The Apostles’ Creed And The Descent of Jesus Christ Into Hell
(It’s History and Relationship in the Word of Faith Movement)
By Mark McFall
Even before the Gospels were written, Christians were reflecting upon the meaning of what Jesus had been and what he had said and done. It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that such reflection is a later accretion upon the simple message of the Gospels. On the contrary, the early Christian communities were engaged in witness and worship from the very beginning. The forms of that witness and worship were also the forms of the narratives in the Gospel accounts. From this fact it follows that to understand the Gospel accounts regarding Jesus we must consider the faith of the early church regarding Christ. In this sense it is valid to maintain that there is no distinction between "the Jesus of history" and "the Christ of faith," and that the only way to get at the former is by the latter. Christology, the doctrine about Christ, is then as old as Christianity itself.1
To comprehend the faith of the early church regarding Christ, we must turn to the writings of the New Testament, where that faith found embodiment. It was also embodied in brief confessions or creeds, but these have not been preserved for us complete in their original form. The so-called Apostles' Creed is one such later form. It did not achieve its present form until quite late; just how late is a matter of controversy. But in its earliest ancestry it is very early indeed, perhaps dating back to the 1st century.2 Although no allusion is made to it before the dates of 250 - 350 A.D. by Justin Martyr, Clement, Origen, Eusebius, or any of their contemporaries, all whom make declarations of Christian belief, nor is there any hint in antecedent literature that any such document existed before that time.
The Apostles’ Creed is not the production of the apostles as was formerly believed up until the middle of the seventeenth century when the then - current belief of both the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches was that the Apostles Creed was composed by the Apostles in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost;3 this theory has been abandoned by all modern scholars.
The Apostles Creed is an admirable popular summary of the apostolic teaching, and in full harmony with the spirit and even the letter of the New Testament. It contains all the fundamental articles of the Christian faith necessary to salvation, in the form of facts, in simple Scripture language, and in the most natural order, the order of revelation from God and the creation down to the resurrection and life everlasting. It is Trinitarian, and divided into three chief articles, expressing faith in God the Father, the Maker of heaven and earth, in his only Son, our Lord and Savior, and in the Holy Spirit; The chief stress being laid on the second article, the supernatural birth, death, and resurrection of Christ.4
Origin of the Creed
As to the origin of the Apostles’ Creed, it no doubt gradually grew out of the confession of Peter, Matt.16:16, which furnished its nucleus (the article on Jesus Christ), and out of the baptismal formula, which determined the Trinitarian order and arrangement. It can not be traced to an individual author. It is the product of the Western Catholic Church (as the Nicene Creed is that of the Eastern Church within the first four centuries). It is not of primary, apostolic, but of secondary, ecclesiastical inspiration. It is not a word of God to men, but a word of men to God, in response to his revelation.5
Two Existing Forms Of The Creed
It is important to know that there are two competing primary versions of the Apostles’ Creed; one is "The Old Roman Form" and the other is "The Received Form" which is the most popular in churches today and the most quoted. The oldest of these two forms is that of the Old Roman Form, it was copied by Marcellus in Greek and dates to about A.D. 336-341, and may date from the second century.6,7 The manuscript evidence suggest this form is the most original:
The Old Roman Form
1. I believe in God The Father Almighty.
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
3. Who was born by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary;
4. Was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried;
5. The third day he rose from the dead;
6. He ascended into heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
8. And in the Holy Ghost;
9. The
10. The forgiveness of sins;
11. The resurrection of the body (flesh).8
The additions to the Apostles’ Creed are clearly seen when its present form (below) is compared to the Old Roman Version: This present form is as stated: [The additions are enclosed in brackets, and follows the transitional illustration given in the book The Creeds of Christendom]
The Received Form
1. I believe in God The Father Almighty [Maker of heaven and earth].
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
3.Who was [conceived] by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary;
4. [Suffered] under Pontius Pilate, was crucified [dead], and buried [He descended into Hell (Hades)].
5. The third day he rose from the dead;
6. He ascended into heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of [God] the Father [Almighty];
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
8. [I Believe] in the Holy Ghost;
9. The Holy [Catholic] Church [The communion of saints];
10. The forgiveness of sins;
11. The resurrection of the body (flesh);
12. [And the life everlasting].9
Of all the brackets above only one affects doctrine. The phrase "He descended into Hell (Hades)", this saying is not in Scripture.
If we regard the Received Form of the Apostles’ Creed as a complete whole, we can hardly traced it beyond the sixth century, certainly not beyond the fifth century, and its triumph over all the other forms in the Latin Church was not completed till the eighth century.10 This version seems to have twelve interpolations into the text that are not found in earlier manuscripts of The Apostles’ Creed.
Ancient Commentary on the Creed
The clause "He descended into Hell" was unknown in the older creeds, though believed in the Church, and was transferred into the Roman symbol after the fifth century, taken from the Creed of Aquileia,11 A.D. 390, where it first appears among Latin creeds, as we learn from Rufinus12,13--the first writer in the West who gives us the text of the Latin creed, with commentary towards the close of the fourth century.14 In the East this clause is found in Arain creeds (about 360 A.D.). After this we meet it again in the Creed of Venantius Fortunatus, A.D. 590, who had the Creed of Rufinus before him.15
The Translation of the Word "Hell"
In The Apostles’ Creed, the Greek word that is mistranslated as "Hell" is katotata, it’s root simply means "down16". Katotata (down) corresponds to katoteros (lower17) of Ephesians 4:9 (which is the only occurrence of this word in the NT), which many understand of Christ’s descent into Hades, or as the NAS puts it "lower parts." Hades signifies, like the Hebrew Sheol, the unseen spirit-world, the abode of all the departed, both the righteous and wicked; while Hell 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.18
So it seems that not only do we have a interpolation of the phrase, but, we also have a mistranslation of the phrase, which in turn has lead to mis-interpretations.
Christ’s Declaration
Though this phrase at first glance might seem to be implied in Scripture, careful exegesis and hermeneutics (biblical art of science and interpretation), will show this is not the case. It is equally important to know that the translation of "Hell" is apt to mislead, and excludes the important fact, the only one which we most certainly know, that Christ was in
False Teachings As A Result
Modern teachers of the Word Of Faith movement have focused on these interpolations found in the present Creed -- these modern teachers teach that Jesus endured three days and nights of unimaginable abuse at the hands of Satan and his hordes of demons. Word of faith teacher Frederick K.C. Price explains it this way:
"Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God...Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence."20
Another modern word of faith teacher Kenneth Hagin, who’s teaching is also based on the interpolation found in the present Creed, teaches that:
"He [Jesus] tasted spiritual death for every man. And His spirit and inner man went to hell in my place. Can’t you see that? Physical death wouldn’t remove your sins. He’s tasted death for every man. He’s talking about tasting spiritual death." 21,22
Kenneth Copeland the most known of all the word of faith teachers, asserts:
"When Jesus cried, ‘It is finished!’ He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne...Jesus’ death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption."23
Century’s of misunderstanding the words Hell, Hades, and lower, have led some to misapprehend the work of Christ. Yet some Faith teachers attempt to strengthen their argument by insisting that a number of the ancient Christian creeds -- such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed -- include the phrase "descended into hell." They seem to be unaware that this phrase did not appear in the creed until the fourth century, that it was not part of the original.24
A Well-Reasoned Hermeneutic
Therefore, since Hades is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew Sheol. The Bible depicts it as being the place of disembodied spirits or souls. This area contains two distinct places. One area is a place of torment for the wicked; the other is a place of conscious bliss for the righteous (referred to as "paradise" or "Abraham’s Bosom"). Both were but a foretaste of what was to come. Jesus went to Hades (specifically, the section of Hades called paradise) is evident from 1 Peter 3:18-20. Here Jesus proclaims the completion of His atonement on the cross to the "spirits in prison". And then, as we read in Ephesians 4:8,9, He took the righteous out of Hades (that is , Abraham’s Bosom or paradise) and brought them to the very throne room of God. In fact, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 teaches that paradise is no longer in Hades but is now in the very throne room of God.25
The unrighteous who remain in Hades await the day of judgment, when they will stand before God and receive final sentencing. Then death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death (Revelation 20:14). It is this lake of fire which Scripture refers to as hell or Gehenna, The future place of punishment in the eternal state. While Biblical students differ as to exactly what occurred when Jesus went to paradise or Hades, one thing they do agree upon: Jesus did not go to hell to be tortured by Satan,26 for the salvation of mankind.
It is worth noting that Jesus on the cross cried, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46; John 19:30). He most certainly did not shout, "Satan, into your clutches I submit my being. Take me, I’m yours. Take me to Hell."27
If we are to take the Bible seriously, we must conclude that Jesus committed His spirit to the Father, not to Satan. The Apostle Paul put it ever so eloquently when he wrote of Christ:28
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (NIV Colossians 2:15)
Jesus did not suffer horrible torture at the hands of Satan in the bowels of hell. Christ triumphed over the devil at the cross! It was His death on the cross that made possible our salvation;29despite the interpolation of the phrase "He descended into Hell," his finish work ended when he breathed his last breath.
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Appendix
Manuscripts of the Creed
In the course of the seventh century the Creed seems to have been approaching more and more into conformity with the formula now in use. Pirminius (A.D. 753), the first abbot of Benedictine monastery at Reichenau (located in modern Germany), wrote a book entitled Scarapsus, which is the earliest known writing to contain the Apostles' Creed as it is worded in its present [complete] form (Received Form). 30The Psalterium Graecum et Romanum manuscript dated to the eighth or nine century contains both the Latin and Greek texts in parallel columns, this Creed agrees with that of Pirminius31 and remains our oldest known copy of our Received Form of the Apostles’ Creed.32These Creed’s contain the phrase "He descended into Hell."
The Book of Deer is one of
These Creed’s are rivaled by that of the Spanish version given by Etherius Uxamensis (Bishop of Osma), which retains much of the incompleteness of the formula of earlier times, it is traced to the eight century. (34)
----Footnotes---------
1) Encyclopedia Britannica
2) Ibid.
3) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 1. Pg. 22.
4) Ibid. Pg. 14-15.
5) Ibid. Pg. 16.
6) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 1. Pg 19.
7) Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg. 72.
8) Ibid. Pg. 21-22.
9) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 1. Pg. 21-22.
10) Ibid. Pg. 19.
11) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 1. Pg. 19. As well as Vol.2. Pg. 46.
12) Note: Rufinus, Tyrannius was a roman priest, writer, theologian, and translator of Greek theological works into Latin at a time when knowledge of Greek was declining in the West. His own writings include a commentary on the Apostles' Creed that exemplified contemporary catechetical instruction and provided the earliest continuous Latin text of the creed. ( Encyclopedia Britannica)
13) Note: Rufinus explicitly states that the words descended into hell were not in the Roman Creed, but existed in that of
14) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 1. Pg. 18.
15) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2. Pg. 46.
16) Joseph Thayers Lexicon pg. 341.
17) Ibid, pg. 341.
18) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2. Pg. 46.
19) Ibid, pg. 46.
20) Frederick K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger (June 1980), 7; quoted in D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), 120.
21) Kenneth E. Hagin, "How Jesus Obtained His Name" (
22) Kenneth E. Hagin, "How Jesus Obtained His Name" (
23) Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus--our Lord of Glory," Believer’s Voice of Victory 10, 4 (April 1982):3.
24) Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity In Crisis, pg. 165.
25) Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity In Crisis, pg. 396. (Footnote)
26) Ibid. Pg.396. (Footnote)
27) Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity In Crisis, pg. 166.
28) Ibid, pg. 166.
29) Ibid, pg. 167.
30) Information supplied by Dr. Mac’s Cultural Calendar, located at http://www.ntin.net/McDaniel/1103.htm.
31) Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2. Pg. 46.
32) Psalterium Graecum et Romanum, manuscript is currently being housed at the Library of Corpus Christi College,
33) Encyclopedia Britannica.
34) Ibid. Pg. 19. Schaff is referencing Heurtley (1. c. p. 126) (Footnote).
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