Expert: Sal - 6/8/2005

Question
Thank you for your help.
A follow up:
I am correct in my understanding then that the Church now teaches there is no Hades today? It is no longer "needed" since Christ's sacrafice on the cross has now opened the way (potentially) to heaven. One is either judged and cast in to hell or bound to heaven, perhaps with a stay in purgatory.

Hades is a place of the Old Testament, before the new covenant.

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Followup To
Question -
I am catholic. I was approached recently with the following: Jesus went to hell after His death on the cross. It was there that He won our salvation not the cross. Jesus had to die spiritually (JDS) in order for us to be saved - He was the first to be "born again". My faith (catholic) was then equated to JW. "You believe just like the JW's regarding Jesus work of salvation.

I didn't have a response ready for this situation. I recall Jesus saying "it is finished" prior to dying on the cross. "Into your hands I commend my spirit", "this day you will be with me in paradise" but they didn't come to mind quick enough.

This person follows the teaching of Kenneth Copeland who I gather is a huckster from the Word of Faith movement.

Can you give me some insight on this issue? Is JDS correct? Where does the Church teach Jesus was between His death on the cross and His resurection?
Answer -
Dear Andy:

The JDS theory of the Word-Faith movement is a false teaching. According to this theory our redemption comes from Jesus being tortured for three days in hell. This is also known as the “Ransom Theory of the Atonement”. This theory is that Jesus' death was a type of ransom paid to Satan. He was paid off because he had a claim on the human race due to the sin of Adam& Eve. The Bible, however, teaches that Jesus' sacrifice was offered to God not to Satan. “Follow the way of love, even as Christ loved you. He gave himself for us as an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance” (Eph. 5:2). The JDS theory actually makes Satan our co-redeemer! If he didn't torture Jesus enough we could not be saved.

You are right to point out that Jesus said, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30), not “I have more work to do in hell.” Also that he said, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43), not “Today you will be with me in hell.” Further that Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk. 23:46), not “Into Satan's hands…”

The Bible nowhere says what Ken Copeland and other Word-Faith advocates do—that Jesus won our salvation in hell. We see the Bible exalting the cross. It says that Jesus reconciled mankind to God “by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20). Our sins are forgiven because Jesus took them “nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). God exalted Jesus because he accepted death on the cross (Phil. 2:8-11). We are told to glory in nothing “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). All people are brought together by the cross (Eph. 2:15-16). The Bible is clear that we are saved by the cross. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Ask that fellow why the cross is so exalted in the Bible and why not Jesus' time in hell? If we are saved by Jesus going to hell shouldn't that event be exalted? Why is it not even mentioned in the Bible?

The Catholic Church teaches that while Jesus' body was in the tomb his spirit went to preach to the spirits in Hades. Hades is not hell. Hades (or Sheol in Hebrew) is the place of the dead. From the time Adam & Eve sinned until Jesus rose from the dead no one went to heaven. All persons upon death went to Hades. The righteous dead were in a pleasant part of Hades. The unrighteous were in an unpleasant part of Hades. This division is vividly illustrated by our Lord in his story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk. 16:19-31).

The clearest Bible passage concerned with this subject is found in 1 Peter 3. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison” (vv. 18-19). From this passage we learn that Jesus went to Hades, where the dead were locked up thus “prison”, to preach the saving gospel to those that had died prior to his saving ministry. “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God” (1 Pt. 4:6).

Jesus had no need to be born again. He was not a lost sinner. He needed no regeneration. He was sinless (2 Cor. 5:21). The JDS theory is wrong here too.

Jesus did not die spiritually. He offered his body and that was enough. “By this ‘will', we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”(Heb. 10:10). St. Peter tells us explicitly that Jesus' spirit did not die. He tells us that Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pt. 3:18).

I find that if I cannot come up with a good answer to an attack on Catholicism I simply say, “That's a good point let me study that some more and I will get back to you.” This will give you time to find a good answer at a later time. Don't worry if you cannot come up with a quick answer.

I hope that this has been helpful to you, Andy.

St. Michael, the Archangel, Defender of the Faith, Prayer for Us,
Sal


Answer
Hi Andy:

You are correct Hades no longer exists. It was the place for all the dead under the Old Covenant. Now one either goes to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Some say the Hades was transformed to what we now call Purgatory. I see no reason to argue the point with them.

Thanks for the question.
God bless You,
Sal