I was reading 1 Pet. 3:18-20, and it mentions Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison. I have heard this verse used to prove that Jesus descended into hell to preach the gospel to the spirits of Old Testament people, who lived before the time of Noah. Is this true? Did Jesus descend into hell?These verses have been considered some of the most bizarre and obscure in the New Testament. They have occasioned a variety of interpretations, and are the foundation for the belief (which was included in the Apostles’ Creed) that Jesus descended into hell after the crucifixion in order to preach the gospel to people who died in the Old Testament. I want to stress that this is not a biblical teaching, and while not overly harmful, should nonetheless be rejected. People in the Old Testament were saved on the basis of their faith (see Gen 15:6), and had no need for an additional gospel proclamation.
Here are the verses in contention:
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. (1 Pet 3:18-20; NASB)
The tendency is to read this passage in connection with two other passages that actually have nothing to do with 1 Pet 3:18-20, rather than reading these verses on their own. The first passage used to interpret these verses is 1 Pet 4:6, which speaks of the gospel being preached "even to those who are dead." This is thought to explain that Christ’s proclamation to the spirits in prison was a proclamation of the gospel, and the "spirits in prison" are understood to be the spirits of deceased Old Testament believers (like Abraham and Moses). The other passage used to interpret 1 Pet 3:18-20 is Eph 4:8-10, where Christ is said to have "descended into the lower parts of the earth," and this is understood to refer to hell, where (it is assumed) the spirits of deceased Old Testament believers are held in bondage. Those holding this view often connect this "descent into hell" with the time Jesus’ body lay in the tomb, prior to His resurrection.
This interpretation is, essentially, a theological myth that has been part of church tradition for many centuries, and reflects a poor approach to interpreting the Bible. I will step through each of the passages to provide a better (more contextually sensitive) interpretation.
Read on its own, nothing in this passage describes a descent into hell, nor is there any indication that the "spirits now in prison" refers to Old Testament believers. First, I would point out that v. 18 describes Jesus’ victory over death, and the proclamation of v. 19 is best understood as a proclamation of His victory, not a gospel presentation. Peter does NOT use the term "preach the gospel" (euangelizein; see 1 Pet 1:12, 25; 4:6) here. Instead, he uses a much more general word for making a proclamation (kerussein). Nothing here indicates that the proclamation has the purpose of saving anyone. It is also problematic to suggest that people in Hades (or hell) have the opportunity to make a decision regarding their salvation. Jesus teaches that there is a fixed chasm between Hades and heaven preventing any further chance of salvation after death (Luke 16:26—and note that Abraham is described as being on the "saved" side of the chasm, though this would precede Jesus’ "descent into hell" to preach to him).
Second, the term "spirits" is not used in reference to human beings. Humans are never called "spirits" anywhere in the New Testament. The closest reference is Heb 12:23, which makes mention of "spirits of just people made perfect," and in this verse the use of "spirits" is qualified—they are spirits of people. In 1 Pet 3:19, Peter does not qualify the term "spirits." These are not the spirits of dead people, or Old Testament people. They are simply spirits. When this term occurs in the New Testament without qualification, it refers to demonic spirits (Matt 8:16; Luke 10:20). Other times it is qualified, but still is typically used as a reference for the demonic powers: "unclean spirits" (Matt 10:1; Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:13; 6:7; Luke 4:36; 6:18; Acts 5:16), or "evil spirits" (Matt 12:45; Luke 7:21; 8:2; Acts 19:12-13). Human beings are not called spirits, even when they are dead and awaiting resurrection. Spirits are something humans have, not something that they are.
Thus, 1 Pet 3:18-20 should be understood as describing Jesus’ proclamation of victory over death to the demonic realm. The "prison" reference here has been debated, but it very likely refers to those evil spirits which were imprisoned in the abyss since the fall of Satan (see my writeup on Satan and demons in the Theological Questions section for more information on this). In other words, even the demonic spirits who have been locked away are now aware that Jesus has defeated Satan and the power of death. I want to point out that Jesus did not have to go into the prison to make this proclamation; His ascent into the heavenly realm was more than adequate to make His proclamation of victory known to all the demonic powers.
Some have become confused over the reference to "the days of Noah" in v. 20, thinking that the spirits were Old Testament believers from before the time of the flood. Note that nothing here connects the disobedient spirits with the flood; the flood is an illustration of the patience of God, not the reason for the imprisonment of the spirits. It’s a little confusing, since they seem related in this passage. But Peter connects these same two events up in 2 Peter, and there it becomes clear that they are examples of the same thing (i.e., disobedience and judgment), not events which are causally connected:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter... (2 Pet 2:4-6; NASB)
Note that, for Peter, the idea of spirits in prison and the flood are examples of the same kind of judgment (and added to this, in 2 Pet 2:6, is the judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah). The spirits in prison and the flood are not the same event. That is why Peter, in describing demonic spirits in prison in 1 Pet 3:19, immediately mentions God’s patience in the time of Noah in v. 20. They are, in his mind, both examples of God’s patience and its limits.
I should briefly run through the other passages used to support the view that Jesus descended into hell to preach a salvation message to Old Testament believers. Eph 4:8-10 describes Jesus’ descent to "the lower parts of the earth":
Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men." (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) (Eph 4:8-10; NASB)
This passage must be understood as primarily describing Christ’s ascent into heaven, after His earthly ministry, leading captive the demonic powers. It’s a great image of the victory proclamation I already described, and again, the victory procession occurs during the ascent, not during a descent. The "lower part of the earth" describes Jesus’ earthly incarnation, not Hades. Hades is not underground; it is a spiritual condition, not a physical location. Jesus ascended from the lowest part of the earth; namely, from ground zero (see Acts 1:9). Not from "underground," unless you want to consider the "lower parts of the earth" the grave. This is a decent inference, and has some other biblical support, but Jesus’ time in the tomb should not be confused with hell, or Hades (as we find it in Luke 15). The Bible does not teach that Jesus ever went into hell.
This is the other passage used to interpret 1 Pet 3:18-20, and it has benefit of occuring in a closer context than Eph 4:8-10. But it is not part of the same point that Peter makes in 3:18-20.
For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. (1 Pet 4:6; NASB)
The gospel which is "preached even to those who are dead" does not refer to dead people who hear the gospel as disembodied spirits, but people who heard the gospel before they died. Peter is saying that dead people who responded to the gospel (while they were alive) will one day be made alive "in the spirit" (i.e., they will be resurrected). There was some concern in the early church about people who died before Jesus returned (see the same issue developed by Paul in 1 Thess 4:13-18), and Peter reassures his readers that those people who heard and believed the gospel while alive will one day experience the resurrection. This verse has nothing to do with Jesus’ victory proclamation to the demonic realm in 1 Pet 3:19.