Green on Article III: Of the going down of Christ into Hell

“First for matters of Scripture, namely, for this place which is written in the Epistle of S. Peter, that Christ went down into hell and preached to the souls that were in prison. There have been in my diocese great invectives between the preachers one against the other.” 1

§ 3. — EXPOSITION.

The use of the word hell in the Article, as in the Apostles’ Creed, is a little unfortunate, because it is often used to signify the place of torment. Here it is used in the sense of the Greek aSr)$j or the Hebrew iiKP, meaning the place of departed spirits. The purport of the Article, therefore, is that our Lord was true man as well in death as in life ; that His Body lay in the grave, and Lbs Spirit went to the place of departed spirits (cf. S. Luke xxiii. 43).

For Scripture testimony see the following passages : —

(a) Acts ii. 25—31, where S. Peter quotes the words of the Psalmist, “ Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption ” (Ps. xvi. 10), and applies them to the Resurrection of our Lord, “ Whose soul was not left in hell.” This argument implies that the soul of Christ had been in hell.

(b) 1 S. Peter iii. 18, 19. This famous passage represents the soul of Christ as acting, after the death of the body, among the souls who were in the place of departed spirits, those especially being mentioned who were disobedient at the time of the flood. Christ is said to have preached (eiajpu^ev) to these. The word is one generally used in the Gospels of the work of Christ in proclaiming the Gospel of the King¬ dom, preaching repentance ( e.g ., S. Matt. iv. 17, 23). If we so understand the passage our interpretation is confirmed by a comparison with 1 S. Peter iv. 6 — all are to be on the same footing at the Judgment ; therefore all, dead as well as living, have the offer of the salvation of Christ.2

2 Of course, when thus interpreted, the passage does not support the idea that those who have had the offer of Christ’s salvation in this life, and refused it, will have another chance after death. Inadequate explanations of S. Peter’s meaning are — ( a ) that given by Bishop Pearson, viz., that the Spirit of Christ

We have seen that the disputes as to the meaning of the pas¬ sage in S. Peter caused the reference to it in the Article to be struck out. Our Church, however, has expressed her view of its meaning by appointing the passage to be read as the Epistle on Easter Even.

preached by the mouth of Noah to the ante-Diluvians ; (6) that the proclama¬ tion spoken of was one of condemnation.

Notes

• Strype, “Annals,” i. 348 (ed. 1725).