the descent as a mission to rescue the saints of
old and save them from the darkness of Hades. However, I suspect that most people today, when
reciting the clause, he descended into hell, are not aware of this ancient belief, and have either
understanding is due to the fluid nature of certain aspects of theology throughout Christian
history.
Some of the earliest signs of a shift in theology can be found in the works of the third
century church father Origen. In his work Against Celsus, he states about Jesus: when He
became a soul, without the covering of a body, he dwelt among those souls which were without
bodily covering, converting such of them as were willing to Himself, or those whom He saw, for
reasons known to Him alone, to be better adapted to such a course. 21 In Origens theology,
Christs purpose was not limited to the salvation of the righteous, but included also the
conversion of the non-righteous. This view of the descent is, in some ways reminiscent of the
gnostic writings, which portrayed Jesus time in Hades as a continuation of his earthly ministry.
20 Ibid. 24:2.
21 Origen, Against Celsus, 2:43.
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It is clearly distinct from the common rescue mission view of the early church. Origens
addition to the theology calls into question Christs true purpose for descending to Hades. Why
These are the questions that Thomas Aquinas seeks to answer in Question 52 of the third
part of his Summa Theologica. Question 52 contains eight articles, four of which directly
address who Christ saved in his descent: Whether Christ descending into hell delivered the holy
Fathers from thence?, Whether Christ delivered any of the lost from hell?, Whether the
children who died in original sin were delivered by Christ?, and Whether Christ by His descent
into hell delivered souls from purgatory?22 (Summa Theologica, 3:52:5-8) Aquinas contends
that only the first of these questions can be answered affirmatively. In this way, he endorses the
Patristic view. Christs descent had a singular purpose: not to convert, not to evangelize, but to
retrieve.
It is not surprising that Martin Luther, the great reformer especially in regards to the
Catholic doctrine that Aquinas espoused would promote a different understanding of the
descent. In a restating of the doctrine presented in the Apostles Creed, Luther claimed that
Christ descended into hell to subdue the deviland take him captive along with all his power,
cunning, and malice so that the devil can no longer harm me 23 Luthers account is
conspicuously devoid of any mention of those souls kept in Hades, patriarch, prophet, or
otherwise. Luther instead personalizes and, to an extent, demythologizes the early patristic
belief. According to Luther, the descent into Hades was not a backward-looking act of grace on
the righteous of old, but rather a forward-looking one for all future believers.
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This is a radical departure from the standard doctrine. However, the last nail in the
patristic views coffin came from the sixteenth century theologian John Calvin. When
considering the meaning of the descent clause, he put forward a more figurative interpretation,
interpreting hell as the severity of Gods vengeance, to appease his wrath and satisfy his just
judgment,24 a doctrine with which I am very familiar having grown up Christian Reformed.
This view completely dismisses the idea of Christ actually descending, but instead makes hell
equivalent to the wrath of God. Calvin went so far as to say that the idea of a prison for the souls
of the dead (i.e. Hades) was childish. 25 Christ went through hell in a strictly figurative sense.
This is the view that I have most encountered today. To evaluate the merit of this view (and all
the others presented to this point), we must turn to the Bible. Considering the descent clauses
prominence in the early church (Augustine said that only an infidel would deny Jesus descent 26),
it has relatively little representation in the Bible. I will be examining three key passages and
Firstly, Ephesians 4:9-10, What does he ascended mean except that he also descended
to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all
the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. Some translations (e.g. the King James Version)
have lower, earthly regions as the lower parts of the earth. These sorts of translations
support the idea of Christs literal descent into Hades. In fact, in defense of the descent, Aquinas
primarily cites this verse, with an additional note that a gloss adds: that is into hell. 27 This
interpretation might also be supported the phrase, to fill the whole universe, which might
imply Christs presence in all places, above and below the earth. However, the standard
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interpretation of this sees the apostle Paul contrasting Christs ascension from earth to heaven
with his descent to earth from heaven, with no reference to the post-crucifixion descent.
A second passage often brought up in reference to the descent clause is I Peter 3:18-20,
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. This verse is often used
in support of the descent clause, but it varies largely from the descent motif present in early
church documents. Instead of Christ descending to retrieve the faithful patriarchs and prophets,
he is instead preaching to those who were disobedient long ago. This is a difficult text, and
one with which Augustine struggled for an extended time. 28 Various hypotheses about the
passage have been put forth. Most simply one could take it at face value, as another riff on the
early churchs descent motif. Some have conjectured that the verse was actually meant to refer
to Enoch, but through the process of transcription, the name was somehow omitted. 29 In this case,
however, it seems that the mention of Enoch would have been completely random and out of
context. Additionally, some have taken it as a figurative expression about how the effects of the
resurrection were felt even among the dead. 30 Clearly, there are endless ways to interpret it, but
The third and final passage that I will discuss is Matthew 27:52-53, and the tombs broke
open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the
tombs after Jesus resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. This
verse apparently supports the version of the descent narrative presented in the apocryphal Gospel
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of Nicodemus, in which the dead saints (e.g. Karinus and Leucius) were raised and were seen
preaching in the city. However, some have suggested that these verses serve as an apocalyptic
apostrophe, that is to say, that, in this passage, Matthew breaks from the crucifixion narrative
with a sort of prophetic interlude, predicting the future resurrection. 31 This view, it is argued, is
consistent with the New Testament tendency to view the resurrection as a future event.
All of these passages have myriad interpretations. Our role, as Christians, is to decide not
only which interpretation is correct, but also how that interpretation affects our understanding of
Christ, the Bible, salvation, hell, and so on. In my understanding, there are three ways to
Firstly, we can accept it as true. For me, there has always been something appealing
about getting back to the beliefs of the early church. A study of early church writings shows
overwhelmingly that the descent motif was a common and accepted doctrine. Should we not
trust those who were closest to being contemporaries of Christ? My main problem with this
approach which is a problem I have faced in a lot in my interpretation of the Old Testament is
that this whole doctrine smacks of mythology. Now, I know it is perhaps not logical to dismiss a
mythological. Nonetheless, it seems that the more of these supernatural tales that I choose to
accept as truth, the more Christianity resembles just another ancient religion. The descent into
Hades specifically reminds me of any of a number of similar stories straight out of Greek
mythology.32 If Christianity is just another mythology, then I have no real reason to hold it as
truth above any other ancient belief. By mythologizing Christianity, its uniqueness and,
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consequently, its claim to truth are called into question. For these reasons, I cannot accept this
first approach.
On the other hand, we can shape these passages to mean something else. This has been
shown above in the example of John Calvin, who saw the creeds descent clause as a metaphor
for Jesus experience of Gods wrath, or in the example of Kenneth Waters, who interpreted the
passage in Matthew as a prophetic statement. As helpful as these views are in maintaining the
uniqueness of the Christian narrative and avoiding unnecessary mythologization, they ignore a
long and well-documented tradition present in the early church. Calvins explanation of the
descent clause, for example, seems less like an attempt to expound the theological intent of the
creed, and more like a misappropriation of the text to fit his own theology. By ignoring
historical context, we can turn these writings into hollow texts, only as useful as they can be
worked into a presupposed theology. Thus, I must also reject this second approach.
The final and I would argue, correct approach would be to see it for what it is: a
widely popular, albeit spurious doctrine meant to provide an explanation of the fate of those Old
Testament faithful who died before Christs atoning work. Rejecting the literal occurrence of
these events does not mean, though, that this doctrine is inherently without value. On the
contrary, it offers a beautiful picture of the grand scope of Jesus death and resurrection, as well
as his victory over the grave. Should the descent clause be recited in the creed alongside the
central tenets of our faith? Probably not. Can we learn something about Christ through this
And the Lord stretching forth his hand, said: Come unto me, all ye my saints which bear
mine image and my likeness. Ye that by the tree and the devil and death were
condemned, behold now the devil and death condemned by the tree.
11
The Gospel of Nicodemus 24:1
12
Bibliography
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Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford
Lewis Battles. Vol. 20 of The Library of Christian Classics, ed. John Baillie, John T.
McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen, 511-520. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-stromata-book6.html
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelnicodemus.html
Grudem, Wayne. He Did Not Descend Into Hell: A Plea for Following Scripture Instead of the
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Mythweb.com, s.v. Heracles, accessed November 20, 2015,
http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/heracles.html
http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/orpheus.html
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen162.html
Phipps, William E. The Apostles Creed: The Ongoing Struggle of the Church to Define Its Basic
Scaer, David P. He Did Descend Into Hell: In Defense of the Apostles Creed. Journal of the
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Collapse in the Gospel of Matthew. Journal of Biblical Literature 122/3 (2003): 489-
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