Who were 'the spirits in prison', and what did Christ preach to them?
First Peter tells us that the Spirit-anointed Christ 'went and preached to the spirits in prison,' those who were disobedient in the days of Noah. The church has understood this in more than one way, and none of them is a test of faith. What the passage makes certain is that after His death Christ was active and triumphant, and that the powers that oppose Him are made subject to Him.
This question arose from studying What happened between the cross and the resurrection? and What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?.
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First Peter says Christ, 'put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,' 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.' The passage links this to the salvation of 'eight souls' through water, and calls that a symbol of baptism. So the text itself ties whatever Christ did to Noah's day, and to the victory His resurrection secured.
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.
Are they fallen angels or the people of Noah's flood?
Interpreters divide here. Some, noting that 'spirits' can mean angels and that 2 Peter and Jude speak of angels held 'in everlasting bonds,' read this as Christ proclaiming victory to fallen angels imprisoned since before the flood. Others note the parallel with Noah and with 1 Peter 4, and read it as the souls of the flood-generation, to whom Christ proclaimed the gospel. It is precisely because the text is not obvious that the church has held both readings in its history.
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.
For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
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.
What Christ's preaching was, one of two ways
If the 'spirits' are fallen angels, Christ's 'preaching' to them is a declaration of His victory, the pronouncement of judgment to the imprisoned rebels. If they are the dead of Noah's generation, the preaching is Christ's proclamation to them, and 1 Peter 4:6, 'the Good News was preached even to the dead,' is cited in support; as the next point makes clear, this is never read as an offer of a second chance after death. The church has never settled this into a single required reading, and the text does not command one. What it does command is humility before a mystery we see in part.
in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,
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.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
What it does not mean
No responsible reading of this passage teaches a second chance after death. Nothing here says the gospel is offered to the dead in general or that the lost can be saved later; 1 Peter 4:6 explains that the gospel was preached even to the dead so that 'they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit,' speaking of those who had heard it and died, not a post-mortem offer. Hebrews stands against any second chance: 'it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment.'
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.
Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
The certain truth: Christ is victorious over death and every power
Everything in the passage serves one great certainty: 'Christ... is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.' When He died and went to the place of the dead, He was not conquered; He came out holding the keys, having stripped the principalities and powers and triumphed over them in the cross. That is the gospel in the text, and it is enough. The rest we can hold with open hands and an open Bible.
who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
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.
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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.
For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
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