He descended to hell

ONE VOICE

Since the Nicene and Apostles’ creeds are accepted by most churches, it seems useful to comment on aspects of these confessions that may interest all Christians.

One line in the Apostles’ Creed — “he descended to hell” — stirs questions in the minds of believers. For many people, it sounds as if Christ suffered hell after he was buried. Such a notion seems to conflict with the proclamation of Jesus before he died, “It is finished.” Most scholars understand this to mean: his atoning sacrifice was completed. The Heidelberg Catechism states in answer 44 that Jesus suffered hell on the cross. Suffering hell after his finished sacrifice does not make sense.

One solution is to move “he descended to hell,” so it will read, “he was crucified, he descended to hell, died, and was buried.”

Another solution could be to put a full-stop after buried, and start a new sentence with “He descended to hell;” This option does not change the words, only the punctuation.

The New Testament word for hell is Hades or Gehenna. But the Apostles’ Creed does not use these words. The old Latin version of the Creed uses the word “inferos” (the place of saved souls. Luke 16:22-23), while the Greek version uses “katotata” (lower parts of earth, the grave. Eph. 4:9). It seems justified to change “hell” to “death” in the Apostles’ Creed.

Then this phrase becomes part of the 5th Article: “He descended to death; on the third day, he rose from the dead.” “Descended” and “rose” goes together. His death is thus confessed twice — as part of his suffering and of his victory.

Some think that Christ went into the underworld to free the souls of Old Testament believers and take them to paradise where he promised to meet the repentant robber crucified next to him.

When read in context, the remark of Peter that Christ preached to the spirits who were in prison since Noah’s time (1 Pet. 3:18-20) does not refer to Christ’s descending to death, but to his proclamation of victory after his resurrection.

The apostle Paul said in Romans 6 that Christ’s death and resurrection made it possible that our sins can be washed away (portrayed by baptism) and that our old nature can die and our new nature can live (Rom. 6:3, 11). Paul does not mention descending to hell, only death.

The well-known passage in the letter to the Philippians (2:5-11) about Christ’s descent and ascent does not mention hell either: “He became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God highly exalted him.”

The Nicene creed does not contain the words “he descended to hell.” Professing this creed eliminates disunity regarding this phrase.

Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books.