1 Peter 3:18-20: Did Jesus Preach in Hell?

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, ¹⁹ in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 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 [ESV].

This passage has often been used to suggest that after his death, during that three day period when his body was was in the tomb, Christ went spiritually to preach to the dead in Hell. Certain elements in the passage appear to support this idea:

1. It says that Christ was put to death and made alive in the spirit, indicating that he was still spiritually active.
2. It says that he went in the spirit to proclaim to spirits “in prison.” We would hardly consider Heaven and the presence of God to be a prison, so this can only be a reference to Hell.
3. That this “prison” is Hell has further support from the fact it says that the spirits are those who were disobedient during the days of Noah. Such was their disobedience that it tested God’s patience!

From this, a whole host of theories about Jesus’s ministry in Hell have been thrown around. These include the idea of Jesus proclaiming victory over the grave to Satan and the lost, or Jesus preaching to condemned souls awaiting the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15) offering them one last chance to repent. Biblically speaking, these raise some issues.

• Revelation 20 speaks about what will happen to those whose name is not in the Book of Life. They end up in Hades and then, ultimately, in the lake of fire. There is no mention of a second chance.
• Nowhere in the New Testament does it suggest that Jesus went to Hell when he died. On the contrary, he told the thief hanging on the cross next to him, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). This suggests that Jesus expected his soul to be in Paradise, i.e., Heaven (see Revelation 2:7), that day, not in Hell.
• What has all this got to do with Noah? Why is Noah relevant to the discussion? Did Jesus only preach to those who were disobedient in Noah’s day? There are a lot more souls in Hell than that. Why didn’t Jesus preach to every soul?

If 1 Peter 3:18-20 is not teaching that Jesus preached in Hell, what is it saying? To whom did Jesus preach “in the spirit,” where, and why?

Examining 1 Peter 3:18-20

When trying to understand any seemingly difficult passage, the first thing we look to is the context. In this case, we go back to verse 13. Peter is talking about the necessity for those who are in Christ to continue to do good even if they suffer for it. It’s no big deal to be punished for doing evil. That’s called justice. But when you do good and you are punished, particularly when the good you are doing is what God has commanded you to do, that is commendable in the eyes of God. Human justice is not always just, and often misses the mark of God’s standards. There are countries that outlaw the preaching of the gospel, or expressing certain Biblical points of view. Societies will mistreat those who hold to Biblical standards of speech and conduct that run contrary to cultural norms. In these instances, Scripture encourages Christians to stand firm in their convictions, and do what is right even if it costs them socially or legally.

In verse 18, Peter supports his argument by pointing to Christ, the ultimate example of someone who was unjustly punished by a human government. However, that punishment brought about our reconciliation to God. So while it was unjust, God used the ungodly, corrupt worldly system to bring about the salvation of ungodly and corrupt people.

There are a couple of ways the end of verse 18 and beginning of verse 19 could be translated. The Greek presents a classic men… de construction, which students of Greek recognize as meaning “on the one hand this… but on the other that…” Here, it’s thanatōtheis men sarki, zōopoiētheis de pneumati: on the one hand having been put to death in the flesh, but on the other having been made alive in the spirit. You could translate “in the spirit” as “by the spirit” (or even “by the Spirit,” indicating the Holy Spirit). However, I would suggest that if you translate it “by the spirit/Spirit,” you would need to translate the preceding men clause as “having been put to death by the flesh.” Otherwise, the parallel (“on the one hand… on the other”) wouldn’t work as powerfully. I suppose you could say “by the flesh,” referring to the Jewish and Roman authorities, but that would be an odd use of the word “flesh” that you would need to justify. The idea of “in the flesh” versus “in the spirit” is far more common, biblically speaking. It can contrast our fallen nature in Adam over against our regenerated nature in Christ (e.g., Romans 8:8-9). It can also refer simply to one’s mortal existence as opposed to one’s soul or spiritual existence (e.g., 2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22-24; 1 John 4:2). I believe Peter is using the term here in this latter sense. Jesus’s body was put to death, but he was spiritually alive and continued to live.

Verse 19 begins “in which”–en hō in the Greek–which can also be translated “by which, by whom, in which, or in whom.” How you translate this phrase depends, I think, on how you understand the passage, and what exactly Jesus did spiritually with regards to the “spirits in prison” who were disobedient during the time when Noah was building the Ark.

So what has Noah got to do with all this?

You can find the story of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood in Genesis chapters 6, 7, and 8. In the preceding chapters, mankind is getting increasingly rebellious until we reach the point where the “sons of God” are taking wives from the “daughters of men” (for more on this, see my article on Genesis 6:1-4). Genesis 6:5 begins, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.” Even the intentions of their hearts were constantly evil. So God planned to wipe mankind off the face of the earth. Only one man walked with God: Noah. God determined to spare Noah and his family (Noah’s wife, and his three sons and their wives). He told Noah to build an Ark, a very large boat, that would contain his family along with two of every kind (not species–there’s a difference) of creature. This included birds, animals, and “creeping things,” a male and a female of each. He also needed to keep a food store for all the Ark inhabitants.

God’s plan was to make it rain for forty days and nights. When the rains began, Noah gathered everyone in the Ark. All those within the Ark were saved from the flood waters, but the rest of mankind perished. Jesus tells us that during this time, the people ate, drank, and married until the flood came suddenly and swept them away (Luke 17:27). It is hard to imagine Noah didn’t try to warn them, just as the Lord expected his disciples to preach the gospel and warn those around them of the coming judgment of God. Clearly the wicked in Noah’s time ignored him and carried on life until disaster struck.

It seems that Peter is holding up Noah as an example of someone who obeyed God contrary to those around him, and was blessed by God for his faithfulness. While the Genesis story doesn’t say, Peter suggests that Noah suffered for his faithfulness. Indeed, it’s difficult to expect that he could work on such a large construction project on the basis of faith in what God had said without experiencing ridicule from those around him. But he endured for the salvation he knew his work would bring about. This is how Noah is an example of Christ-like behavior.

That explains why Peter uses the example of Noah, but what about Jesus preaching “in the spirit” to those who perished in Noah’s time? Why did that happen. Did it happen?

The clue to understanding this lies, I think, in chapter 1 of this letter. Peter says that his readers show their love for Christ by their faith, and their inexpressible joy over the salvation they have through him. Then he says:

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look [ESV].

Peter says that the Spirit of Christ was in the prophets when they predicted Christ’s sufferings and glory. They wondered when it would happen, but that information was kept from them. And they understood that these promises were for a future generation. That idea, that the prophets spoke through the Spirit of Christ is, I believe, at the heart of what Peter says in 3:19. He is saying that it was the Spirit of Christ who preached through Noah to the souls that are now languishing in Hades, “prison,” for their disobedience.

To summarize by means of paraphrase: Christ died bodily, but was alive spiritually, and it was that same Spirit of Christ who preached through Noah to the souls who were disobedient to Noah’s God-given message. Faithful Noah was saved, but the souls of those who mocked and persecuted him are now in prison awaiting final judgment.

I think this makes best sense of the passage given the context, and the language Peter uses elsewhere in the letter. It is also consistent with what Scripture says with regard to death, Hades, and the judgment of unbelievers (see Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:11-15).

The Apostles’ Creed

This ancient creed has come down to us as an early declaration of the church’s faith. Whether or not it actually goes back to the twelve apostles themselves is debated, but there is no doubt that it is an early doctrinal statement–at the latest from the fourth century. We have it in both Greek and Latin forms. Translating from the Greek, it goes like this:

I believe in God the Father, Amighty, creator of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of Mary the virgin, suffering under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead, and buried, descending into the deepest depths, rising from the dead on the third day, ascending into the heavens, sitting at the all-powerful Father’s right-hand, coming from there to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, the fellowship of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, [and] eternal life. Amen.

My translation is deliberately a little rough to try to avoid too much interpretation. If you are familiar with the creed, you will notice I used “universal church” as opposed to “catholic church.” The Greek adjective katholikos means “general” or “universal.” It appears that the term “catholic” was transliterated from the Greek and used to describe the church throughout the world, even after the Reformation when it became clear that the “catholic” church no longer represented the world-wide church. In our day, the word “catholic” is so much associated with Roman Catholicism, that I think it preferable to refer to the “universal” church, that is, all Christians who affirm the faith wherever they may congregate.

The controversial point, and the reason for discussing the Apostles’ Creed in association with 1 Peter 3:18-20 is the part that says “descending into the deepest depths.” Most English translations render this “he descended into Hell.” The Greek says: katelthonta eis ta katōtata. The corresponding Latin says descendit ad inferna. You might see “inferna” and think of Dante’s Inferno, with dancing demons poking miserable wicked souls into the flames. However, both the Latin inferna and the Greek katōtata simply refer to a very deep place. Paul uses the word in Ephesians 4:9-10, where he speaks of Christ descending to the depths and being raised to a place far above the heavens. No doubt this is where the creed derives its language of Christ descending and ascending. But is it legitimate to assume that the katōtata referred to here is equivalent to “Hell”?

First, it should be noted that there is no explicit idea here of this “deep” place being a place of torment or judgment. Indeed, some versions of the creed substitute haidēs, Hades, the abode of the dead. Both inferna and katōtata simply refer to the grave, the final resting place of all flesh, with no qualification with regard to glory or the lake of fire. Why speak of it as “the deepest place”? I think both Paul and the writer of the creed are using language of descending and ascending to express two truths. The first is that Christ suffered the ultimate humiliation followed by the ultimate exaltation (see also Philippians 2:5-11). The second is that Christ actually died. His death was not a mirage, or an illusion. It was an actual death, as is the end of all flesh. However, he did not stay in the grave.

So why do English translations use “Hell” when translating katōtata? I can only suppose it’s because of tradition. Even respected church historian Philip Schaff acknowledges, “The current translation, hell, is apt to mislead” and advocates the use of “Hades” instead (The Creeds of Christendom, Volume 2, p. 46, n.2). The King James Bible translators often, if not always, used “Hell” to translate the Greek haidēs, so that may be how it ended up being passed on to us in the creed. [SIDEBAR: The word “Hell” comes from the Old English verb, helan, meaning to hide or to conceal. Just in case you were wondering…]

All that said, I agree with Schaff. If we do not believe that Christ descended into Hell, an idea contradicted by Luke 23:43 and unsupported by any explicit passage of Scripture, then we don’t need to be confessing this in our creeds. Creeds are not sacred, even though the truths they proclaim might be. We can change the creed if necessary, though here I think we just need to be more accurate in our translation. “He descended into Hades,” would do, though you might need to explain Hades to most church congregations. Alternatively, you could substitute any phrasing that gets across the idea that Christ’s body was in the grave, experiencing real mortal death. Maybe, “He was crucified, he died, and was buried; his body was consigned to the grave. But on the third day he rose from the dead.” After all, that’s the glorious truth we wish to proclaim.