Apostles Creed Question

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TommD

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I am getting back into the faith after being away for a while. I am just learning to navigate through this site so I apologize if this has been asked. I was never brought up by good catholic parents so starting fresh learning myself all the many things I am confused by.

Can anybody tell me how the Catholic Church interprets this from the Apostles Creed?

"He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead."

Is this supposed to be a literal meaning?

Thanks
 
TommD said:
I am getting back into the faith after being away for a while. I am just learning to navigate through this site so I apologize if this has been asked. I was never brought up by good catholic parents so starting fresh learning myself all the many things I am confused by.

Can anybody tell me how the Catholic Church interprets this from the Apostles Creed?

"He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead."

Is this supposed to be a literal meaning?

Thanks
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Congradulations on your recent conversion, and interest in learning more about the faith.

When the Creed says that Jesus descended into hell, it means that His soul, after being separated from His body, descended into the Limbo of the fathers. If you read Luke, chapter 16, you will read the story of the rich man and Lazuaras. Both of them died, but they did not go to the same place. The rich man went to a place of torments (hell) and Lazuras went to “a place of comfort”, which is called Abraham’s Bosom.

Before our Lord opened the gates of heaven, the souls of the just went to a place that the Bible calls Abraham’s Bosom, which is also called “Limbo of the fathers”. When our Lord died, His soul descended into this place to release them.

It is called “hell”, which simply means the center of the earth. It does not always mean the hell of the damned as we usually consider it.

When the Creed says that Jesus rose again the third day, it means that, three days later, His soul reunited itself to His body (which had been in the tomb), and He rose again physically.
 
TommD said:
I am getting back into the faith after being away for a while. I am just learning to navigate through this site so I apologize if this has been asked. I was never brought up by good catholic parents so starting fresh learning myself all the many things I am confused by.

Can anybody tell me how the Catholic Church interprets this from the Apostles Creed?

"He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead."

Is this supposed to be a literal meaning?

Thanks
Click to expand...
In the early writings of the Church, the term ‘Hell’ reffers to Gehenna (the “Hell of the Lost”, the place of eternal damnation- what is meant by ‘Hell’ today), Purgatory, and the Limbo of the Fathers- a place where the patriarchs of the Old Covenant who died before the coming of the Messiah went to await their salvation.

When Christ died He descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, freeing the souls there, and it ceased to exist. On the Third Day after His death, Our Lord arose from the dead and emerged from Hell victorious over death and the sin of the world.
 
<<"He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.">>

The Latin phrase said “descended in infernis”–He descended to the lower regions, i.e., sheol or hades, the abode of the dead.

“Hell” is used in English to mean both sheol and gehenna (place of eternal punishment), which can create confusion.

“He descended to the dead” is the way the ICEL version gives it, and that’s actually something they got right.
 
Just so I understand. “When Christ died He descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, freeing the souls there.”

Limbo was a place and is no longer there? Was actual hell there before this, or did Jesus open the gates of heaven and hell?
 
TommD said:
Just so I understand. “When Christ died He descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, freeing the souls there.”

Limbo was a place and is no longer there? Was actual hell there before this, or did Jesus open the gates of heaven and hell?
Click to expand...
Yes there was actual hell. There were people in the Old Testament who went there. Before Jesus, though, no one could enter heaven. They were in the Limbo of the Fathers until Jesus opened up heaven to them. The people in hell were lost, just as they are now.
 
Thank You. Another maybe probably very juvenile question and I am sorry. Don’t even know why this randomly popped in my head.

Are Adam and Eve in hell, or where they literally turned 'back to dust? Or was that just physically?
 
TommD said:
Just so I understand. “When Christ died He descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, freeing the souls there.”

Limbo was a place and is no longer there? Was actual hell there before this, or did Jesus open the gates of heaven and hell?
Click to expand...
The Limbo of the Fathers ceased to exist. There is still a dispute as to the existance of the Limbo of the Infants. This limbo is a logical solution to a theological question, hence it is not, nor has it even been, a doctrine of the Church, which has shown varying levels of support for this idea over the centuries.

The Limbo of the Infants solves a curious problem. The Church teaches that to gain salvation one must be baptized (and if not actual baptism, then baptism of blood- martyrdom- or baptism of desire). A baptized child who dies before having reached the age of reason (the age when they are considered accountable for their sins and are obligated to go to confession- generally held to be seven years old) goes to Heaven- at their funeral Mass the priest will wear white vestments and the Gloria is intoned, which does not happen at the normal Requiem Mass. However, what happens to a baby or a child who dies buy has not been baptized? They have not commited any mortal sins, yet because of the lack of baptism they still have the stain of original sin on their souls. Because of this sin they cannot achieve Heaven, yet they certainly do not deserve Hell. Hence, the Limbo of the Infants, a temporal paradise that lacks the beatific vision of Heaven.

Now, once again, the idea of the Limbo of the Infants is just that- an idea. It is not doctrine, but a mere theological idea. The Church does officialy teach, however, that we should hope and trust in the mercy and wisdom of God in this matter. Leave the speculation to the theologians, know that God will do what is best.

The existance of the Limbo of the Fathers, prior to Christ’s descent into death, is in fact doctrine. Hell- that is, Gehenna, the Inferno, the eternal punishment- existed since the rebellion of Satan before creation. It is his prison, and it became the prison for those countless faithless souls that died a spiritual death before the coming of Christ, and the countless more who denied God’s gift of eternal life.
 
TommD said:
I am getting back into the faith after being away for a while. I am just learning to navigate through this site so I apologize if this has been asked. I was never brought up by good catholic parents so starting fresh learning myself all the many things I am confused by.

Can anybody tell me how the Catholic Church interprets this from the Apostles Creed?

"He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead."

Is this supposed to be a literal meaning?

Thanks
Click to expand...
As people have already said the term “hell” here had different meanings, it could mean the place of the dead OR hellfire. The place of the dead traditionally called “Abraham’s Bosom” (Lk 16:22) is also includes a sort of purgatory where Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Pt 3:19; 4:6)

Jesus did not descend into or suffer the pain of hellfire, though many of the early protestants mistakenly believed this.
 
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