John Calvin: What Does "He Descended into Hell" Mean?
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- Опубликовано: 2 май 2023
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We’re all wrong sometimes. Even Calvin 😂
I'm just glad people are thinking about and questioning rather than blindly accepting it. Nothing wrong with that. It's encouraging, actually =)
Blasphemy!! 😂
Thank-you so very much for this explanation!
Very helpful brother, thanks.
Love Calvin's thorough treatment of this, which set the reformed standard. With great humility I must disagree though. "Descended" implies locality. Why not use the word "suffered" there? I also don't buy his answer to the out-of-order problem, but I am grateful he acknowledges it. Far from being "wrested" from their context, many OT and NT passages point to Sheol/Hades being the realm of the dead, and the righteous and wicked being separated there, OT saints expecting a deliverance from there. Jesus did not descend to hell to suffer, but to liberate his people and proclaim victory.
But what are his people doing in hell in the 1st place. That's kind of a ridiculous thought.
@@rayburton5300 Don't think hell, think Sheol. Gen 37:35
@@rayburton5300 they’re imprisoned because their sins had not yet been atoned for. Their souls were abandoned to Sheol and saw corruption (Psalm 16), and Christ’s did not
He wasn't sleeping.
Great T-Shirt will checkout the website 👍
I like this kind of content.
As far as I understand, Edward’s view (as well as that of the Heidelberg Catechism) is completely novel & originated around the Reformation in church history.
Lutherans & Anglicans affirm a real descent into a place called “hell.”
I like hades or the place of the dead. Hell comes with too much baggage and makes people assume that you believe Christ was tortured at the descent.
Jesus made it real clear it was a place that had a gulf in it. Father Abraham and the begger were on one side, the rich person, worried about his brothers was on the other side. They could see, talk to eachother but could not pass to eachother. Jesus could though,and took them out after he ascended- And the dead were seen walking the streets of Jerusalem- Mark.
And by the way, thank you for the explanation of the order of the lines about buried and descending, I had always actually wondered about the order since learning the Biblical (a.k.a., Reformed) understanding.
I think this is just a translational issue of the word "Hell" or "Hades" since they have a negative connotation. We assume it's the place of torment instead of Abraham's Bosom as the place I believe Jesus descend to.
"Today you will be with me in Paradise" can only logically be Abraham's Bosom.
Thanks for the discussion. For the Battles/McNeill edition, the reference is Institutes, 2.16.8-10 (not 3.16.8).
Hello Pastor Matt! Good Video.
Can you do some sort of follow-up video explaining for those who hold the more Lutheran view what Ephesians 4:8 means when it says leading captivity captive?
In my copy of the institutes this paragraph is in the second book.
This from Gerald Bray…
Modern commentators tend to focus on the idea of “Hell” which they are determined to make as innocuous as possible by saying that it means no more than “the place of the dead” or by substituting words like Hades and Sheol for it, which are misleading and meaningless to most people.
The descent into Hell has always been part of the Gospel proclamation. There are two main reasons for this. On the one hand, it was necessary for Christ to suffer the full extent of human punishment for sin, which he would not have done if he had not gone to the place of eternal punishment. On the other hand, it was also necessary for him to do battle with Satan on his own turf. The power of evil would not have been overthrown, or even seriously challenged, had he not taken the fight into the heart of the enemy camp and “led captivity captive”.
Source: The Faith We Confess (paperback).
The argument that He needed to free anyone seems obviously wrong as Lazarus was with Abraham & we know God kept for himself a remnant.
As someone who went the full range from raised Catholic, to UMC, to non-denominational, to basic 5-point Calvinism (at which time God came in and accomplished John 3:3 in my life, which I do not deserve (I deserve what the second person mentioned in Romans 9:13 received) and who realizes that eternity is not long enough to provide the degree of gratitude and unbelievible thankfulness I have for my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ), to now, thanks to God alone, fully confessional and reformed; Pastor Matthew, I can not thank you enough for this! I used to be very much on the Lutheran/Catholic side believing that descending into hell meant going down into some place below that is a physical place. Our assistant pastor at my PCA church was the first to introduce me to the idea that hell is the experiencing of the full wrath and fury of God eternally (as Paul directly states it in Romans 5:8-11, especially see 5:9-11) . After a debate with someone close to me who rejects the phrase and honestly breaks my heart as this person refuses to speak it as they believe it is just something Catholic and not Biblical, I went to Ligonier Ministry (R. C. Sproul) which are fully confessionally reformed and PCA and very Biblically sound , and they too support the same idea as Calvin and as you are teaching here. Once I came to this realization, it made so much more sense to me. Our sins deserve Romans 5:9. Christ in that verse took that on for us (our punishment, a.k.a., eternal death/punishment/hell), He then had to die so that He could be reserected thereby defeating death. So there are actually two parts if I am understanding the confessionally Reformed Theology correctly (Pastor Matthew, feel free to fully correct me) but the first is the punishment portion (which deals with our sin and the reserection which was the victory over death itself. Perhaps stated a bit differently and maybe more accurately, the wrath that Christ endured on our behalf is the punishment or payment (that we as sinners in the presence of the Thrice Holy and Sovereign Triune God deserve) while His death and reserection are how we are able to have new life. So there are two separate parts, the punishment and the victory over death so that (1) our sins are paid for and (2) we could have new life, eternal! I would love to know if this is correct as this is my understanding. Pastor Matthew, please please please please keep up what you are doing and continue to stand firm and with conviction in the Word just as you are doing!! I am very new (a.k.a, tonight:)) to your videos:), but I love what you are doing and I am thankful to God for bringing me to your work to help me continue in my Walk and growing as someone who is trying to be a faithful follower of the Word of my LORD and Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ! all praise and worship to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!! Maranatha LORD Jesus, please come quickly!!
I think I may agree with Calvin makes me think of Ps. 116:3/18:4 “ The sorrows of death compassed me, the pangs of hell gat hold upon me:”
And that’s book 2, thanks for the video
Great information, thank you!
I remember growing up and hearing in church as a kid that Christ went into hell and took the keys in victory. Ive looked and cannot find that in the Bible, exactly...
Maybe this has its origin in 1 Peter 3:19-20 (preached to the spirits in prison). And from Revelation 1:19 (am alive and have the keys of hell and death).
I always wondered about this.
Yes, those two verses exactly. But scripture is not perfectly clear about hell.
What do we do about 1 Peter 3:19-20?
Thank you, Matthew, great inroduction to the topic as always. However, I'd like to notice that in the Greek version of the Apostle's Creed (at least in the version I am familiar with) there is no such word as Hades, but rather eis ta katotata (into the lower parts), which is consistent with Eph 4:9. "Ad Infernus" Latin translation wasn't introduced earlier than in XIII century. I would be extremely glad to hear what are you thinking about it.
How do you see GAFCON split from Church of England will affect the Presbyterian church?
Where did you get that shirt? It’s a must buy!
TELL ME WHERE YOU GOT THAT SHIRT!!! ITS AMAZINGGGG
description, his friends shop
I love this channel, as it’s good to look outside your own church’s bubble.
But if I ever need reminding as to why I’m not reformed, this video will do.
I prefer a Bible study to a reading of the "Institutes".
😛
I second Favio
Wow I disagree with both Edwards and Calvin? What am I? Arminian? 😢
No your a Christian. No need to align with a man.
May I know why do you disagree with them? Does this mean you have your own understanding of the text? How did you develop your understanding without learning from church history and theology? I don't mean any disrespect. I am just curious why understanding of one text can cause division.
You might just believe in the historic Christian teaching on this issue.
Calvin is not infallible Jonathan Edwards is not infallible. We're all wrong at some point yet if Christ didn't descend there would be no fullness of ascension from the land of the dead(hell), the land of the living (earth), to the land of the eternal (Heaven).
I see Calvin's clarification one of the best regarding this issue and his argument that any concept of Jesus physically going to Hell, the Hell where sinners are facing God's judgment, come from people who "wrest" the scriptures inaccurately - it's been my experience that people have taken 1 Peter 3:18-22 out of context to support the view of Christ physically descending into Hell - this presentation is an excellent reminder that we must be careful how we view historic writings regarding the Christian faith - it is so important to hold all church teachings up to the light of God's word and the truth of the gospel. It is also important to understand the original intent and conceptualization of doctrine by our church forefathers in their historic period and the thinking of their day. BTW great T-Shirt, great advice😄
Our PCA church elders decided to omit that clause after years of saying it. So, even within the PCA there is disagreement.
Read Flavius Josefus’ explanation of Hades. He was a Jew and his dad was a Jewish Priest. Hades contained The Bosom of Abraham and across a chasm, a place of torment. Yeshua gives us a picture of Hades in his story commonly called, The Rich Msn and Lazarus.
Can you give me the time stamp where Calvin mentions 1 Peter 3:19 ("preached to the spirits in prison...")? I must have missed it. surely.
Even Calvin’s a man that is capable of being wrong.
Thief on the cross:
Luke 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Moving forward to Luke’s inspired account of the moment Jesus died:
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
When Jesus said “It is finished” he meant it was finished. To say there was further work he needed to do in hell, or a pain he still needed to experience is false at best and heretical at worse.
Cool shirt
Interesting perspective. This is something I’ve always wondered about. Two Lutheran perspectives I’ve heard is that Jesus showed himself to the souls in hell to show himself victorious over the devil, sin, and death. I also heard that he went to hell to preach to the souls there. Unclear if they were given a second chance to repent?
Hell is the grave. Jesus rested on the sabbath day even in death.
Thank you for the interesting discussion. Let me offer one correction. Limbo is not a Catholic doctrine. See, for example, "THE HOPE OF SALVATION FOR INFANTS
WHO DIE WITHOUT BEING BAPTISED" on the Vatican website, which calls Limbo a "theory" which arose in the Middle Ages.
I think a person should probably join a church before getting married, and even before growing a beard. But thanks for summarizing Calvin's view of this credal point.
Why can't Calvin and Luther both be right? In the sense of what they think happened, broadly speaking?
The state of the dead, according to the word of God.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof *thou shalt surely die*
{Genesis 2:17}
Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
...
So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their *sleep*
O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, *until thy wrath be past* that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait,
👉till my change come.
...
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
{Job 14:10, 12-14 & 21}
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in *my flesh* shall I see God.
{Job 19:26}
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, *nor knowledge nor wisdom* in the grave, whither thou goest.
{The Preacher 9:10}
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; *in that very day his thoughts perish*
{Psalm 146:3-4}
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he *sleep* he shall do well.
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, "Lazarus is dead."
{John 11:12-14}
...
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
👉at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet *shall* he live:"
{John 11:24-25}
But go thou thy way till the end be: for *thou shalt rest* and stand in thy lot *at the end of the days*
{Daniel 12:13}
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him *should not perish* but have everlasting life.
{John 3:16}
And *the serpent said* unto the woman, *Ye shall not surely die*
{Genesis 3:4}
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down *in the midst of the stones of fire*
{Ezekiel 28:14}
^
(satan always turns the tables on God, for he is the father of lies.)
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. *Who* among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
*He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the gain of oppressions that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil*
{Isaiah 33:14-15}
If anyone errors in their understanding of this doctrine of the dead, then they will in no way be led to the understanding of the truth, for it will be a stumblingblock unto the decernment of spiritual things, including soilterology and eschatology.
When you mentioned Heidelberg catechism, made me think about how I learned the other day that it teaches universal atonement. Matthew, have you done a video on that?
Off topic, someone stole your photo and most of your username and is responding to old comments as you. It was unfortunately on one of your community posts about the shooting. Just wanted to give you a heads up!
The problem is He didn't go into hell. Here is what Schaff said about it, "Descendit ad inferna (other Latin copies: ad inferos, to the inhabitants of the spirit-world; so also in the Athanasian Symbol), κατελθόντα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα (other Eastern creeds: εἰς ᾅδου, viz., τόπον, or εἰς τὸν ᾅδην), he descended into Hades. This clause was unknown in the older creeds, though believed in the Church, and was transferred into the Roman symbol after the fifth century, probably from that of Aquilcia, A.D. 390, where it first appears among Latin creeds, as we learn from Rufinus. In the East it is found before in Arian creeds (about 360). After this we meet it again in the Creed of Venantius Fortunatus, A.D. 590, who had the Creed of Rufinus before him. The words κατώτατα and inferna, taken from Eph. iv. 9, correspond here to the Greek Ἅιδης, which occurs eleven times in the Greek Testament, viz., Matt. xi. 23; xvi. 18; Luke x. 15; xvi. 23; Acts ii. 27, 31; 1 Cor. xv. 55; Rev. i. 18; vi. 8; xx. 13, 14, and is always incorrectly translated hell in the English Version, except in 1 Cor. xv. 55. Hades signifies, like the Hebrew Sheol, the unseen spirit-world, the abode of all the departed, both the righteous and wicked; while hell (probably from the Saxon word helan, to cover, to conceal), at least in modern usage, is a much narrower conception, and signifies the state and place of eternal damnation, like the Hebrew gehenna, which occurs twelve times in the Greek Testament, and is so translated in the English Bible, viz., Matt. v. 22, 29, 30; x. 28; xviii. 9; xxiii. 15, 33; Mark ix. 43, 45, 47; Luke xii. 5; James iii. 6. The American editions of the Book of Common Prayer leave it optional with the minister to use, in the Creed, hell, or the place of departed spirits; but it would be much better to restore or popularize the Greek Hades. The current translation, hell, is apt to mislead, and excludes the important fact-the only one which we certainly know of the mysterious triduum-that Christ was in Paradise in the time between the crucifixion and the resurrection, according to his own declaration to the penitent thief, Luke xxiii. 43. Some connect the descent into Hades with the resurrection in one article; while others, on the contrary, connect it with the preceding article by placing a (,) after buried. It forms rather a separate article, and should be included in (;), as above.
The clause has been explained in three different ways: 1. It is identical with sepultus (Rufinus), or means 'continued in the state of death and under the power of death' till the resurrection (Westminster divines). This makes it a useless repetition in figurative language. 2. It signifies the intensity of Christ's sufferings on the cross, where he tasted the pain of hell for sinners (Calvin and the Heidelberg Catechism). This is inconsistent with the order of the clause between death and resurrection. 3. An actual self-manifestation of Christ after the crucifixion to all the departed spirits, Luke xxiii. 43; Acts ii. 27, 31; 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19; iv.6; comp. Eph. iv. 8, 9; Col. ii. 15; Phil. ii. 10; Rev. i. 18. As such the descent is a part of the universality of the scheme of redemption, and forms the transition from the state of humiliation to the state of exaltation. This is the historical explanation, according to the belief of the ancient Church, but leaves much room for speculation concerning the object and effect of the descent.
Vermigli disagreed with Calvin, and I believe William Perkins categorized different views found in Reformed theologians.
11:40, as a protestant, I do not think hades is the same thing as purgatory, in the Roman Catholic view. Further, Anglicans and Orthodox, who do not have a doctrine of purgatory, also believe Christ descended into hades.
The occasion to go to hades would be 1) to preach to those under the earth, as it says in the NT as well, and 2) to nuke death I think bc the divine son is going into that realm
I get 1970s-1980s TV Detective vibes from that picture of you in a suit! Not Columbo, though. Even though he would have made a great Reformed Baptist Theologian, you are definitely Presbyterian Reformed. 🙂
Seriously, your teachings on this issue are spot on!
didn't clarify anything
Part 2
From both the Bible and scholastic studies of the last half century, it is clear that baptism for the dead was practiced by the early Christians.2 Is it any wonder, then, that when it came time for the Lord Jesus Christ to restore to earth in the latter days his gospel in its purity and power, he would restore the truths concerning salvation for the dead?3 With such truths restored, the Lord also restored the power and authority of his priesthood. Why? So that the ordinances performed, both for the living and the dead, would be valid and binding before God.
Prior to his departure from mortality, the Lord gave priesthood power to Peter, the chief Apostle, so that he and others to whom he delegated that power could perform baptisms and the other ordinances vital to man’s salvation. To Peter the Lord promised, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).
These same priesthood keys were restored in the last days of this dispensation. T he Lord clarified the conditions that exist after we leave mortality: “And verily I say unto you, that the conditions … are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed … (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days … ), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
“Behold, mine house is a house of order” (D&C 132:7-8**).
Thus, with his priesthood power to seal ordinances on earth and have them binding in heaven, the Lord has extended gospel blessings to the deceased of all mankind. The same ordinances performed for the living can be offered in proxy by someone standing in for the deceased! Not only baptism, but also the covenants and blessings of the endowment and of eternal marriage are made available to all those who could not receive them in this life.
Each day, thousands of Latter-day Saints enter temples of the Lord and perform these ordinances in behalf of their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers-as far back as known records can disclose names and identities of real individuals. These persons-dead to us, but very much alive in the spirit world-are, as the Master said, awaiting the “good tidings” that their work has been performed so that they may receive liberty from the “prison” wherein they “are bound.” When these ordinances are performed on their behalf, they are able to keep to a greater degree the commandments of the Lord and continue their growth and progression.
Clearly, however, no earthly activity interferes in any way with the right of choice exercised by persons in the spirit world. They are free to accept or reject the ministrations in their behalf. If they choose to accept the ordinances performed for them, exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repent, they are released from their spiritual bondage. If they choose not to accept those conditions, they remain in their spiritual bondage. Their right to choose remains inviolate. Agency is an eternal inheritance we each have from God our Father, and it is fundamental to our personal development. The Lord’s work goes on in the spirit world as it goes on here in mortality, in that all mankind are graciously invited, not forced, to receive the fulness of the gospel and to use it to ennoble their lives.
These truths concerning salvation for the dead are so important that they were among the first principles taught to the Prophet Joseph Smith at the opening of this dispensation. On 21 September 1823, only three years after he was first visited by the Father and the Son and four years before he would receive the plates of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni. The angelic instructor said that the time would soon come when Malachi’s Old Testament prophecy would be fulfilled wherein the “hearts of the children”-we, the posterity of our forebears-shall turn “to their fathers”-our ancestors (see Mal. 4:6). Four times Moroni repeated Malachi’s prophecy that Elijah the prophet would be sent by the Lord to reveal the authority and knowledge necessary for this work to begin.
It is the solemn witness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Elijah the prophet did come as was both anciently and modernly foretold. While the world went about its normal activities on 3 April 1836, Elijah the prophet appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the newly dedicated temple in Kirtland, Ohio, and gave them the authority to reinstate baptism for the dead as well as all other ordinances necessary for the salvation of the dead. “Therefore,” said Elijah, “the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands” (D&C 110:16**).
Since that day in 1836, the Latter-day Saints have built temples throughout the world in which the ordinances of the gospel can be performed for our forebears. To facilitate their search for the identities of their progenitors, Latter-day Saints have also established genealogical libraries and other aids to family history research that are used worldwide.
Stirring witness of salvation for the dead was also given to a subsequent latter-day prophet in 1918. President Joseph F. Smith recorded a vision he received on October 3 as he read and pondered 1 Peter 3:8-20 and 1 Peter 4:6 [1 Pet. 3:8-20; 1 Pet. 4:6] wherein the Apostle Peter discusses the Lord Jesus Christ’s visit to the spirit world after his crucifixion:
“As I pondered over these things which were written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both great and small.
“And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just. …
“While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful;
“And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance. …
“I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;
“But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men.
“Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.
“These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,
“And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves. …
“I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead.
“The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God” (D&C 138:11-12, 18-19, 29-30, 32-34, 57-58). See part 3 below.
I see. Reformed theology is a great advance. You get to preach the Bible selectively. 1 Peter 3:19 is the text, brothers.
Is there no one that appreciates this discourse? It seems like the comment section is full of theologians more capable than Calvin. Can't you appreciate something even if you don't agree with it? Thanks for the content, Matt.
I was taught that he went to hell because Christ resembles the burnt offering of the Old Testament.
Why can't you deal with the Scripture on this idea? Too much work?
A lot of people in these comments are strongly against Calvin here. I affirm Calvin's view on this. Was Christ's torturous death on the cross not enough? Did he require further torment in hell to be counted as a proper sacrifice?
Should a thug not be punished to hell if he got a beating on earth for his crimes?
The view many here are espousing is not that Christ was tormented in hell, but that he went there to proclaim victory and free the righteous dead from Sheol
hmmm... was Calvin edwardised here? i do agree with Calvin’s explanation in the Institutes and the way i read it, Calvin does not preclude or exclude a literal descent into literal hell with “divine vengeance “...
Jesus did go to Hell as in Hades.
Acts 2: 27--31. The same Greek word and place a
Lk 16: 22--25.
Jesus suffered pains in Hell.
Acts 2: 24.
God didn't loose Jesus from the pains of physical death, HE DIED in agony. But God did loose Jesus from the pains of Spiritual death and Hell.
Makes sense. This is why the KJV confuses so many people.
The KJV lumps the concepts of Hades and Gehenna into one thing - hell.