Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DESCENT INTO HELL

A widely held belief in the early Church, and later an article of the Apostles’ Creed, that between his crucifixion and resurrection Jesus descended into the underworld (Hades) either to proclaim victory, to release OT saints, or to proclaim the gospel. Such beliefs and their later credal development emphasized the universality of salvation offered in Jesus Christ.

No single biblical passage refers to all these elements, but the Jewish tradition had analogies to such descents (Ps. 16; 18; 42:7[MT 8]; 69:2[3]; Jonah 2:2-6; 1 Enoch). NT sources for the descent into hell are Peter’s Pentecost speech (Acts 2:24-31) and passages from the Pauline corpus (Rom. 10:7; Eph. 4:9; 1 Cor. 15:54). Sayings of Jesus provided further sources for the later elaboration of the belief (Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:28-29; John 5:19-29).

Jesus’ descent into hell and subsequent resurrection were commonly associated with two themes, the overthrow of evil powers or angels and the liberation of the righteous Jewish saints. The idea of Jesus’ preaching to the dead was a 2nd-century development associated with 1 Pet. 3:18 by Justin, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus. In the late 4th century Augustine of Hippo interpreted the Petrine account allegorically as referring to Christian preaching to sinners (the “dead”). The clause “He descended into Hell” was first included in the early Roman Creed of Aquileia by Rufinus, ca. 400 c.e.

Bibliography. W. J. Dalton, Christ’s Proclamation to the Spirits, 2nd ed. AnBib 23 (Rome, 1989); B. I. Reicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism (Copenhagen, 1946).

Iain S. Maclean

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DESCENT INTO HELL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)