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On Holy Saturday we meditate on one of the most obscure lines in the Apostles' Creed: "he descended into hell." What does this part of the Creed refer to? Is it biblical?
Moreover, what does it mean to say Christ "descended into hell"? Did he experience the torments of wicked?
Christ and the "Spirits in Prison"
In 1 Peter we read that Christ continued to save souls--even after his death.
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; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. (1 Peter 3:18–21)According to this passage, after he died, Christ went to those who died in the flood judgment.
Where were these figures? The "hell of the damned"? Well, not quite. Let's look at this passage in light of ancient Judaism.
