Estimated reading time: 12 minutes.
The continuity of the soul is not only promised by Christ in His proclamation from the cross when He assured the thief that they would be together in Paradise that very day, but is demonstrated by Him by his mission to the spirits in prison during the time His body was in the grave.
Jesus Preaches To the Spirits In Prison: The Apostle Peter writes that Jesus “went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved …” (1 Peter 3:19-20). Charles Bigg[1] has no doubt that the event recorded took place between Christ's death and his resurrection and holds that Peter is alluding to Christ's Descensus ad Inferos in Acts 2:27 (with which he compares Matthw 27:52; Luke 23:34; Ephesians 4:9). With this Hans Windisch[2] agrees. Of course, this text, when taken at face value and as understood by Charles Bigg and Hans Windisch, along with a multitude of other serious students of the Bible, is but another in a growing list of proof texts for the consciousness of the soul after the death of the body. Bigg argues strongly that Christ, during the time between his death and resurrection, preached to those who once heard Noah (but are now in prison) and offered them another chance and not mere condemnation.
This interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19-20 is certainly not without its challengers. First among the negative arguments is the idea of a second chance for salvation. This thought is unthinkable to many Christians. If, then, it is true that “as a tree falls so shall it lie”[3], what would be the purpose of Jesus preaching to the “spirits” in prison? Surely, He would not go back just to condemn or ridicule them. Before we are too quick to reject the idea of Yahweh being the “God of the Second Chance” we should consider one of the prayers Jesus prayed from the cross. Concerning the Roman soldiers that crucified Him, Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” The sin they were committing (i.e., deicide), they were committing in ignorance. It is unthinkable that the Father would not, did not, answer the prayer of His Son favorably. So, then, established here is the precedent of God forgiving sins of ignorance in the face of an intercessor[4]. We can, then, extrapolate this character of God to those who lived in the days of Noah, who, perhaps, did not personally hear his preaching but were carried away in the flood nonetheless. Now, in Sheol, the Great Mediator/Intercessor comes in spirit form (albeit, personally) and preaches to those lost spirits in prison.
Paul, writing to Timothy, states “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5). The cross of Christ is the time-post that marks the line of the great divide between the old world and the new, between symbol and reality, between hope and assurance, between flesh and the Spirit, between law and grace. One arm of the rugged timber points to the past and the world calls that time B. C. (Before Christ); the other arm of the cross points to the future and the world calls that time A. D. (“Anno Domini,” In The Year Of Our Lord). The mechanism that makes the cross of Christ effectual for those in the B. C. and also those in the A. D. are the two hands nailed to the cross beam. They were the hands of the Mediator Supreme, the hands of the Intercessor Preeminent. With one scared hand he reached into all of the future and found all those that were his which included me and hopefully you dear reader. In manifesting the print of the nail in His hand He beckoned us to believe the message of the nail printed hand and receive the grace of the cross. But as amazing and remarkable as it is and unthinkable to many, the other scared hand reached for those in the B.C until it found even the ones who “sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,” and delivered His message to them.
What would have been his message in that world? The same as He preached in this world: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Therefore, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”[5]!
Now, before one objects by saying, “No one can repent and find forgiveness in the next world,” we should consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:32 “ And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” The double negative in Jesus’ statement (οὔτε—οὔτε, neither—neither) is strong evidence of the possibility of the availability of forgiveness in the next world — except for this particular sin. Lightfoot[6] explains the double negation by reference to the Jewish legal doctrine that, in contrast to other sins, profaning the name of God could be expiated only by death, unpardonable in this life. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, says Jesus, in conscious antithesis, is pardonable neither here nor there: “neque ante mortem, neque per mortem.” Although the King James Version has “world to come” the Greek reads “οὔτε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι;” literally: “neither in this age, neither the age to come.” The Hebrew meaning of Jesus’ reference to "the age to come" (העולם הבא) included all that followed the coming of Messiah. Sometimes it was restricted to, or practically identified with, the reign of Messiah upon earth, but usually it included much more - eternity as well as time[7]. It is in its widest sense that our Lord here uses it - contrasting the present order of things with that which will be the final result of his coming, his thoughts traveling far beyond the present course of this world to that which is to be hereafter[8].
Also important, but perhaps not as convincing as the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:32 are the deeds of Judas Maccabees in 2 Maccabees 12:38-46. Here, we find documented the Hebrew second temple period practice of prayers for the forgiveness of the sins of the dead. Judas found that some of his soldiers had sinned and as a consequence were killed in battle. Then, we read in 2 Maccabees 12:43ff, “He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; 44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. 46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.” This account from the second temple period gives us a periscope into Jesus’ statement from Matthew12:32, “… it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
Some may object to a reference from an Old Testament apocrypha book, since such books are not considered canon in neither the Jewish nor Protestant Bibles. These books considered apocrypha[9] by the Jews (primarily because they were written in Greek and not Hebrew) were not included in their canon that was decided, most likely, during the Hasmonean dynasty (130-40 BCE), some suggested a Coouncil of Jamnia, presumably held in Yavneh in the Holy Land, with a hypothetical late 1st-century date. However, what is now considered the Old Testament apocrypha was part of the Greek canonical Septuagintthat was quoted extensively by Jesus and His disciples in the New Testament. In fact, the book of 2 Maccabees is referenced in the New Testament book of Hebrews[10]. Adding to the value of the apocrypha books is that they give the only Old Testament support for Jesus’ teaching of a literal eternal burning hell[11]. Now, the Christian view is not that Jesus’ statement concerning sins being forgiven in the next world have merit because the book of 2 Maccabees supports it, but counter-wise: 2 Maccabees has merit because Jesus’ words support it. Likewise, Christians do not say that Jesus’ teaching on eternal torment has merit because the apocrypha book of Judith supports it, but counter-wish: the book of Judith has merit because the teachings of Jesus support it.
So, my point is this: Since the book of Judith’s statement concerning the eternal torment of sinners in hell fire finds support in the teachings of Jesus, we should believe in the truth of this statement from Judith 16:17, apocrypha or not. Moreover, Since the book of 2 Maccabees’ narrative and praise of Judas’ sponsored prayer for the forgiveness of the sins of the dead finds support in the Jesus-saying of Matthew 12:32 we should accept the correctness of Judas’ action narrated in 2 Maccabees 12:38-46, apocrypha or not.
After reviewing the available sources for rejecting the straightforward reading of 1 Peter 3:19-20, and finding that the only real objection to Christ’s actual visit to the spirits in prison is the uncomfortableness, experienced by many, of an opportunity for forgiveness of sins after death, it is my opinion that that is just not enough reason in the face of the evidence I have submitted.
Moreover, that the “soul” of Jesus was actually in hades (Heb. sheol, the unseen state of the dead) is testified to by both David and Peter. Peter quotes the Psalmist in his A. D. 30 Pentecost sermon: “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:27). The Apostle goes on to point out that David was not talking about himself, but was referencing the Messiah (vv29-31[12]). Lest the reader get confused and imagine the reference to the “soul” of Christ being in hades is only a reference to the grave (dirt pit), verse 31 is a safety rail to save us from falling into that ditch. notice, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption” (v31). Notice the difference between the circumstances of Christ’s soul and flesh: the soul is in the underworld of the dead (called here by Peter “hades,” David had called it “sheol” but simply called “death” in the book of Revelation), the flesh is in Joseph’s tomb. They both came out of their respective places. As the Messiah came up out of death and the grave (“death” and the “grave” are different[13]) He caused a greater resurrection of the spirits that were in the place of the dead. We can read about it in Matthew 27:52-53; “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” The Apostle Paul would later write about it to the Ephesians: “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10). Did this great host include any from the prison that held the spirits of those that were disobedient in the days of Noah? Surely, it did! What else would the statement “he led captivity captive” mean, if not: He went to those held in the captivity of the “prison,” captured them to himself and led them out? Paul wrote it this way: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (the cross).
I would be amiss if I did not, at least, mention an opposing view of 1 Peter 3:19 that postulates the meaning to be: The Spirit of Jesus (i.e. the Holy Spirit) was the same as that anointing which was upon Noah as he preached to the people of his day; so, it was in this way that the spirit of Jesus preached to the souls in prison. ~ Although tempting (because it removes some hard implications), this understanding is just not harmonious to the context of the passage. Here I give the complete text: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” The reading from the KJV “but quickened by the Spirit,” is given in the actual Greek text as: “ζῳοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι” literally — “but made alive [in the] spirit.” It is unfortunate that the KJV translators translated spirit with an uppercase “S.” The context is against it, and no other primary translation renders it as such. Because of the uppercase “S” some commentators, working only with the KJV, have been able to suggest “πνεύματι” to have the meaning of Holy Spirit. Which enabled them to put forth the interpretation that the way Jesus preached to the spirits who were then in prison was by way of the Holy Spirit that moved upon Noah in his preaching in the days of their flesh: i.e. before the flood. The full statement gives us the proper context: “θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκὶ ζῳοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι;” literally: “truly, having been put to death [in the] flesh, but made alive [in the] spirit.” The conjunction “δὲ” (but/yet) is contrasting “flesh” and “spirit” as they each relate to the man Jesus. The subject is realms of existence: namely, in the realm of his flesh He was dead; “δὲ” (but/yet), in the realm or His spirit He was alive. Then the statement from v19, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison” (ἐν ᾧ καὶ τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν πορευθεὶς ἐκήρυξεν,) takes the reader down the right path of understanding. “By which” (ἐν ᾧ), literally “in which:” In the state of existence as “spirit” Jesus “went” (πορευθεὶς), literally “having gone.” Ergo, Jesus being dead in the flesh but/yet alive in spirit, He went… . The Holman Christian Standard Bible renders this text beautifully as, “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison.” —1 Peter 3:18-19 HCSB
The complete mission of Christ could not have been accomplished as long as He was in His flesh; only “after being put to death in the fleshly realm,” yet alive in the spiritual realm could He complete that for which He was sent. Jesus repines over this very thing in Luke 12:50, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” The “baptism” to which He refers is His passion; “I am straitened”[14] announces His constraint until the death of the flesh is accomplished. Not until His spirit/soul is freed from the body does (or, can) He go to the spirits in prison, in their own form, i.e. as a spirit being unfettered by the flesh. There is that, it is true; but there is much more to it than just an unfettered spirit. It was the “finished work of Calvary” that He was able to present to the “spirits in prison” that He could not have presented until AFTER His passion.
On a side note: The writers of the New Testament, especially Peter, often used “spirit” (πνεῦμα) instead of “soul” (ψυχὴ) to reference the immaterial part of an individual. The writer to the Hebrews also does this in 12:23 when referencing “the spirits of just men made perfect.” When the New Testament does this we should understand that πνεῦμα (spirit) is identifying the compete inner man: soul and spirit. We have addressed this earlier in this work. The figure of speech is called synecdoche[15] (si nek ́də kē): naming part for the whole, or vice versa.
It should be clear for all to see, therefore, that in building our evidence for the continuity of the life of the soul 1 Peter 3:18-20 (along with the companion passages: Matthew 27:52-53 chiefly.
Apostolically Speaking,
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
End Notes
- BIGG, CHARLES (1840–1908), classical scholar and theologian, elected to a scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 26 March 1858. had a brilliant academical career, the Hertford scholarship for Latin in 1860, the Gaisford prize for Greek prose composition, with a Platonic dialogue, in 1861 (printed in that year), and the Ellerton theological essay in 1864. He graduated B.A. in 1862, M.A. in 1864, and D.D. in 1876. In 1866 he became second classical master at Cheltenham College, whence he passed in 1871 to the headmastership of Brighton College. He returned to Oxford to serve as chaplain to his old college, Corpus Christi, and to devote himself to severe study of the early history of the Christian church. In 1887, he became rector of Fenny Compton, in Warwickshire. His diocesan, Henry Philpott, bishop of Worcester, made him his examining chaplain in 1889, and honorary canon of Worcester, 1889-1901. In 1891 he became examining chaplain to Mandell Creighton, bishop of Peterborough. At Oxford he was a select preacher in 1891. To this period of his life belong editions, edition of, and commentary on 'The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude' (1901).
- Hans Windisch 1881-1935. Biblical scholar. Born in Leipzig, he began his teaching career as a private tutor in his home city. In 1914 he became a professor of biblical literature in Leyden; in 1929 he moved to Kiel, and in 1935 to Halle. He was a leading member of the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule (History of Religion School, i.e., the use of comparative religious material in the interpretation of Christianity). His publications were either commentaries on books of the NT (e.g., on 2 Corinthians and Hebrews), expositions of parts of the Bible (e.g., The Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, 1929), or studies of early Christian thought (e.g., Baptism and Sin in Primitive Christianity, 1908; and Philo's piety and its significance for Christianity, 1909).
- Ecclesiastes 11:3, If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. ~ This text is often referenced to prove that one’s eternal destiny cannot to altered after one dies.
- For the power of prayers of intercession see: 1 John 5:16, If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. … (see also, Job 42:8; Genesis 20:7, 17; Exodus 32:10-14, 31-32; 34:9; Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11.
- John 3:16 and Jesus’ call to repentance: Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3; 15:7, 10.
- Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889) was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham, usually known as J.B. Lightfoot.
- see especially Weber, 'System,' pp. 354, 355; and cf. Schurer, II. 2:177 Chrysostom, de Wette. Schmid, bibl. Theol. I. p. 358 (comp. Olshausen and Stirm in the
- Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1861, p. 300),
- Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin Biblical apocrypha are a set of texts included in the Latin Vulgate and Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible.
- The New Testament references 2 Maccabees in Hebrews 11:35-36; ἄλλοι δὲ ἐτυμπανίσθησαν] Others, on the other hand, were stretched on the rack. Allusion to the martyr-death of Eleazar (2 Maccabees 6:18ff), and of the seven Maccabean brothers, together with their mother (2 Maccabees 7.). τυμπανίζεσθαι means: to be stretched out upon the τύμπανον (comp. 2Ma 6:19; 2Ma 6:28), an instrument of torture (probably wheel-shaped, Josephus, de Macc. c. 5, 9, 10 : τροχός),—to be stretched out like the skin of a kettledrum, in order then to be tortured to death by blows (comp. 2Ma 6:30).
- Judith 16:17, Woe to the nations that rise up against my people! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment; fire and worms he will give to their flesh; they shall weep in pain for ever. RSV
- Acts 2:29-31, Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
- Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14.
- Straitened (Grk. συνέχομαι), here, to hold back, down, restraint.
- synecdoch: see page 42, this work.
Read more epistles from the Bishop on the subject of The Intermediate State of the Soul at the links provided here:
The Intermediate State of the soul, Part One; An Examination of Soul Sleep, aka Christian Mortalism
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-intermediate-state-of-soul-part-one.html
Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/substance-dualism-and-immortal-soul.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #2)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #3)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_15.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #4) Jesus Preaches to Spirits in Prison
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_16.html
Intermediate State of the Soul, Theology of Paul the Apostle, Affirmative #5
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-theology-of-paul.html
Intermediate State of the Soul #6 (The Rich Man Is Conscious In Hell)
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/intermediate-state-of-soul-rich-man-is.html
This essay is excerpted from the Bishop's book "Biblical anthropology."
Biblical Anthropology is a study in what the Bible teaches concerning the origin, nature (ontology), history and destiny of mankind. Reviewed in this work is the debate over whether or not the human being is bipartite—such as only body and soul, or tripartite—such as body, soul and spirit. Biblical Anthropology addresses the question of whether or not the soul is mortal or immortal; that is, does the soul have existence apart from the body. What, exactly happens at death? Will there be a resurrection of the body, and if so what nature will the resurrected body take? These are important questions addressed in this book. Bishop Jerry L Hayes presents a very orthodox view of Christian biblical anthropology which relies heavily on holy Scripture with a generous sprinkling of quotes from the ancient churchmen such as Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Augustine to name a few.
Order your personal copy of this classic work on biblical anthropology by clicking the link provided here:
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