The mention of Christ’s descent into hell was one of the last statements to be placed in the Apostles’ Creed (in the fourth century). It might well be the least understood—or most misunderstood—sentence in the creed.

When did Jesus descend?

Some people merely assume that the statement refers to Christ’s suffering the God-forsakenness of hell, a key aspect of his torment on the cross as our sin-bearer. Others consider the phrase a vivid way of stressing that Jesus was really dead after his crucifixion by saying he went to the place of the dead.

While Christ’s unimaginable suffering and undeniable death on our behalf are truths we cherish, the descent into hell was not a part of his suffering. Instead the creed summarizes 1 Peter 3:18-20: “[Christ] was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago.” After Christ died, he was made alive again, and then he descended into hell.

In the creed we note that this sentence comes before we confess our faith in Christ’s resurrection. But the church fathers were likely thinking of the public disclosure of Christ’s resurrection, not the resurrection itself.  Jesus rose, then the angels rolled the stone away from the already empty tomb to let the world in on the glorious truth.

Why did Jesus descend?

Peter says Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago . . . in the days of Noah.” After the successful completion of his atoning work for humankind, he went to hell to preach. Why? Some speculated and taught that Jesus preached the gospel in hell, giving a second chance to souls who rejected the gospel when they were living on earth. Hebrews 9:27 forbids this idea. Others have speculated that Jesus descended into an underworld borderland, a “limbo,” to release righteous souls somehow unable to enter heaven until the work of atonement was completed. There is no biblical support for this idea either.