Why Christ Descended Into Hell? Rose Again?
Traditional, Conservative Protestants, such as I was a former conservative Wels orthodox Lutheran; we would recite creeds throughout the services here and there. The most well known creed is The Apostle's Creed. If you have ever read, heard and or recited The Apostle's Creed you have definitely come across the a line that confused you and wondered where it came from within the New Testament.
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I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his 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. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
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All Christians should and will confess what I highlighted from the Creed. Jesus Christ was crucified, then died and in turn was buried. Then the Creed says that "he descended into hell," Now depending on which Christian you ask, they will give you a different answer as to why Christ descended into hell. You can see what things heretics like Calvin said by clicking here. And other Christians will quote from Genesis 3:15. They will say that Christ descended to crush the head of satan. I had certainly thought that. However, the crushing of the head of satan occurred on the cross at the moment of death. And Some Christians ironically enough being Sola Scriptura thumpers, don't know the reason.
Section 1. What Christ's Mission Was
21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
So from before the birth of our Lord, we were told His mission was saving His people from their sins.
28 This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Saint John the Baptist proclaims when he sees Jesus for the first time, saying that this is the Lamb of God who came to take the sin of the world away.
28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; 17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
These are just four popular verses that many Christians know by heart. Now, when Christ died, did He only die for those who were alive in that moment and those who would be born after? Or did He die for all people, even those who died in their belief and waiting for the Messiah?
Section 2. The Death of Christ
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Jesus told the good thief, known as Saint Dismas, that "TODAY, you will be with me in Paradise." Now remember back to the creed, after Christ died, He descended into hell before ascending back into Heaven. And from what we know, Christ didn't go to Heaven at the moment of death, He rose after three days and then in Acts, also written by Saint Luke, we finally see Christ ascending back into Heaven. So it appears that Saint Luke either miswrote, or flat out lied. Or did he?
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Here in John 20, Christ had appeared to the women after He rose from the Dead. And here, He says that He still has not ascended into Heaven. So it still appears as if Saint Luke lied, however back in the verse, Christ did not say Heaven did He? He said Paradise. What is Paradise, well Church Fathers know what Paradise is and the Old Testament tells us. If you read the Septuagint which is the Translation by the ancient Jews of the Old Testament from Hebrew or Aramaic into Greek. Let's see what one Church Father says about Paradise.
Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted Paradise in Eden eastwards, and placed man there; and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. By the expressions, therefore, out of the ground, and eastwards, the holy writing clearly teaches us that Paradise is under this heaven, under which the east and the earth are. And the Hebrew word Eden signifies delight. And it was signified that a river flowed out of Eden to water Paradise, and after that divides into four heads; of which the two called Pison and Gihon water the eastern parts, especially Gihon, which encompasses the whole land of Ethiopia, and which, they say, reappears in Egypt under the name of Nile. And the other two rivers are manifestly recognisable by us — those called Tigris and Euphrates — for these border on our own regions. And God having placed man in Paradise, as has been said, to till and keep it, commanded him to eat of all the trees — manifestly of the tree of life also; but only of the tree of knowledge He commanded him not to taste. And God transferred him from the earth, out of which he had been produced, into Paradise, giving him means of advancement, in order that, maturing and becoming perfect, and being even declared a god, he might thus ascend into heaven in possession of immortality. For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, till it, no other kind of labour is implied than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin.
Theophilus of Antioch here is speaking about Paradise, the Garden of Eden. Yet is is noticing that in the Septuagint, the wording makes it out that Paradise is separate from the physical world, yet accessible at the Location of Eden back in Genesis. It is highly understood and speculated to very high degrees of certainty that when Paradise was guarded off, that it became what is called Abraham's Bosom. It is understood that the souls of those who God considered righteous and those who believed in God's promise of the Messiah and followed His laws went to Abraham's Bosom, which is also known as Paradise.
Now we are told exactly what Christ did when He died and where He went. Which does align with the Creed. And Remember back to Luke 4:16-19.
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, 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; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
He went and preached to the spirits in prison, prison being hell, where Abraham's Bosom was able to be viewed. [ 1. Luke 16:19-31] Also to note, many also speculate that Christ also preached to those who were not in Abraham's Bosom. And we know that once Christ ascended into Heaven He also did:
8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
Saint Paul is here is quoting what appears to be verbal teaching that when Christ ascended, He lead the captives to Heaven with Him, those captives would have been from Abraham's Bosom.
Section 3. What does it mean Christ "Rose Again?" & My Final Thoughts
Many Christians probably don't really think hard when reciting the Creed, and those who do notice these two words within the Creed probably think it must be a mistake or a later addition, or a false perspective. However that is not the case. The answer is simply that Christ came back to life again. This is affirmed by many groups and has been written about by many Q. & A. Articles on Christian Sites. I hope this Article has cleared up some confusion and answered some questions that have been lingering for sometime.
"The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn His face toward you
and give you peace." ☦
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