Over the course of the past few weeks, I've emphasized a critical-thinking question that our kids should always ask when faced with questions: "What is this person assuming that may or may not be true?" Once we get our assumptions into the sunlight, we can often spot errors in thinking that can completely de-barb or even completely deflect our interlocutor's arrows. This week, I added another tool to the students' critical thinking toolbox: coming to terms.

Words are like buckets with labels on them; they don't have any intrinsic meaning, but rather they are carriers of meaning. This is why we have to have dictionaries—to give us authoritative boundaries to limit the meanings poured into the words we use. Otherwise, two people with different backgrounds may come together and throw all the same words around, but wind up speaking past each other. A prime example of this can be seen when interacting with Mormons.

The Mormon kids who pedal up to your door are both carrying buckets that say "Jesus" on them, and when you show up on the other side of the door carrying your bucket with a "Jesus" label on it, you might be inclined to greet them as "brother" (as they tend to want to do to you). If you're not careful, you'll easily be convinced that "Yes, Mormons are Christians, too" because they throw around many of the same words that biblical Christians do: Jesus, virgin birth, salvation, grace, and trinity come immediately to mind. But when you get a little closer and you sniff what's in their "Jesus bucket," you'll quickly discover that it doesn't smell at all like what's in your biblically-filled "Jesus bucket." This is why the cults are so persuasive—they capture those who lack discernment or who are simply ignorant (willfully or innocently), use all the same words, and lead them astray into that which is not the gospel at all (Galatians 1:8,9). So, we must always be careful to put our "sniffers" to work to make sure we're all carrying the same stuff around in our buckets before we get into conversation with another person (regardless of topic, really).

What does this have to do with whether Christ went to Hell between His death and resurrection? Everything. Not one homework submission that I received bothered to define what "hell" means! We cannot have confidence that we're giving a good answer if we don't take the time to "come to terms." So let's do that, shall we?

Coming to Terms With Hell

There are four words in the original biblical texts that are commonly translated as "hell" in our various English versions: sheol, hades, tartarus, and gehenna. 

Sheol

When we see "hell" in the Old Testament (but only in the KJV and NKJV as far as I can tell), it is usually backed by the word sheol, which appears 66 times in the Hebrew text. Below are a few representative examples of its use that I cited in class. You'll note that in many or most of my citations, the verses I quote actually say "sheol" because the NASB was translated with a more word-for-word focus than some other versions, which are translated more with a "thought-for-thought" translation philosophy (see "Are Our Current Bible Translations Reliable?" for more on this topic), while other versions will say "the grave" or something similar.

• Genesis 37:35 — When Jacob heard of his son Joseph's demise, he lamented, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So righteous men (Hebrews 11:21) go to sheol when they die. (cf. Genesis 42:38)

• Numbers 16:30 — The unrighteous also go to sheol when they die.

• Psalm 141:7 — Physical bodies are said to be scattered at the mouth of sheol.

Without a doubt, there are other meanings/nuances to be found in the Old Testament's use of sheol, but in general, it can be said that sheol is the dwelling place of the souls of the righteous and the unrighteous, the grave, or metaphorically as death itself as in Psalm 49:15. At this point, sheol is more or less a "black box"—we don't get any insights into what it's like there.

Hades

Sometime between 300 and 200 BC, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament) was completed. When translating the word sheol into their tongue, the seventy scholars settled on Hades. We can argue all day long as to whether it was a good idea to use Hades, since it already had some mythological "baggage" associated with it, but that's lexicographical water under the bridge, now—it is what it is. So, when we see Hades in the Septuagint (known also as the LXX), it's safe to assume that it carries the same meaning as the word sheol in the same context.

But when we get to the New Testament, we see evidence of a progressive revelation of the afterlife, particularly when we get to Luke 16:19ff. In this vivid depiction of the pre-crucifixion afterlife, we see two distinct regions contrasted:

Abraham's Bosom, characterized by

• refreshing (it apparently has water, Luke 16:24)

• comfort (Luke 16:25)

• the presence of the Old Testament saints (Luke 16:25)

Hades ("hell" in the KJV), characterized by

• torment (Luke 16:23, 28)

• agony (Luke 16:24, 25)

• flames (Ibid.)

We might be inclined to think of Hades, then, as the lake of fire, but we're disabused of this notion when we get to Revelation 20, where we see that death and Hades are both thrown into the lake of fire. Since we cannot throw something into itself, Hades is (flames notwithstanding) not the lake of fire, nor is it the final destination of the damned.

So who's on first and what's on second? Who goes where, and when?

We'll swing back around to this later.

Tartarus

Again, a Greek word with mythological baggage, said to be even lower (in multiple ways) than Hades, is only used one time in the entire Bible:

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… — 2 Peter 2:4

The word here rendered as "hell" is tartarus (ταρταρώσας if you want to put on your fancy pants and dance), but is alluded to in Luke 8:31, when Jesus was casting out a legion of demons from a possessed man: "They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss."

As far as I can tell, Tartarus is basically a maximum-security prison for the most wretched and vile of the fallen angels. I don't see any indication that any human beings wind up there. We see it appear again (as "the abyss") in Revelation 9:11; 11:7,8; 20:1, 3.

That brings us to our fourth and final word:

Gehenna

This Greek word appears 12 times in various forms in the New Testament. It gets its name from the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which surrounds the old city of Jerusalem from the west and southwest, which is infamous as being the place where kings played the harlot with many false gods, and where evil King Ahaz burned incense and his own sons in the fire. It was known in biblical times as a smelly, smouldering garbage dump where the city's refuse was perpetually burned. 

Jesus tells us that the body and the soul of the condemned will find their place in Gehenna (Matthew 5:22-30; 10:28), and that the fire there is never quenched (Mark 9:43)...just like the valley outside of Jerusalem.

When we put the jigsaw puzzle together, we see that Gehenna is the label on the bucket that contains the lake of fire...and is the final destination of the damned that we saw in Revelation 20.

So What Happens After Death?

That depends upon two things:

1. When you die, and

2. Your relationship with God at the time of death.

Before Christ's Death on the Cross

Physical death is the separation of the body from the soul. Before Christ, the bodies of both the righteous and the unrighteous were placed in the ground (or in a cave...or in a pyramid...but let's hold back our penchant for pedantry, shall we?). Likewise, the souls of both the righteous and the unrighteous alike went to sheol (the abode of the dead), but since Christ had not yet paid the "admission fee" to be brought into the very presence of God, the souls of those justified by faith (Genesis 15:6) were comforted in Abraham's bosom, while the souls of the unjustified were cast into Hades to begin paying for their sins.

After Christ's Death on the Cross

On the cross, Jesus told one of those crucified with Him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). When Jesus cried "it is finished" (John 19:30) and the veil in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50, 51)...a visible breach of the barrier separating God and man. Finally, Paul tells us that "...to be absent from the body [is] to be at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). So, the souls of those justified by their faith in the risen Christ are ushered into His presence upon death, whereas the souls of the unjustified are cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12). The bodies of both the righteous and the unrighteous, of course, still reside in the grave and immediately begin to decay...until the resurrections.

Yes, resurrections. There are two of them.

In the first resurrection, the souls of the righteous are reunited with their respective bodies, and these will reign with Christ during the millennial kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:4-6).

After this thousand-year earthly reign of Christ, the souls in hades will be reunited with their bodies in the second resurrection to stand before God at what is typically called the "great white throne judgement," after which their bodies and souls, again reunited, will be thrown into the lake of fire (Gehenna) where "they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" with Satan, the beast, and the false prophet. (Revelation 20:7-15)

Answer the Question Already! Did He or Didn't He?

So, did Jesus descend into hell as the Apostle's Creed says, or didn't He? Well, that all depends upon what you mean by "hell," doesn't it?

Sheol – Yes. Christ entered sheol ("hell", KJV), because He died and was buried in a tomb for three days. That's a no-brainer.

Hades – In the OT sense (i.e., sheol), yes. But what about the New Testament sense?

Abraham's Bosom: Maybe. In Ephesians 4:8-10, we're told that Jesus led "captivity captive and gave gifts to men" which could refer to Him visiting Abraham's bosom, announcing His victory over death and that the "admission" had been paid and their way made clear to heaven. However, this view would tend to be based upon the assumption that the souls of the dead are kept under the earth somewhere...which I don't see the Bible teaching us (it doesn't actually say precisely where these places are). I'm more inclined to think that "He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9) is speaking of his burial. But ultimately, this is not a hill I'm going to die on, for I will not presume to holler where there Scriptures only whisper. I also don't think we can apply 1 Peter 4:6 here, as I think the context of that chapter indicates that the "dead" to whom the gospel are preached are those who are spiritually dead (cf. Ephesians 2:1).

Hades: Maybe. We know that Christ was relationally separated from the Father (Matthew 27:46) which is the very meaning of "spiritual death" (cf. John 17:3) because the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and that our sins "have caused a separation between you and your God." (Isaiah 59:2) So Christ definitely experienced that separation from the Father, but that happened on the cross, before He died, not afterwards! Remember, Christ cried out "IT IS FINISHED"  in John 19:30, not "HERE COMES THE BIG ONE!"

Tartarus – No. I don't see any scriptural support or reason for Jesus going to the dungeon of demons and saying "Neener neener neener!" The fate of these demons is already set. They are awaiting their final judgment, and are fully aware of what awaits them ultimately (Matthew 8:29; Luke 20:31...I'm assuming here that "the abyss" is the same as Tartarus and Gehenna, the lake of fire).

Gehenna – No. As far as I can tell, at this moment, Gehenna is completely empty. It has been "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41), and all those whose name was not found written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15). We're not told when it was prepared, so it would be nothing short of rank speculation to argue that "Jesus went to throw a match to start the lake of fire burning."