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Writer's pictureDr. Dilday

Wendelin's "Christian Theology": Doctrine of the Parts of the Office of Christ, Part 2



VII.  The third degree of humiliation is the descent into hell.  In what sense Christ might be said to have descended into hell, there is controversy.  Now, there are three principal opinions of the Theologians.

Some think, that Christ by His soul properly descended into hell, that is, the place of the damned:  either so that He might there undergo hellish sufferings, or so that He might inaugurate His triumph over defeated death.

We repudiate this opinion:  because the Gospel history testifies, that the soul of Christ, that very day on which it was separated from His body, travelled to Paradise, that is, heaven:  for thus He speaks to the thief:  Today shalt thou be with me in paradise, Luke 23:43.  But the descent into hell is not the first degree of His exaltation, but the last degree of His humiliation.

VIII.  The Papists, in defense of a local descent of the soul of Christ into hell, adduce the following arguments, and these sought from the Scriptures.

(1.)  Thus wisdom speaks in Ecclesiasticus 24, I shall penetrate all the lower parts of the earth; I shall inspect all those sleeping; and I shall illuminate all those hoping in the LordTherefore Christ, according to His human soul, descended into hell.

Response:  1.  The antecedent is denied; the words alleged are indeed of the vulgar Latin text:  but they are not found in the Greek text.

2.  The consequence is also denied:  first, because the book alleged is not canonical:  then, because the soul of Christ is one thing, but the wisdom which is said to speak is another.

(2.)  Matthew 12:40, Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights; so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth.

Therefore, Christ, according to His soul, descended into hell.

The rationale of the consequence:  that by the heart of the earth the grave is not able to be understood.  For, the heart is in the deepest place of the animal:  therefore also, the heart of the earth shall be in the deepest part of the earth:  which is not able to be said concerning the grave.  Then, Christ had to be alive in the heart of the earth:  as Jonah was alive in the belly of the whale.  But Christ was not alive in the grave.

Response:  The consequence is denied.  The rationale that is alleged is false; the proofs are partly false, partly inconsequent.  To be in the heart of a thing is said to have made use of a metaphorical expression of the Hebrews, which among other things is, as the heart is within the body, so the grave is also in the earth:  how deeply it is in the body or earth is of no concern.  Then, it is false, that Christ had to be alive in the heart of the earth:  for the similitude does not imply this:  but it only implies, that Christ was no less obliged to be in the heart of the earth, than Jonah was in the belly of the whale.

(3.)  Acts 2:27, That expression of the Psalm, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,[1] is accommodated to Christ.

Therefore, the soul of Christ truly descended to the place of the damned.

Response:  The consequence is denied.  The rationale of the negation is:  that in the alleged passage of the Psalm soul is taken for life, as it often is elsewhere in Scripture:  the Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ/soul sometimes in Scripture signifies even the body devoid of life, Leviticus 19:28;[2] 21:1:[3]  Hell, שְׁאוֹל/Sheol to the Hebrews, is used for the grave; as even some of the Papists translate it.

(4.)  Romans 10:7, Say not in thine heart, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring up Christ again from the deadTherefore, Christ, after His death, was in the abyss, that is, the place of the damned, the deepest chasm, which abyss denotes.

Response:  The consequence is denied.  Especially if it be granted, that by the abyss is understood the place of the damned:  for the sense of the Apostle here will be, those that doubt whether they are able to be liberated and redeemed from the abyss, or eternal destruction, they bring up Christ again from the dead, that is, they deny that Christ died.  But what is this to the descent of Christ’s soul to hell?  Then, by the abyss in this place the Apostle understand the sea:  for in the text of Moses, Deuteronomy 30:13, which the Apostle cites, the sea is named.  Neither is it unusual for Scripture to indicate the sea by the term abyss.

(5.)  Ephesians 4:9, That He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lowest parts of the earth.

Therefore, Christ by His soul descended into hell.

Response:  The consequence is denied:  the proof is inconsequent.  For, by the lowest parts of the earth is understood neither hell, nor the grave, but the earth, or this inferior world:  the parts of which are said to be the lowest, not with respect to heaven, as the highest part of the world, the lowest part of which is the earth.

(6.)  1 Peter 3:18, 19, Christ was quickened by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

Therefore, the soul of Christ, separated from His body, traveled to the place of the damned.

Response:  The consequence is denied.  The rationale for the negation is:  through the Spirit, by whom Christ is said to be quickened, the Apostle does not understand Christ’s soul, but rather His divinity, His divine ἐνέργειαν/activity:  which to spirits, that is, to the souls of the impious and unbelieving, which are now in the place of punishment, formerly, that is, in the time of the impending flood, preached repentance through Noah.

To some Lutherans His local descent to hell was without any difficulty, because they were supposing that He, diffused throughout the whole world, was in the lower world:  whence in the grave He was also in the lower world:  indeed, also in the heaven of Brentius:  by the same work Christ was able to descend into hell and to ascend into heaven.

IX.  Others say, that by the descent of Christ into hell nothing else is signified than the grave:  there are three reasons for this opinion:

1.  Because Ruffinus, a learned Ecclesiastical writer,[4] testifies that the Latin Church of old did not have the words concerning the descent of Christ into hell in the Apostles’ Creed.

2.  Because, where the words of the symbol are found among the ancient Fathers, never is mention made of the grave and the descent into hell together:  but only one or the other, either the grave, or the descent into hell.

3.  Because in Scripture hell is generally taken as the grave.

Some pious and learned men approve of this opinion.

X.  Most of the Orthodox, by the descent of Christ into hell, understand His infernal anguish and sufferings, which Christ felt in His soul.  In this opinion we also acquiesce.  For death properly so called and the burial of the body are sufferings:  now, it was appropriate, that the suffering of the soul also be expressed in the enumeration of the degrees of humiliation:  which by the descent into hell is able aptly to be understood.  But, that Christ suffered also in His soul, is evident from Matthew 26:38, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death; and from Matthew 27:46, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  See Exercitation 65.


[1] Acts 2:27:  “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδου), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”  Psalm 16:10:  “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (‎נַפְשִׁ֣י לִשְׁא֑וֹל); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

[2] Leviticus 19:28:  “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead (‎לָנֶפֶשׁ), nor print any marks upon you:  I am the Lord.”

[3] Leviticus 21:1:  “And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead (‎לְנֶפֶשׁ) among his people…”

[4] Ruffinus was a fourth century churchman, a friend of Jerome turned foe, a commentator, and a monastery builder.  His work in the translation of Greek patristic literature into Latin has proven to be of great importance, preserving works that would have otherwise been lost.

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Dr. Dilday, What is "Exercitation 65" ?

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Westminster Larger Catechism 50: Wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death?


Answer: Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried,1  and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day;2 which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.


1 1 Cor. 15:3,4.

2 Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:24,25,26,27,31; Rom. 6:9; Matt. 12:40.

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Heidelberg Catechism 44: Why is there added, "He descended into hell?"


Answer: That in my greatest temptations, I may be assured, and wholly comfort myself in this, that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies, in which He was plunged during all His sufferings, 9but especially on the cross, hath delivered me from the anguish and torments of hell.10


1 Gen.2:17;

2 Heb. 2:9-10; Phil. 2:8; Rom. 8:3-4; Heb. 2:14-15,

3 Acts 13:29; Mark 15:43, 46; Mat. 27:59-60; Luk. 23:52-53; Joh. 19:38-42,

4 Mar. 8:37; Psa. 49:7,

5 John 5:24; Phil. 1:23; Rom. 7:24,

6 Rom. 6:6-7;

7 Rom. 6:6-8; 6:11-12; Col. 2:12,

8 Rom. 12:1;

9 Psa. 18:5-6; Psa. 116:3; Mat. 26:38; Mat. 27: 46; Heb. 5:7; Isa. 53:10;

10 Isa. 53:5,

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