Expert: Joe Norman - 8/17/2008

Question
Hello, Joe!  I have one question to ask.  I was raised Methodist and I remember from the Apostles Creed one statement which said, "Jesus descended into Hell."  Did He?  Can you please give me some Scriptures to prove this to be true or false?  Thank you very much!  May God bless you.

Sharron

Answer
Hi again Sharron,

You tend to ask some of the best questions I get here. There have been some who try to claim that Jesus descended to Hell, but from all that I have read and studied, I do not believe this to be true. I am by no means an expert in the original Greek which the New Testament was written in, but I have read and studied much from those who are experts on ancient Greek.

The idea I believe comes from the old King James Bible in Acts chapter 2. Here is how it reads.

Acts 2:25-31
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 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.

The problem is that they put the word "hell" in verses 27 and 31. The Greek word and definition from Strong's is below:

hadēs
hah'-dace
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell.

We have no English equivalent for the word Hades so it was transliterated. Yet, the basic meaning is the unseen realm of the dead. We also know from the story of Lazarus and the rich man that there was a good side and a bad side.

Luke 16:19-31
19 "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' 27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-- 28 for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

There is clearly a good side and a bad side to Hades (the unseen realm of the disembodied souls).

Now turn your attention to the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross moments before Jesus died.

Luke 23:39-43
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

To me, this makes it very clear that Jesus did not descend into Hell, but only to Hades and more specifically, to the side called Paradise.

We do not have enough in God's Word about the other side of this life to know much at all for certain, but I do think we have enough to know that Jesus did not descend into Hell.

I pray that this response is beneficial to you. As always, study the Word yourself and see if what I teach is true. I am human and so it is always possible that an answer I provide might be incorrect. May God continue to bless you in your marriage and your life in general. If you have a follow-up question for me or a new question, I am always eager to help out.

          In Christ, Joe Norman