What does "He descended into Hell" mean?

[Timothew]

What does "he descended into hell" in the Apostles Creed mean?

Why does the Nicene Creed leave hell out?

 

[Stryder06]

He went down into the grave, for that is what hell is.

 

[Timothew]

He went down into the grave, for that is what hell is.

Thanks! I've been wondering for a while.

 

[PaladinValer]

The word should be sheol or hades.

Hell is empty currently.

 

[Zecryphon]

Hell has another meaning as well.

H7585
שׁאל שׁאול
she'ôl she'ôl
sheh-ole', sheh-ole'
From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.

As per the OP's question, the answer is found in 1 Peter 3:19.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, 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,
1Pe 3:19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

Christ descending into Hell is not in the Nicene Creed because the Nicene Creed deals with who Christ is.

See this note from: Creeds of Christendom

• [FONT=Arial,Helvetica]The First Ecumenical council of Nicaea was called by emperor Constantine. The council met to deal with the schism created by Arianism. The Arians wished to avoid the heresy of Sabellius who believed in a divine monad which, by expansion, projected itself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit--a form of Modalism. The Arians separated the Son from God entirely so that they believed he was a creature having a beginning. "There was when he was not." The Son was but God's first creation, yet out of nothing and hence has preeminence over the rest of creation.[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial,Helvetica]The symbol answers the question, "Who is Jesus Christ."[/FONT]
  [FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Its answer: God[/FONT]

 

[Timothew]

As per the OP's question, the answer is found in 1 Peter 3:19.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, 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,
1Pe 3:19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

I don't understand. This says Christ proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
Were the people of Noah's time in prison? I thought they died in the flood.

Why does the Nicene Creed say "He was crucified dead and buried" that's not who Christ is, but what he did. (or what was sone to him).

 

[Timothew]

The word should be sheol or hades.

Hell is empty currently.

I think the original said "hades".

 

[PaladinValer]

they mean the same thing.

 

[Timothew]

they mean the same thing.

Thanks. Stryder answered that already.
Hades and Sheol (sometimes translated as hell) mean the grave. Where they put dead people.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

What does "he descended into hell" in the Apostles Creed mean?

Why does the Nicene Creed leave hell out?

Which of those came first?

http://www.christianforums.com/t7368885-21/

Christian Forums has changed our Statement of Faith to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

And He was crucified for us (Mark 15: 25; 1 Corinthians 15: 3)
under Pontius Pilate, (John 19: 6)
suffered, (Mark 8: 31)
and was buried. (Luke 23: 53; 1 Corinthians 15: 4)
And on the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, (Luke 24: 1 1 Corinthians 15: 4)
and ascended into heaven, (Luke 24: 51; Acts 1: 10)

 

[PaladinValer]

Thanks. Stryder answered that already.
Hades and Sheol (sometimes translated as hell) mean the grave. Where they put dead people.

Not quite.

Sheol/hades meant the immediate afterlife, where souls waited until the resurrection.

 

[Knee V]

One might also say that hell/hades/sheol is "the abode of the dead".

 

[PaladinValer]

One might also say that hell/hades/sheol is "the abode of the dead".

Indeed. My Episcopal Church's 1979 Book of Common Prayer's version of the Apostle's Creed uses a very similar phrase: "He descended to the dead"

 

[chilehed]

The word English word "hell" is used to express two different places.

One of those places is sheol, also known as the resting place of the fathers or as Abraham's bosom; this was not a bad place to be. This is the place Jesus went to preach to those there.

The other place is the hell of the damned, which is a very bad place to be indeed.

 

[Zecryphon]

I don't understand. This says Christ proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
Were the people of Noah's time in prison? I thought they died in the flood.

Why does the Nicene Creed say "He was crucified dead and buried" that's not who Christ is, but what he did. (or what was sone to him).

When the people of Noah's time died, they had to go somewhere. The Nicene Creed was written to defend against the heresy of Arianism. Here's a link:

NICENE CREED

 

[Timothew]

When the people of Noah's time died, they had to go somewhere.

What do you mean? The had to put the people who died somewhere?

 

[God's Word]

Romans 10:6-7

"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above): Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead)."

Paul said that Christ DESCENDED INTO THE DEEP when He died. The Greek word that is translated as "the deep" is "abyssos", from whence we derive the word "abyss".

Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

This "abyss" is the same place that the demons begged Jesus not to send them:

Luke 8:30-31

"And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out INTO THE DEEP."

"Abyssos" is also the same Greek word that is translated as "bottomless pit" in all of the following passages from the book of Revelation:

Revelation 9:1-2

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of THE BOTTOMLESS PIT. And he opened THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."

Revelation 9:11

"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."

Revelation 11:7

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of THE BOTTOMLESS PIT shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."

Revelation 17:8

"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."

Revelation 20:1

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of THE BOTTOMLESS PIT and a great chain in his hand."

Revelation 20:3

"And cast him into THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."

Paul said that Jesus Christ descended into this same "abyssos", "deep" or "bottomless pit" after He died. THIS is what is meant by "Christ descended into Hell".

 

[God's Word]

P.S. For those who insist that "Christ descended into Hell" simply means that he went into the grave, I'll remind you that Christ was buried in an ABOVE GROUND TOMB. Peter and John ran into it. Remember? In other words, His physical body never "descended" anywhere in relation to His death.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

The word English word "hell" is used to express two different places.

One of those places is sheol, also known as the resting place of the fathers or as Abraham's bosom; this was not a bad place to be. This is the place Jesus went to preach to those there.

The other place is the hell of the damned, which is a very bad place to be indeed.

P.S. For those who insist that "Christ descended into Hell" simply means that he went into the grave, I'll remind you that Christ was buried in an ABOVE GROUND TOMB. Peter and John ran into it. Remember? In other words, His physical body never "descended" anywhere in relation to His death.

Interesting point!
This passage in the covenantle parable of lazarus and the richman is interesting.
I am speculating that the rich man was buried underground in a grave and curiously, it shows him in "hades"

Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary
　
Luke 16:22 And became to be dying the poor man, and him to be carried away by the Messengers into the bosom of Abraham.
And died also the rich man and was buried.
23 And in the hades, lifting up his eyes, existing in torments, he is seeing Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in the bosom of him.

 

[FaithPrevails]

I grew up Methodist and the traditional version of the Apostle's Creed reads as follows:

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried