Did Christ Go to Hell?
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I’ve heard that Christ went into hell and either preached or “cleared it out” at some point. Is this true and can you tell me where to find it in the Bible?
There is a document in ancient Christian writings called, “The Apostle’s Creed.” This document contains twelve statements that summarize the foundational beliefs of Christianity. This document was allegedly written by the twelve apostles early in their ministry. We must note, however, that this document is not included in the New Testament. It was not considered by the early Christians to be authoritative. One of the statements that this document makes is, “He (Christ) descended into hell.” It is from this document that Catholicism gets the doctrine that Jesus went to hell in order to accomplish what God wanted him to accomplish in the forgiveness of mankind’s sins. Does the Bible teach that Jesus, after his death, went to “hell” for the forgiveness of our sins?
First, I would like to point out something regarding “The Apostle’s Creed.” This is a document that has gone through substantial changes over the centuries. Before the year 600 A.D. the statement “He descended into hell” was not even in this document at all. The early “church fathers” knew nothing of this statement regarding Jesus. This statement is not contained in any ancient document. It is certainly not a statement contained in the scriptures. It is simply a doctrine that has been invented by the Catholic church.
Second, the scriptures teach plainly that Christ went to paradise after His death. In Luke 23:43 we read these words: “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Jesus clearly told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise. One thing we know from the scriptures to be true is that paradise is not hell, and neither is hell paradise. In 2 Corinthians 12:4 Paul speaks about how he knew a man that was caught up to paradise. In Revelation 2:7, we read that the tree of life is in the paradise of God. So, Paradise is the place where Jesus went after his death. It is the place where Paul was caught up. It is the place where lives the tree of life. None of these descriptions sound like the place we know of in the scriptures as “hell.”
Third, the scriptures do teach that Jesus went to a place known as “hades.” Acts 2:27, 31 speak to this matter. The ASV correctly translates this verse whereas the KJV does not. We read, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.” And verse 31 says, “he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.” So what places does the word “Hades” describe? It describes that unseen place where those who have died go to await the resurrection.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 describes that place. It contains both a place of torments, where the rich man ended up, and a place of comforts, where Lazarus ended up. They were separated by a great gulf. Both places, however, were in the place known as Hades, that unseen realm of the dead. So, yes, Jesus went to Hades, but not to the place of torments, but to the place of comforts, Paradise.
Finally, there is no reason to suggest in any way that Jesus needed to go to hell in order to finish the work that God gave Him to do. The work that Jesus did was finished when he died on the cross. There was no further need for Jesus to enter hell to suffer yet even more than He did while He was on the earth. We know this from several other passages of scripture. Jesus tasted of death for every single person according to Hebrews 2:9 and this was satisfactory to accomplish what God wanted to accomplish. This verse says “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Notice that God crowned Jesus with glory and honor due to the suffering of physical death (Heb.2:14), not the suffering of spiritual death. It was that physical sacrifice that redeemed man from sin, not his alleged descent into hell. Hebrews 10:14 states, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Moreover, we know that Jesus himself had no further work to accomplish after His death, because the Hebrew writer declares in Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” When Jesus died, like every man does, He ceased from His works. Jesus accomplished everything that He needed to accomplish for man’s salvation. It is why He could cry out at His death, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God’s work for man’s salvation was completed with the death of Jesus on the cross. There was no reason for Jesus to descend into hell and experience further sufferings on man’s behalf.
To conclude, the statement concerning Jesus going to hell was not introduced into Christian documents until 600 A.D. No earlier documents contain such a statement. We see that the scriptures clearly teach that Jesus went to be in Paradise after his death. Paradise is located in the unseen realm of the dead, known as Hades. This is how we can account for Acts 2:27 and 31 saying he went there. Jesus completed God’s work for salvation at His death on the cross. There is no scriptural reason to say that Jesus went to the place of torments that we know of as hell.