The Harrowing of Hell and Related Inscrutables

Questions about a Puzzling Passage:
1 Peter 4:6 says that Christ preached (preaches?) to the dead. Somewhere else it says that Christ went down to the dead after his crucifixion (doesn't it?) Does this mean that there is a second chance for redemption after death? Would that be for those who never were exposed to the teachings of Christ on earth? Or is it also a second chance for all of us? Or does it mean none of the above?

An Answer:
The “somewhere else’ is the Apostles Creed.

Book of Common Prayer – 1662

I believe in God the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth:And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,Born of the Virgin Mary,Suffered under Pontius Pilate,Was crucified, dead, and buried:He descended into hell;The third day he rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Ghost;The holy Catholick Church;The Communion of Saints;The Forgiveness of sins;The Resurrection of the body,And the Life everlasting.Amen.

Common Worship – 2000

I believe in God, the Father almighty,creator of heaven and earth.I believe 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 to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,he is seated at the right hand of the Father,and 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 the life everlasting.Amen.

1 Peter actually introduces the concept in chapter 3. The commentaries agree about only one thing about this whole section of 1 Peter and the theology associated with it. It presents the darkest, most controversial and difficult exegetical problems of any passage in the Bible.

1 Peter 3:18-20

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

1 Peter 4:6For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

Other related scriptures:

Job 38:17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Psalm 68:18-22You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there. 19Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. 20Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death. 21But God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways. 22The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

Matthew 12:38-41Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

Acts 2:22-32“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; 26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. 27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. 28You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’ 32This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.

Romans 10:7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Ephesians 4:7-10But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” 9(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)

Matthew 16.18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.A few important language issues:

• “Hell” is not the best translation of the Creed. Hell implies the place of punishment for the condemned, but “Hades” (Greek) or “Sheol” (Hebrew) give the understanding of the place for all the dead – righteous and unrighteous. Much of the Old Testament gives little if any clue as to a life beyond these “shades” or “shadows.” Hades and Sheol could just mean the dark hole in the ground that was a grave. So could just mean the darkness in which dead people were gathered. Thus, modern translations of the Creed do not say Jesus descended into hell but to the dead or the place of the dead.

• Gradually, by Jesus’ time, a distinction was made between Paradise or Abraham's Bosom – the state of God-fearing souls and “Gehenna” – the state of ungodly souls. “Gehenna” comes from ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom” in Hebrew; 2 Kings 23:10) where the sinful Israelites offered human sacrifices to the Canaanite god Molech. To prevent future idolatry, this was turned into the Jerusalem garbage dump after the Jews returned from exile and was kept continually burning to dispose of garbage and prevent spread of disease. Dead criminals were burned with the garbage as an insult if not punishment. It became a symbol for the fires of the judgment of God associated with Hell.

• The word in 1 Peter 3:19 for Jesus preaching to the dead is kyrusso which means to made a proclamation or an announcement. Elsewhere in the New Testament (including 1 Peter 2:9 and 4:6) euaggelizo is used for preaching the Good News (Gospel). The NRSV properly makes this distinction.

• 1 Peter 3:19 says that Christ “made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,” and 4:6 says “the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead.”

• Some have suggested that Luke 23.43 precludes Jesus’ descent to the dead because he told the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” However, the placement of the comma is not in the original but added by translators, so could just as well read, “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

Here are the basic alternate views:

• In the time of Noah, pre-incarnate Christ preached to those facing the impending judgment of the flood so that they were without excuse.

• Probably at the time between crucifixion and resurrection (though there are variations here), Jesus preached to the dead in Hades/Sheol. These may be Old Testament saints who are liberated from the darkness and brought into the light of God’s presence to await the resurrection

o Pagans who had not heard the “Gospel” of Abraham (the righteous live by faith) and are given the opportunity to accompany Jesus into the light of God’s presence to await the resurrection.

o All who have rejected God’s grace (Hebrew and Gentile alike) who have their doom announced that they are justly excluded from God’s presence.

• Since 1 Peter speaks of Jesus “preaching” to “spirits,” between Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus goes to the fallen angels and condemned evil spirits to announce his victory over sin and death, and thus their defeat.

• Thomas Aquinas said Christ descended to two places—hell and purgatory—and that his purpose in each was different. In hell, he put unbelievers to shame, while in purgatory, he gave sinners hope for glory and the righteous deliverance.

• Though rejected by a wide range of theologians, some preachers suggest that Jesus’ death on the cross was just the beginning of his redemptive work, but that it continued by really going to hell and experiencing eternal death and separation from the Father between his crucifixion and resurrection. Thus, his preaching to the dead was in the sense of taking the punishment for human sin in hell.

• William Barclay articulates the meaning of Jesus’ descent to the dead as an affirmation and expression of the power of the Gospel. His death was no sham. He really did die (not just swoon or appear to die, per the Gnostics). His victory over sin and death is universal, even in the abode of the dead. That he preached there means there is no place in the universe or spiritual reality that the message of the Gospel has not come. Thus, no one who has ever lived is left without sight of Christ and without the offer of the salvation of God.

• Some suggest that it was not Jesus personally doing the preaching but all who preached in his name (Hebrew prophets, New Testament apostles, etc.) so the gospel "was preached" in the past to people who are now dead, not that it was preached now by Christ to those who are in the realm of the dead. In other words, preaching (euaggelizo) to those who are now dead was made in the past to call them to repentance and eternal life, while the death of Jesus is a proclamation (kyrusso) of condemnation to those who are now dead who had earlier refused to respond to that preaching.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, much less influenced by rationalistic philosophy, is less inclined to try to explain in detail but to accept paradox and ambiguity, which they portray symbolically in worship and icons. They speak of these passages as the “Harrowing of Hell,” which puts a major emphasis on Jesus victory over death and evil and liberating those who are dead (spiritually as well as physically) from the prison of Hell. Icons are not pictures of events but are windows into spiritual realities. Here are a few things to look for in icons of Jesus’ resurrection.

• Jesus is not lying inactive in the tomb between crucifixion and resurrection but to invade hell not to suffer but to fight and free those who are trapped there.

• He brings light into the darkness and the darkness disappears.

• He brings life to death and mortal life becomes eternal life.

• The risen Christ stands victorious at the center of the icon, dressed in heavenly white surrounded by the star studded light of the glory of God.

• Jesus pulls Adam and Eve out of their graves. As our first parents and the ones who brought sin into the world, releasing them to eternal life represents the redemption of the whole human race and the reversal of the fall. They reach out to Jesus, waiting for him to rescue them. He pulls them by the wrist, as it is his grace, not their works, by which they receive eternal life.

• John the Baptist and Old Testament saints gather around Jesus, rejoicing that the redemption to which they looked forward has been accomplished.

• The devil and demons are trampled under the feet of Jesus.

• The broken locks and chains of those who have been released are scattered on the floor of hell.

• Jesus stands on the broken down doors of hell. They could not keep him out or prevent him from liberating people from death. They are often shown as having fallen in the form of a cross, the instrument of their defeat.