ARTICLE III
Of the Going Down of Christ into Hell:
As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed that He went down into Hell.
This article is derived from the Augsburg Confession as well as such early men such as Augustine and Chrysostom
Christ commands us to take up our cross and follow Him – all the way. In our daily lives we die daily to Christ. We have our calvary just ahead, too, and then a borrowed Tomb. But what of the intermediate moments. Like Lazarus, we are escorted to the bosom of Abraham at death, but what is the bosom of Abraham. We are gathered, as was Isaac and Jacob, to our fathers at death. No one can tell me for certain what that means. Remember the words of Ecclesiastes, 12: 5-7 “5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Our redemption is complete when those spirits are reunited with that glorious body that awaits us.
The Apostles Creed is a summary of the salient doctrines of the Thirty Nine Articles. That Creed also makes the claim that Christ descended into Hell. This is not an inference without biblical grounds for Christ paid the full price that we would have paid did He not redeem us at Calvary’s Mount. However, the matter is inferred, and not boldly stated in Scripture, that Christ went down into Hell.
I have an extensive collection of comment on the Thirty Nine Articles, but they are so full of word salad that it is difficult to condense into s brief study.
I have relied upon the simplest explanation of the subject given in Browne’s Commentary of the Articles, upon Griffith-Thomas’s, and upon the work of Herman Witsius in his 17th century study of the Apostles Creed.
Did Christ ascend to Heaven at his death and burial? I think not because He was not yet ascended to the Father when confronting Mary outside the open tomb. So, in what activity was Christ involved while His body lay dead in the tomb, or was He involved in any activity at all.
There are a number of the Psalms that are considered Messianic in nature - that is, they reflect episodes and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The 22nd Psalm describes His suffering on the cross in its first half, and His glorious resurrection in the 2nd.
Another such Psalm is the 16th which reads in 10, “10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” This verse apparently refers to our Lord Jesus Christ since He is the only person to die whose body saw no corruption.
Another such reference is found in Psalms 68:18 “18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.”
Perhaps the New Testament will clarify in our minds much of the mystery. In Acts 2:27, we read: “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.” Admittedly, this requires a broad measure of inference, but what else does this mean than that one was in that place called Hell and was not left there. Who brought him out? And what of 1 Peter 3: 18-20, 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Some theologians believe that Christ descended into Hell to preach to the souls that had believed in the promise made to Abraham with the good news of their salvation. The subject is deep, but the good news remains that Christ died that we might be set free from the bondage of sin. That is a comfort regardless of the issue at hand.
