Christ's Descent Into Hell Question

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Hello. I am wondering about Christ’s descent into Hell. As it is believed by Catholics, Christ descended into hell, bearing our sins. My question is this: did He suffer? I have read that where he descended wasn’t hell as we think about it today, so suffering was different (or He didn’t suffer at all). I don’t believe He suffered because the Catholic Church teaches that, but I can’t understand why He didn’t. Humans suffer for their sins after they die (die with venial sin/temporal punishment), yet Jesus was also God, so His bearing our sins is divine (I think that’s correct 🤔). Anyway, any links/references or answers that could help?
 
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AHelpingHand said:
As it is believed by Catholics, Christ descended into hell, bearing our sins.
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That is incorrect. First of all He descended not into the Hell of the damned (Gehenna), but what is called the Limbo of the Fathers (Sheol) (I think I have those right). He didn’t go there with our sins or to bear them, He went there to take the righteous souls there that could not enter Heaven due to His sacrifice not having been done yet. Our sins were already paid for. There was nothing more to bear.
 
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Church teaching, I believe (maybe I’m wrong, let’s see if someone else can shed light) is not that Christ descended into hell bearing our sins, but descended into hell to preach to the dead, the just and the unjust, who were awaiting judgement. When Jesus preached the Good News to them, the souls chose salvation or damnation (they believed and were repentant, or they were not).

Christ had two natures, human and divine. But even given his human nature, he was without sin. So, no, there was no pain or punishment for him in “hell”.

“Hell” in the translation of scripture and our creed can be tricky. Hell is inescapable. What may have been lost in the translation was Jesus went to Sheol rather than Hell. Sheol, in Jewish theology, housed the dead, both the just and the unjust. Christ’s visit there was to execute the “Particular Judgement” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church) on those souls.
 
Oh, ok. I did not know that He never bore our sins into Hell. I think the Protestant school I go to told me that…oops.
 
Hans Urs von Balthasar had a theory about the descent into hell which is interesting, I’ll say, but ultimately is at odds with almost 2000 years of Church teaching.
 
So our sins were washed from his death on the cross, correct? They weren’t carried into hell, nor was Christ punished because of those sins (rather, he died to free the OT Fathers)?
 
Correct. Catholicism rejects penal substitution. Christ did not die just for the souls in limbo, He died for all sins, past, present, and future. He is the perfect sacrifice that made it possible for us to go to heaven. Whether or not we take advantage of that, however, is up to us. Gifts can be rejected.
 
Ok, thank you! I was dealing with a Protestant situation, so I needed answers 😛
 
Question: did those souls immediately go to Heaven when He preached to them, or did they only go to Heaven after His ascension (43 days later)? I thought maybe they could only go to Heaven once Christ had ascended to the Father? Not sure if Christ ascended to the Father before His visible ascension, but I didn’t think so.
 
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👏 Thank you SO much. Now I would need to prove THAT to Protestants who ask questions as well as understand that Jesus was not God’s whipping boy (a friend’s Mormon grandmother said God put His wrath on Jesus).
 
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AHelpingHand said:
Hello. I am wondering about Christ’s descent into Hell. As it is believed by Catholics, Christ descended into hell, bearing our sins. My question is this: did He suffer?
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No. He did not descend into capital H Hell.
 
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That “hell” was not The Hell… His earthly body already died… He was there in spirit
 
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1 Peter 3:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—

20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

1 Peter 4:

the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
 
EndTimes said:
No. He did not descend into capital H Hell.
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Yes, He did. It just doesn’t mean “the hell of the damned”, but, according to archaic usage, merely “Sheol” or “the Bosom of Abraham”. In antiquity, they would not have recognized a “capital-H Hell” and a “small-h hell”. 😉
 
AHelpingHand said:
Hello. I am wondering about Christ’s descent into Hell. As it is believed by Catholics, Christ descended into hell, bearing our sins. My question is this: did He suffer? I have read that where he descended wasn’t hell as we think about it today, so suffering was different (or He didn’t suffer at all). I don’t believe He suffered because the Catholic Church teaches that, but I can’t understand why He didn’t. Humans suffer for their sins after they die (die with venial sin/temporal punishment), yet Jesus was also God, so His bearing our sins is divine (I think that’s correct 🤔). Anyway, any links/references or answers that could help?
Click to expand...
Christ didn’t go into “Hell,” he went to “hell.”

This is an English translation issue.

“hell” = Hades, Sheol, the underworld, or place of the dead
“Hell” = Gehenna, the pit of fire, place of the damned, etc

“Hell” is in “hell” but not all of “hell” is the same as “Hell.”

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the theory of Limbo (Limbo of the Infants), Limbo is located on the outer edge of “hell” but not in “Hell.” He also says Abraham’s bosom (Limbo of the Fathers) is also located on the outer edge of “hell.”

The Church teaches that Jesus descended to “hell” to address the Saints who were waiting in Limbo (both Limbo of the Infants and Limbo of the Fathers). Again, Jesus did not descend into the pit of “Hell.”

I pray this helps.

God Bless
 
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Gorgias said:
according to archaic usage,
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… there two differing meanings terms of archaic langauge get translated as “hell” in English

where Jesus went to was/is more of a holding pen - a jail…

Jesus did not descend into the Lake of Fire - The Second Death - consigned for Satan & Company

1 Peter 3:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—

20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

1 Peter 4:

the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
 
EndTimes said:
… there two differing meanings terms of archaic langauge get translated as “hell” in English
Click to expand...
Agreed. The point is that the formulation “he descended into hell” is true; we just interpret that word differently today. So, it’s not that “he did not descend into capital-H Hell”; rather, it’s that “they called Sheol ‘hell’ back then.” @phil19034 kinda makes the same point.

But, IMHO, if we go around saying “He really didn’t”, it sounds like we’re saying that this particular formulation of doctrine is in error. It isn’t.
EndTimes said:
where Jesus went to was/is more of a holding pen - a jail…
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And again, we need to clarify that He wasn’t being held or jailed.
 
Gorgias said:
And again, we need to clarify that He wasn’t being held or jailed.
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If you knew the understandings of those ancient terms IN Scriptures - as well as Scriptures,
you’d Understand the Answer to the OP’s Christ’s descent into hell Question,
and would not yet still have any more need for Clarification

1 Peter 3:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—

20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

1 Peter 4:

the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
 
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