What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?
The Apostles' Creed says Jesus 'descended into hell,' but the word behind it is Hades, the realm of the dead, not the final lake of fire. Scripture's emphasis is that Christ really died, really entered the place of the dead, and was not abandoned there: He rose victorious. The line confesses the completeness of His death and the depth of His victory.
This question arose from studying Why did Jesus have to die? and What happened between the cross and the resurrection?.
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What the Scripture says
What the creed says: He went to Hades, the realm of the dead
The creed's 'descended into hell' translates the earlier 'descended into Hades,' the realm of the dead, what the Old Testament calls Sheol. Paul says that the Christ who ascended 'first descended into the lower parts of the earth,' and Jesus compared His own death to Jonah's three days and nights 'in the heart of the earth.' The confession testifies that His death was real: He did not merely appear to die; He went where the dead go.
Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Hades is the grave and the realm of the dead, not the final hell
Peter's Pentecost sermon quotes David: 'You will not leave my soul in Hades,' and he applies it to Christ. Like Sheol, Hades in the New Testament is the place of the dead, sometimes pictured with the ungodly in torment and the righteous in comfort; it is not the lake of fire at the final judgment. Jesus Himself told the dying thief, 'Today you will be with me in Paradise,' and in the same hour committed His spirit into His Father's hands. Death was not heaven for Him then; it was the doorway through which He trusted His Father.
because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
He was not held there; He rose holding the keys
Peter says God raised Him up, 'having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.' Death did its worst and could not contain Him. The risen Christ announces, 'I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more... I have the keys of Death and of Hades.' The descent is not a defeat; it is the moment in the heart of the earth before the grave gave way.
whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
What about 'the spirits in prison'?
First Peter says the Spirit-anointed Christ 'went and preached to the spirits in prison,' the disobedient of the days of Noah, and 1 Peter 4 adds that the gospel 'was preached even to the dead.' Interpreters differ: some hear a proclamation of victory to fallen spirits, others an offer of grace to the dead, and the church has never made one reading a test of faith. What is certain from the whole passage is that after His death Christ was active, triumphant, and 'at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.'
Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
The point is the completeness of His victory
Hebrews says He shared our flesh and blood 'so that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.' Paul pictures the cross itself as the triumph: Christ 'stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.' The descent into Hades tells us how low love went to save us, and the resurrection tells us how complete the victory is. That is why the creed does not end in the tomb; it moves from 'descended into hell' straight to the third day and the resurrection.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”
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because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
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