The Apostle's Creed: Jesus went to hell?

[FaithCharity]

This is the version of the Apostle's creed that I'm referencing.

"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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."

I put in bold the line I don't quite understand. I just recently started attending a church in my area that recites this at the beginning of each sermon. Before attending this church I had never heard the Apostle's Creed before and don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. I am fond of this church and their community, they are very encouraging and uplifting, but I feel uncomfortable saying Jesus descended into hell...unless, of course, He did as a part of atoning for my sins?

Thoughts?

 

[coby]

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us[e]*to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,*19*by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,*20*who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited[f]*in the days of Noah, while*the*ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.*

 

[Kaycie]

Oh my.

OK, Jesus did not go to hell. Some people have mistranslated Hades for hell. But Hades is the realm of the dead- both good and bad, with a chasm separating the two. Did Jesus tell the thief on the cross "See you in hell?" Or "Today you will be with Me in Paradise, but first I have to go to hell, so I'll catch up with you later."? No way, but you know what He did say before He died? "It is finished!" He did not have to go to hell and finish being punished for our sins.

The bible says it contains everything we need, and warns not to follow man made doctrines. Take that apostles creed and throw it in the trash and burn it. Because man made doctrine means false religion.

 

[wattie]

This is the version of the Apostle's creed that I'm referencing.

"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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."

I put in bold the line I don't quite understand. I just recently started attending a church in my area that recites this at the beginning of each sermon. Before attending this church I had never heard the Apostle's Creed before and don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. I am fond of this church and their community, they are very encouraging and uplifting, but I feel uncomfortable saying Jesus descended into hell...unless, of course, He did as a part of atoning for my sins?

Thoughts?

Okay.. what happened there is .. hell now is not what it was. So.. initially we have Hades... which is the abode of the dead.. containing both the dead who will be in hell and those who will be in heaven. They are in these places but are awaiting judgement or deliverance.

The people destined to be in hell are seperated from the people who are going to heaven. 'Abraham's Bosom' .. with the rich young ruler.

(Luke 16:22) And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;


(Luke 16:23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.


(Luke 16:24) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.


(Luke 16:25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.


(Luke 16:26) And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.


Now ... Jesus after being crucified.. was not spiritually dead.. He can't die! He is God! He descended into this 'Hades' and got those awaiting deliverance and raised them from the dead!

I presume then.. this place was left with just those destined to be in the eternal lake of fire. The other part of the abode of the dead having been emptied by Jesus raising them up.

See Ephesians 4-

(Eph 4:9) (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?


(Eph 4:10) He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)



And here is the reference to Jesus raising up people from here:

Matthew 27:50 – 52 (English-KJV):
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

So

We have Jesus dieing on the cross.. but not spiritually. As soon as he left the mortal body.. He descended to 'The Abode of the Dead'.. which had those awaiting final eternal hell and those awaiting resurrection..

Jesus raised the saints from here and they are appeared alive. 'Slept' means dead. They were raised from death.

So this is not Hell as in eternal lake of fire it is more this:

• Sheol – the Old Testament designation for the abode of the dead

Two places in the lower parts of the earth seperated by a great gulf.. one with those awaiting final hell.. the other awaiting resurrection. Jesus took those in the later case out.. resurrected them after He was crucified.

Jesus never died spiritually.. He went down into the lower parts of the earth.. resurrected the saints and then returned to the tomb and resurrected His body.

 

[wattie]

Oh yeah.. and at this little Anglican church where my family goes to when on holidays at a little bay.. they do the Apostles Creed but its not the 'christian church'

It has I believe in the Holy Spirit,
and the Holy Catholic Church,

If it had 'christian church' .. with a small 'c' meaning local christian congregation.. I might recite that part of it... but it has 'holy catholic'..

So I shut my mouth when the congregation in that Anglican church says 'holy catholic..'

 

[Tintin]

Oh my.

OK, Jesus did not go to hell. Some people have mistranslated Hades for hell. But Hades is the realm of the dead- both good and bad, with a chasm separating the two. Did Jesus tell the thief on the cross "See you in hell?" Or "Today you will be with Me in Paradise, but first I have to go to hell, so I'll catch up with you later."? No way, but you know what He did say before He died? "It is finished!" He did not have to go to hell and finish being punished for our sins.

The bible says it contains everything we need, and warns not to follow man made doctrines. Take that apostles creed and throw it in the trash and burn it. Because man made doctrine means false religion.

Wow. A bit hasty there. Hell isn't the right translation but the rest is on the mark. Certainly more than the Churches of Christ silliness regarding the 'one true church'.

 

[Beloved777]

This is the version of the Apostle's creed that I'm referencing.

"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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."

I put in bold the line I don't quite understand. I just recently started attending a church in my area that recites this at the beginning of each sermon. Before attending this church I had never heard the Apostle's Creed before and don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. I am fond of this church and their community, they are very encouraging and uplifting, but I feel uncomfortable saying Jesus descended into hell...unless, of course, He did as a part of atoning for my sins?

Thoughts?

Do you think this prayer was answered? "Father into thy hands I commend my spirit?

 

[Kaycie]

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us[e]*to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,*19*by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,*20*who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited[f]*in the days of Noah, while*the*ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.*

Jesus asked how you can rob a strong man's house unless you first tie up the strong man? Was He teaching us how to rob people? No, what He meant was Satan is a strong man, and we are held captive in his house, and Jesus wants to bind Satan so that He can rob us away from Satan. This goes back to the first prophesy of Christ (on or around Genesis 3:15). "He will crush his head, and he will bruise His heel." The bruise was the cross, but a bruise heals, but if you crush someone's head, you take away their power forever. Forever Satan has no power over those in Christ.

So Christ died one time for all sins, an innocent man's blood shed for the guilty, so that He can reconcile us back to God- because God is also just, so sin has to be punished. He was dead physically, but alive spiritually, because He is Deity, and God never dies. He preached to those in satan's prison, those who were formerly disobedient to God, but are now obedient. But until it was finished, Christ suffered. He suffered when He made the trees, knowing one day He will die on one. He suffered when Noah was building the ark, knowing that it was a representation of future baptism- our way of joining Him in His death in order to join Him in His resurrection. The suffering and mental anguish Christ went through before He was arrested did not begin that night.

So Jesus took away satan's power, to let the captives go free- which are you and I, but He didn't go to hell and physically do it, Satan isn't even in hell yet. He did it spiritually.

 

[Magenta]

Hell is a translation of four words from Scripture that mean the grave. The four words that are translated into Hell are Hades, Sheol, Gehenna, and Tartaros. Sheol (in Hebrew) is a place for the dead in general, like the word "grave" is. Everyone went/goes there, both good and bad alike. The dead know nothing there. Hades is the Greek word used consistently as is Sheol to denote the general place for the dead. Gehenna should not have been translated as Hell at all; it was an actual place that denotes utter consuming destruction and corruption. Tartaros was used only once in Scripture. It is for the angels who have sinned that are awaiting judgement.

 

[coby]

Jesus asked how you can rob a strong man's house unless you first tie up the strong man? Was He teaching us how to rob people? No, what He meant was Satan is a strong man, and we are held captive in his house, and Jesus wants to bind Satan so that He can rob us away from Satan. This goes back to the first prophesy of Christ (on or around Genesis 3:15). "He will crush his head, and he will bruise His heel." The bruise was the cross, but a bruise heals, but if you crush someone's head, you take away their power forever. Forever Satan has no power over those in Christ.

So Christ died one time for all sins, an innocent man's blood shed for the guilty, so that He can reconcile us back to God- because God is also just, so sin has to be punished. He was dead physically, but alive spiritually, because He is Deity, and God never dies. He preached to those in satan's prison, those who were formerly disobedient to God, but are now obedient. But until it was finished, Christ suffered. He suffered when He made the trees, knowing one day He will die on one. He suffered when Noah was building the ark, knowing that it was a representation of future baptism- our way of joining Him in His death in order to join Him in His resurrection. The suffering and mental anguish Christ went through before He was arrested did not begin that night.

So Jesus took away satan's power, to let the captives go free- which are you and I, but He didn't go to hell and physically do it, Satan isn't even in hell yet. He did it spiritually.

I wasn't there in Noah's time.
He just went to Hades, Abraham's bosom on one side, those immediately came free and rose from the dead when He died and could go from Abraham's bosom to heaven. The ones from Noah's time on the other side. He preached to them.

 

[Kaycie]

I wasn't there in Noah's time.
He just went to Hades, Abraham's bosom on one side, those immediately came free and rose from the dead when He died and could go from Abraham's bosom to heaven. The ones from Noah's time on the other side. He preached to them.

No one is going to heaven until the judgement day. Jesus was in the Old Testament, sometimes referred to as the Angel of the Lord. Besides, He made creation- birds, trees, skies, seas. He was with God before the foundation of the earth. Without Him nothing was made that had been made.

 

[TMS]

Jesus was dead for three days (Fri, Sat, Sun) and rose again, And hell can be translated as a place of death.
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into death.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
Mar 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

 

[coby]

No one is going to heaven until the judgement day. Jesus was in the Old Testament, sometimes referred to as the Angel of the Lord. Besides, He made creation- birds, trees, skies, seas. He was with God before the foundation of the earth. Without Him nothing was made that had been made.

Then what happened to those Old Testament saints who came out of the graves and appeared to many? They lived there again and died twice and went to Abraham's bosom again?

 

[Ahwatukee]

Then what happened to those Old Testament saints who came out of the graves and appeared to many? They lived there again and died twice and went to Abraham's bosom again?

Hi coby,

Those OT saints who came out of their graves died again. Jesus is the first fruits of those who resurrect in those immortal, glorified bodies. The next group to go will be the dead and living belonging to the church. In regards to what happens to a believer when they die, consider the following scriptures:

"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
(2 Cor.5:6-9)

* At home in the body = away from the Lord

* Away from the body = at home with the Lord


"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." (Phil.1:23)

* I desire to depart and be with Christ = to be immediately in Christ's presence

According to the event of the rich man and Lazarus found in Lk.16, both men had died and were buried, yet their spirits/souls were conscious and aware in Hades. The spirits/souls of Abraham and Lazarus and the rest of the OT saints were in an area which was a place of comfort/paradise and the rich man was on the other side separated by a chasm, where he was in torment in flame. In the scriptures above, Paul makes it clear that when the body dies, the spirit/soul departs and goes immediately to be in the Lord's presence. There is no mistaking the scriptures that when the body dies the soul/spirit departs from the body, conscious and aware, and goes to be in the presence of the Lord. Likewise, when the unfaithful die, their spirit/souls depart as well, but they are taken to Hades where they will remain until they are resurrected at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ and where they will be judged at the great white throne judgment.

I hope this helps

 

[Ahwatukee]

Jesus was dead for three days (Fri, Sat, Sun) and rose again, And hell can be translated as a place of death.
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into death.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
Mar 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Hello TMS,

Jesus and the man crucified next to him were very much conscious and aware. For the man repented and said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into you kingdom" and Jesus said to him "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." We know that the bodies of Jesus and the man both died that day, but their spirits/souls went to that same place of paradise that Abraham and Lazarus were in after they died and where all of the OT saints went to. After 3 days, he bodily resurrected and appeared to Mary and his disciples in the same body that he was crucified in.

 

[bikerchaz]

This is the version of the Apostle's creed that I'm referencing.

"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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."

I put in bold the line I don't quite understand. I just recently started attending a church in my area that recites this at the beginning of each sermon. Before attending this church I had never heard the Apostle's Creed before and don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. I am fond of this church and their community, they are very encouraging and uplifting, but I feel uncomfortable saying Jesus descended into hell...unless, of course, He did as a part of atoning for my sins?

Thoughts?

Hi, I came across this not long after my conversion, it has never given me any problem, but that does not mean others don't have one.
The line following that particular line says "On the third day He rose again from the dead." It does not say He rose from hell, but the word Hell does not give a true meaning of what it is. Death is 'hell' the grave is 'hell' anything that eventually separates us from the love of God is 'hell', I do not mean 'until we find our way back to Him', I mean the eternity we face without Him after His return, after the kingdom is established, after Jesus has given back to the father the Kingdom and God is all and in all. Not being with God then will be hell.

This was the place Jesus went when he was on the cross. He was totally separated from the Father, God can not look on evil or sin, and as Jesus died on the cross for us He took our place in hell, in total separation from God so we don't have to, He suffered for our sins so we don't have to, Jesus took upon Himself the wrath of God for all the sins we have committed and God turned His face from Jesus which is how He can look at us as His children, He can gaze at us and see us through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Wonderful isn't it! And with this Jesus has given us a down payment on our salvation, the Holy Spirit. His job it is to bring to mind all the rubbish in our lives Jesus doesn't want, so we can give it to Him. It is also His job to bring to mind things like this question you asked, because He has a plan for each of us and growing in maturity in Him is our individual duty, so we can later on, show others a more perfect way.
God bless.

 

[bikerchaz]

. In the scriptures above, Paul makes it clear that when the body dies, the spirit/soul departs and goes immediately to be in the Lord's presence. There is no mistaking the scriptures that when the body dies the soul/spirit departs from the body, conscious and aware, and goes to be in the presence of the Lord. Likewise, when the unfaithful die, their spirit/souls depart as well, but they are taken to Hades where they will remain until they are resurrected at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ and where they will be judged at the great white throne judgment.

I hope this helps

I feel you need to show where these scripture are and how plane this makes what you have said, as I disagree with this. Thank you.

 

[wwjd_kilden]

Oh yeah.. and at this little Anglican church where my family goes to when on holidays at a little bay.. they do the Apostles Creed but its not the 'christian church'

It has I believe in the Holy Spirit,
and the Holy Catholic Church,

If it had 'christian church' .. with a small 'c' meaning local christian congregation.. I might recite that part of it... but it has 'holy catholic'..

So I shut my mouth when the congregation in that Anglican church says 'holy catholic..'

catholic (adj.)

mid-14c., "of the doctrines of the ancient Church," literally "universally accepted," from French catholique, from Church Latin catholicus "universal, general," from Greek katholikos, from phrase kath' holou "on the whole, in general," from kata "about" + genitive of holos "whole"

 

[Ahwatukee]

I feel you need to show where these scripture are and how plane this makes what you have said, as I disagree with this. Thank you.

Hello bikerchaz,

You copied the information above, but if you had copied the information just above it, you would have seen that I included the scriptures where you could find this information. But, I am including it again per request: See post #14

"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Cor.5:6-9)

* At home in the body = away from the Lord

* Away from the body = at home with the Lord


"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." (Phil.1:23)

* I desire to depart and be with Christ = to be immediately in Christ's presence

If you disagree with the above, then you are just disagreeing with scripture. Hope this helps.

 

[John146]

Acts 2:31, "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."

Did Jesus go there to suffer? Absolutely NOT! But He did go there to preach to the spirits in prison and get the keys to hell and death from Satan. He would also deliver those who were in Abraham's bosom just across the great gulf. Now that Abraham's bosom is no longer there, hell has expanded. He would ascend to heaven until after three days.