On Jesus's Descent into Hell

 From the Lexham Survey of Theology:

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The doctrine of Christ’s descent teaches that during the period between his death and resurrection, Jesus descended into the realm of the dead, sharing the lot of humanity, our common fate.

The designation of Sheol (Greek, hades) as the destination of human souls after death is described in Scripture with a sense of irreversible finality (Luke 16:19–31; 23:43). Beyond this, descriptions of Hades are scant in the biblical text, with some of the only elaboration being found in Christ’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which adds few details but serves to further reinforce the overall sense of finality. The certainty of Hades reveals an impotent humanity, unable to conquer their greatest enemy and making supplication to the living God, who alone is capable of rescuing from the grave (Pss 9:13; 86:13; Isa 38:17).

It follows then, that when Christ, having assumed true human nature, submits to death on a cross (Phil 2:8), he shares in the fate of humanity and descends with them into Hades (Heb 2:14–16). As with the nature of Hades itself, details of Christ’s activity while there have scant explicit testimony in Scripture.

Outside of Scripture, testimony to the doctrine is seen fairly early on in the history of the church, with Ignatius (Trallians 9), Irenaeus (AH 1.27.3; 4.27.2), Athanasius (ep. Epic.), Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechical Lectures 4.11; 14.18), Ambrose (On the Christian Faith 3.4.28; 3.14.111), and Augustine (Ep. 164.2) all making mention of it. Further elaboration can be found in the Middle Ages in Thomas Aquinas (STh III q.52) and in the Reformation in John Calvin (Inst. 2.16.9–10, vol.1) and Martin Luther (1533 sermon at Torgau).

The key text is 1 Peter 3:18–20: “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.” This is often coupled with 1 Peter 4:6: “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.” Throughout history there have been variant interpretations proposed for these texts: some have understood these passages to mean that in his descent, Christ proclaimed salvation to the souls of the Old Testament saints, while others have taken them to refer to Christ’s preaching through Noah prior to the deluge.

Rather than elaborating on what the Lord was doing while in Hades, the overwhelming witness of Scripture is concerned with reiterating the idea that he truly descended to the dead (Ps 62:10; Acts 2:24–32; Heb 13:20; Eph 4:7–10; Rom 10:6–7) and was subsequently raised from the dead, thereby conquering death (2 Tim 1:10), removing its sting (1 Cor 15:55), and retaining possession of its keys (Rev 1:18). The doctrine serves to reinforce the true humanity and death of Christ, as well as his resurrection and the vindication of his ministry and divine nature.


--- Zachary Lycans, Lexham Survey of Theology, 2018.

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