Apostles' Creed

Father,

In the prayer of the Apostles' Creed, why would Jesus have to descend into hell? Thanks for your help.

Blessings,
Kathy


Kathy,

The letter to the Ephesians (4:9-10) tell us that Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens." This happened because out of the depths of death he made life spring forth. In saying that Jesus rose from the dead we acknowledge that he experienced death just as all of us do. Yet he did this as Savior to proclaim the good news to those spirits imprisoned there. The abode of the dead, or hell as we know it, is for all those deprived of the vision of God. While some are there out of their own choice others were there because the gates of heaven were closed due to man's fall from grace. Christ did not descend into hell to deliver the damned or destroy the hell of damnation but to free those righteous who had been prevented from entering heaven to now do so. Thus by descending into hell Christ showed his humanity by sharing death with us but he also showed us his divinity by conquering death and rising from the dead. To learn more about Christ's descent into hell refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) paragraphs 631-637 from which most of this piece was taken.

Fr. Pisut