# Did Christ descend into Hell?



## Notthemama1984 (Dec 15, 2009)

From another thread.



earl40 said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
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> > AThornquist said:
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## LeeJUk (Dec 15, 2009)

Not in the sense that he was in hell being tormented for the sins of the world after the cross. I guess it's a widely debated issue. John Calvin and Martin Luther if I remember correctly, thought that Christ going to hell to suffer was part of the atonement - I may be wrong.

I prefer to believe that he was in that..."abraham's bosom" kinda place, and that then he went to paradise like he promised the thief on the cross. My explanation is my no means exhaustive though.


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## NaphtaliPress (Dec 15, 2009)

As Josh noted this is a good article. 
_In Defense of the Descendit: A Confessional Response to Contemporary Critics of Christ’s Descent into Hell_
By Daniel R. Hyde 

It appeared in _The Confessional Presbyterian_ 3 (2007) 104-117.



Joshua said:


> You may find this helpful:
> 
> http://www.cpjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/hyde.pdf


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## Notthemama1984 (Dec 15, 2009)

NaphtaliPress said:


> As Josh noted this is a good article.
> _In Defense of the Descendit: A Confessional Response to Contemporary Critics of Christ’s Descent into Hell_
> By Daniel R. Hyde
> 
> ...



Seeing that I am a new subscriber, I will read the article tonight.


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## bill (Dec 15, 2009)

I don't believe Christ descended into Hell. After all Christ told the criminal on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43
Also Ephesians 4:9 says He descended into the lower parts of the earth, that does not mean Hell. I prefer "Hades" or place of the dead, not Hell.

-----Added 12/15/2009 at 04:51:49 EST-----

I don't believe Christ descended into Hell. After all Christ told the criminal on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43
Also Ephesians 4:9 says He descended into the lower parts of the earth, that does not mean Hell. I prefer "Hades" or place of the dead, not Hell.


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## ericfromcowtown (Dec 15, 2009)

My wife asked me this exact question after last Sunday's service, when we recited the Apostle's Creed.

I'll print out and read the article on my train ride home tonight.

What I told her, was that I did not believe Christ had actually "decended into Hell," since on the cross he cried out "it is finished," not "it will be finished in three days." But then again...


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## GTMOPC (Dec 15, 2009)

*this may be helpful...*

I just submitted a paper for my Systematic Theology class where I had to briefly address this topic. Below is the exerpt:



> Christ's Burial: The Decent into Hell
> 
> After the death of Christ on the cross he was placed in a tomb of which He would be resurrected from in three days time. According to the Apostles Creed it is proposed that He “descended into Hell.” What does this mean? Did Christ after His death actually go down into the bowels of hell? Was he tormented and punished by Satan? The author thinks a better explanation is that Christ, rather than particularly going down into hell, suffered all the miseries of death and hell as the focal point of God's wrath. His descent into hell can be summarized by His own words from the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1; Matt 27:46) He was at once separated from God His Father and at the the same time caused to suffer God's terrible wrath meant for sinners. John Calvin says it best:
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## SRoper (Dec 15, 2009)

I remember Rev. Hyde's article was very helpful.


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## Rogerant (Dec 15, 2009)

I believe that the three hours on the cross when the sun did not shine was the evidence that His Father had turned His face away from His beloved Son. It was during this three hours that Christ experienced "hell", the abandonment of His Fathers approbation. This separation from the Love of Him in whom He had been in relationship since eternity past was likened to descending into hell, being thrown into a bottomless dry pit, into the Mariana's trench where their is no light. 

Heaven is being in the presence of the living God. Hell is being estranged from His love and presence. The world interprets heaven and hell all the time as physical places. The scriptures do not always use those words in their literal physical destinations.

Just my humble opinion


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## Notthemama1984 (Dec 15, 2009)

SRoper said:


> I remember Rev. Hyde's article was very helpful.



Just finished the article. Very eye opening. I had always heard that Christ descended and just took it for granted. I had no clue that I was siding with the minority position.


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## earl40 (Dec 16, 2009)

Chaplainintraining said:


> SRoper said:
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> > I remember Rev. Hyde's article was very helpful.
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Just because it is a minority position that it doesn't mean it is wrong. Though in this instance it is spot on. Remember that it was the death of Jesus on the cross that pays the penalty for our sin. I have heard people espouse that He paid the price in the 3 days after the cross but this is purely speculative thinking. I think Joyce Meyers espouses this teaching, so if you watch her turn of the TV ASAP.

Good question BTW. It is amazing the things we assume are true and hold for such a long time without even thinking we could be mistaken.


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## Notthemama1984 (Dec 16, 2009)

earl40 said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
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Is Christ descending into Hell really a TBN preacher thing? you mention Joyce Meyers and Rev. Hyde mentioned others in his article. My parents are wrapped in that junk so I probably got it from them.

I agree that the minority position is not always wrong. Take the doctrines of grace for example, a poll of today's "Christians" would place these doctrines in the minority for sure, but you and I both know they are spot on.


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## P.F. (Dec 16, 2009)

The Three Forms of Unity link "descended into hell" to the torments of the Cross, whereas the Westminster standards link "descended into hell" to Christ remaining under death's power for a time.


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## Archlute (Dec 16, 2009)

Chaplainintraining said:


> SRoper said:
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> > I remember Rev. Hyde's article was very helpful.
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I have not read the article yet, but a literal descent into hell is by no means a minority position. I believe that all Lutherans and Anglicans, whose numbers far surpass our own, hold to a literal descent. 

This is a topic regarding which I have wanted to read more thoroughly. The common Reformed answer has always seemed a bit weak to me, and employs a hermeneutic of the creed that most would roll their eyes at if it were applied to Scripture. However, Grudem does a pretty good job in presenting reasons for the omission of this phrase from the Apostle's creed, and making some explanation for the pertinent passages of Scripture from which this phrase may have been taken.


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## Amazing Grace (Dec 16, 2009)

Archlute said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
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I am beginning to think His descent to the dead was to mock those whom rejected him.


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