Tag: paradise

Did Jesus Go to Hell? Clearing Up a Common Misunderstanding

Brent Pollard

How often we hear it said—in songs, in sermons, even recited in ancient creeds—that Jesus “went to hell” after His crucifixion. The phrase rolls off the tongue with such familiarity that few pause to question whether Scripture actually teaches such a thing. Yet here is where we must be careful, for familiarity can breed assumption, and assumption can obscure truth.

The reality is both simpler and more glorious than the popular notion suggests. Yes, Jesus descended somewhere after His death—but it was not to the hell of eternal punishment. The confusion arises from a tangle of translation issues, historical traditions, and well-meaning but imprecise language. However, God’s Word speaks with unmistakable clarity once we understand what terms like Hades, Sheol, and Gehenna actually mean.

Let us think clearly about this matter, for the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection deserves nothing less than our most careful attention.

The Root of the Confusion: Words Matter

Much of our confusion stems from a problem as simple as translation. Scripture employs three distinct words to describe the afterlife, each with its own meaning:

  • Sheol (Old Testament): The realm of the dead—a shadowy place where all departed souls once dwelt
  • Hades (New Testament): The Greek equivalent of Sheol—the temporary abode of the dead
  • Gehenna: The place of final, eternal punishment—what we properly call hell

Here lies the problem: older English translations, particularly the King James Version, routinely render all three of these words as “hell,” even though they carry distinct meanings. Imagine the muddle this creates! It’s rather like using the word ‘home’ to describe a house, a hotel, and a prison all at once.

Consider Acts 2.27, which in the King James reads: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.” But the Greek word Peter quotes from the Psalms is Hades, not Gehenna. Peter is declaring that God would not abandon Jesus to the realm of the dead—the temporary holding place of departed souls. He is not saying Jesus entered the fires of eternal judgment.

This distinction matters immensely. To collapse these words into one English term is to blur what God has made clear.

The Apostles’ Creed and Historical Development

Many point to the Apostles’ Creed, which states that Christ “descended into hell,” as proof of this doctrine. But even here, history reveals something important: this phrase did not appear in the earliest versions of the Creed. When they first added the term, they translated it as “Hades” instead of “hell.” This translation emphasizes that Jesus did not suffer punishment; instead, He truly died and entered the realm of the dead.

The Creed intended to combat early heresies that denied Jesus’ full humanity. The Creed was saying, in effect: “He really died. His death was no illusion.” This statement is orthodox truth. But somewhere along the way, “descended into Hades” morphed in popular understanding into “descended into hell,” and theological precision—accurately understanding and articulating biblical truths—gave way to theological confusion.

Medieval Imagination and the “Harrowing of Hell”

If you’ve seen medieval art or passion plays, you’ve likely encountered dramatic depictions of Jesus storming the gates of hell, releasing captives, and binding Satan in chains. These images are vivid, memorable, and deeply rooted in Christian culture. There’s only one problem: none of it comes from Scripture.

The so-called “Harrowing of Hell” developed from apocryphal writings—texts that early Christians never accepted as inspired Scripture. These stories captured the imagination and found expression in art, literature, and liturgy throughout the medieval period. They tell a good story, but they are not God’s story.

Here we must be discerning. Just because something appears in Christian tradition does not mean it appears in Christian Scripture. We honor the past, yes, but we bow only to the authority of God’s revealed Word.

What About 1 Peter 3.19–20?

Some appeal to 1 Peter 3.19, where Peter writes that Christ “went and preached to the spirits in prison.” At first glance, this might seem to support the idea that Jesus descended into hell to preach. But look closer.

Peter never uses the word Gehenna here. He doesn’t say Jesus entered the place of eternal punishment. The “spirits in prison” likely refers to the fallen angels of Genesis 6 or to the souls of the disobedient from Noah’s day. And the “preaching” mentioned is not an offer of salvation—it’s a proclamation of victory.

Think of it: Would the triumphant, risen Christ journey to hell to offer redemption to those who had already rejected God? This concept contradicts everything Scripture teaches about the finality of death and judgment, which means that once a person dies, they face judgment (Hebrews 9.27). What Peter describes is not an evangelistic campaign in the underworld, but a declaration of Christ’s conquest over sin, death, and the powers of darkness.

Where Did Jesus Actually Go?

Scripture answers this question with beautiful simplicity:

  • His body was laid in the tomb (Matthew 27.59–60)
  • His spirit went to Hades—specifically to Paradise, the place of blessing for the righteous dead (Luke 23.43)
  • God did not abandon Him there (Acts 2.27, 31)
  • He rose victoriously on the third day (1 Corinthians 15.4)

Notice what Jesus promised the thief on the cross: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23.43). Not hell. Not torment. Paradise—the blessed side of Hades, where the righteous awaited the resurrection.

Hades is the temporary realm of the dead, not the final hell. It is the waiting room, not the eternal chamber. Jesus never set foot in Gehenna, the place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25.41). To say otherwise is to add to Scripture what God never said.

Why This Matters

Why be so careful about these distinctions? Because truth matters. Because God’s Word deserves precision. Because the gospel itself is at stake.

If Jesus suffered the fires of hell as part of our redemption, then His sacrifice on the cross was incomplete. But Scripture declares that on the cross, Jesus cried, “It is finished” (John 19.30). The payment was complete. He accomplished His work. He descended into death, yes—but not into damnation. This reaffirms the fullness of our redemption and the security of our faith in Christ.

God’s sovereignty shines through this truth. He orchestrated redemption exactly as He planned—through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. Jesus conquered death by entering it and emerging victorious. He didn’t storm the gates of hell; He broke the chains of death itself.

Conclusion: Death Conquered, Not Hell Invaded

The belief that Jesus “went to hell” is born from translation confusion, historical development, medieval imagination, and misinterpreted Scripture. But when we let God’s Word speak for itself, the picture becomes clear: Jesus entered Hades—the realm of the dead—and triumphed over it.

He truly died. He truly descended into the domain of death. And He truly rose again, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1.10).

What practical difference does this make? Everything. Because Jesus conquered death—not hell—we can face our own mortality with confidence. “Because I live,” Jesus said, “you also will live” (John 14.19). That’s not just doctrine; that’s hope. That’s victory. That’s the gospel.

So let us speak carefully about these things. Let us honor Scripture’s precision. And let us marvel at the One who entered death’s dark valley and emerged with the keys of death and Hades in His victorious hand (Revelation 1.18). He didn’t invade hell—He abolished death. And because He lives, we shall live also.

Does Consciousness Continue After Death?

Gary Pollard

One of the commonly asked questions on my list is, “Does consciousness continue after death?” I was fairly confident in what I believed about this one until 3:00 PM today (11.19). Carl dropped the problem of the Transfiguration on me: How are Moses and Elijah present with Jesus before the resurrection? The purpose of this article is to sort out the Gnostic and the scriptural, but also to hopefully put more minds on this question. It’s been bothering me for several hours now. 

The overwhelming weight of scripture seems to be in favor of death being (from our perspective) an instantaneous transition to Jesus’s return and the resurrection. There are some teachings that potentially complicate this view (like the Rich man and Lazarus, thief on the cross, saints under the altar), but the concept of a “place of waiting” made no sense to me in light of the rest of scripture. What’s the point of dividing the sheep and the goats if they’ve been tortured/resting for the last umpteen years? And why are the “goats” surprised at their fate if they’ve already been punished for however long? And how/why is poor Abraham dealing with the pained cries of the rich man in torment? There is, after all, a wide abyss separating the two places (maybe the acoustics are really good). It makes the most sense that Jesus was using an image they would’ve been familiar with (from I Enoch 22, 51) to illustrate the importance of viewing money appropriately. Paul clearly says that we’re given life only when Jesus returns (cf. I Thess 4.14ff), and that Jesus being brought back to life was a visible example of what will happen to all of us too (I Cor 15.20-24). Our hope for consciousness after this life is solely in God’s promise to bring us back when his son returns. 

William Tyndale (1484-1536) said, “By putting the departed souls in Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, you have destroyed the arguments that Christ and Paul used to prove the resurrection. … What’s the point of resurrection, then? And what’s the point of judgment? … The true faith affirms the resurrection, which is what we’re told to always watch for. Pagan philosophers deny this and claim that the soul is immortal. The Pope combined the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of philosophers, things so dissonant that they’re totally incompatible. And because the fleshly-minded Pope is okay with pagan doctrine, he has no problem corrupting the scripture to establish the doctrine [of Heaven]. If the soul is in Heaven, tell me what the point of resurrection is?” The doctrine of “heaven” widely adopted by our culture is unsupported by scripture and has far more in common with Gnostic and Egyptian beliefs (i.e. Pleroma and Duat). 

So is there an intermediate place where departed souls go to experience the beta version of eternity? I didn’t think so. I’m pretty confident that our culture’s concept of heaven is wrong — on linguistic (ουρανος means “sky” or the place above the sky, which we call “space” today), scriptural (our new life comes when Jesus returns), and historical-cultural grounds (the early, pre-Catholic Christians believed that we would get life in a new body on a new/renewed earth when Jesus returns). 

But the original question was, “Is there consciousness after death?” From a biblical point of view, I believe (until the Transfiguration Conundrum is sorted anyways) the answer is yes and no. From the perspective of the dead, the transition between death and resurrection is instantaneous. I was comatose for about a week several years ago and couldn’t believe I’d been out for that long. Now, that’s not dead — but it at least proves a point. If you aren’t conscious you aren’t aware of time passing. So the “blink of an eye” statement in I Corinthians 15 makes perfect sense! But the bible does suggest that the dead are not conscious, though this is contested (cf. Ecc 9.5, Dan 12.2, Ps 115.17, 146.4 I Thess 4.14-17, and the 50+ times the bible describes death as “sleep”). Regardless of which answer is correct, what we can all agree on is this: 

Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about those who have died. We don’t want you to be sad like other people — those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died, but we also believe that he rose again. So we believe that God will raise to life through Jesus any who have died and bring them together with him when he comes (I Thess 4.13-14). 1

Where Are You?

 Carl Pollard

H.G. Wells, an English writer, was never particularly religious, but after he had studied the history of the human race and had observed human life, he came to an interesting conclusion. He said, “Religion is the first thing and the last thing, and until a man has found God and been found by God, he begins at no beginning, he works to no end. He may have his friendships, his partial loyalties, his scraps of honor. But all these things fall into place and life falls into place only with God.”

I am thankful there is a God. That He exists, that He is in control, and that He offers eternal life. My life would be nothing if it wasn’t for His grace and love. There are a million different ways one could go about describing God the Father. Kind, loving, merciful, jealous, powerful, etc. Knowing God requires revelation. All that we know about Him is revealed in scripture. He chose to tell us who He is and what He has done for us. 

To dwell on the revealed knowledge of God is one of life’s highest pursuits. There is no better way to spend your time than to learn of the God who created, restored, and saved us. In scripture we read of His perfect attributes, His unfathomable love, His gift of salvation. If we took every writer, philosopher, poet, Christian, and put them to work describing the nature of the Father, the book would be added to until the end of time. As finite humans, it is impossible for us to comprehend the infinite. Our limits will forever keep us from fully knowing God. 

To know God completely and totally we would have to be God. 

Of all the places in scripture we could look, there is one that stands out. It’s not John 3:16, Eph. 2:8, Rom. 1:16, 1 John 4:8, 2 Peter 3:9. This perfect description for God isn’t found in 10,000 words, it is found in one. 

One single, Hebrew word incapsulates all of scripture, the theme of the Bible, and the attributes of God. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. He created with His words, the very world we see today. However, the world we are in now isn’t exactly what it used to be. 

God made man in His image, His likeness is found in us. He created Adam first, then Eve. 

We ruled the earth, God’s prize possession. 

He created us to love, to tend to the garden, to be with Him in perfect harmony. That is exactly what we see in Genesis 1-2, but things fundamentally changed in chapter three. The God who lovingly created the world, the garden for Adam and Eve, gave one single command. Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge. 

This command gave His special creation a choice. A choice to love, or a choice to disobey. True love is a choice, it is never forced. Sadly as we are familiar with, Eve listened to the serpent and ate of tree. She then turned to her husband and He ate. It is at this moment they realize they are naked and made clothes for themselves. And then…nothing happens. No lighting bolt, no death, no thundering voice from God condemning them to hell forever. The Lord himself comes out to Adam, and notice how he comes. He comes walking. He wasn’t in a hurry to strike the offender. walking in the garden. “In the cool of the day”—not in the dead of night when things are all the more scary. 

God is longsuffering, slow to anger, and of great mercy; and so He came walking, in the cool of the evening, when the sun was setting on the last day of Eden. Adam runs and tries to avoid the very God he had once met with confidence, the One he had the sweetest fellowship, talking with him as a man talks with his friend.

Gen. 3:9 The Lord God called to the man, and said one word, “ayyekkah” which is translated, “where are you?” Imagine hearing the voice of God as He cries, “Adam, where are you? This question reveals more than we have time to discuss. It showed that Adam was lost, or God would not have needed to ask him where he was. 

Until we have lost something, we do not need to enquire about it. God’s first words after the fall, a question posed to His creation. In this one Hebrew word is compressed a whole theology. In this ONE word, we find the nature of God. Understand these are God’s first words to the FIRST sinner. In asking this question we learn that

God Pursues The Lost Sinner. 

What Adam and Eve did was wrong. 

They knew it, and so did God. God was very clear on what would happen if they ate of the fruit. “In that day you will surely die” are the exact words God used. When Adam and Eve heard God walking they chose to hide. 

Why? Man had sinned against God. Notice the alienation of the heart that sin causes in the sinner. Adam should have sought out his Maker. He should have been running through the garden crying out for God,

“My God, my God, I have sinned against you. Where are you?” Adam should have fallen in humility at the feet of the Father. 

He had a closer relationship with God than anyone in today. HE LIVED IN THE PRESENCE OF God. He should have called out to God, ran to His feet, and fallen on his face begging for mercy. But instead, Adam flees from God. The sinner does not come to God; God comes to him. It is not “My God, where are you?” but the first voice that broke the silence after the fall is the voice of grace, “Sinner where are you?” God comes to man; man does not seek his God.

Isn’t this how it has always been? From this one Hebrew Word, we read of a God who reaches out to us, even when we have done our best to hide ourselves from Him. “But God shows His love to us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:8).” While we spit on the body of Christ, God is crying out, “where are you, sinner?” In this one word, a love like mankind has never experienced is displayed. When God asked, “where are you?” We learn of a God who pursues the sinner. 

Today He continues to call, hoping that we will come to Him.

Encouraged By Eternity

Dale Pollard

What will Heaven be like? While some biblical authors will attempt to explain aspects of our eternal home’s appearance, Peter chooses to tell us what it won’t be like. He states, it won’t perish. Heaven won’t be a place that can be defiled as the earth has become in many ways down here. Our new home above will be perfect on day one (though it’s a place outside time) as on day one billion (I Pt. 1.4). So Peter tells us what paradise won’t be like by explaining the difference between Heaven and earth. 

Interestingly, Peter tells us about our inheritance to give us motivation while in the middle of our earthly trials. We should be motivated to endure the lowest valleys in life because of what awaits us. This seems to be something we’d all agree with; however, some seem to be motivated by fear of the punishment rather than faith in the prize. While it’s true that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 9.10-12), God wants us to live out our faith based on the knowledge of eternal rest. 

As one makes their way down through the chapter the reason Peter begins by elucidating our heavenly home becomes clear. With all of that in mind, we’re told to prepare mentally for what we’re called to do (v.13). We must prepare our minds for action! What things demand preparation in your own mind? For some it’s their view of God or the reason they suffer in the first place. They may think if they don’t live perfectly then they’ll be lost forever— so they anxiously go about living a “check list” style Christianity. 

THREE WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR MIND 

Preparing the mind means educating the mind. 

1. Educate the mind about the concept and workings of the amazing grace Jesus offers us.

2. Prepare the mind by filling the mind with the glories of heaven. 

3. Prepare the mind by studying the benefits of Christian suffering, rather than allowing our suffering to negatively distort our view of God. 

Because It’s Forbidden

Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

Dale Pollard

The moment evil takes hold, we’re as good as dead. The fall of man is deeper than just the poor decision to eat forbidden fruit. It began when Eve began making multiple poor choices. 

She spent time in the presence of the evil snake. There’s nothing inherently sinful taking place at this point. It’s just unwise. 

The snake struck when it saw it had an opportunity. It’s victim was in ear shot, so it began to speak. There’s nothing sinful about listening to evil, either. After all, the snake couldn’t override Eve’s freewill. 

The snake was crafty. Crafty enough to realize that Eve’s young and poor decisions could potentially develop into a strong and mature sin. He just needed to make a compelling case that was tailored to Eve’s underlying and natural human instincts. 

If the snake could manage to redirect her healthy desires in another direction, he would effectively unleash sin on the world. That’s temptation. Temptation is both universal and unique. Most of us share similar wicked proclivities, but those unique temptations that only a portion of society might find intoxicatingly beautiful can be repulsive to you. Eve’s choice to be near sin and to converse with it led her to reach, pluck, and eat. 

Now her marriage had been destroyed, whether she knew it or not. Adam and Eve are already incompatible. Eve could ask  for forgiveness but living with those consequences would be tough. It might be better to share in the guilt and suffer with someone who understands her. Her misery needed company and If she’s going to die, she didn’t want to die alone. 

That drive to have shared experiences and enjoy a commonality with someone has been tainted but she still craves intimacy. Instead of taking responsibility for her own actions alone, she decides to lead her husband into the same mess so that they might clean it up— together. 

Soon the two of them would live in a new world of hardship. Their options were, 

   1. work together and live 

2. or die alone. 

Fix the problem as a team, or make poor choices that will lead to more sins which will further the destruction of their pure desires. That’s a foundational principle and it applies to every relationship we have. God’s creation wasn’t made better by our selection of evil. Our freewill caused God pain as well. His creation would turn on Him and be the source of terrible grief, anger, and frustration. God’s forgiveness and patience is a testament to His perfect love for us. 

The Pair That Ate The Fruit

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the “apple” on the tree that got us banned from paradise, it was the pair on the ground…anyway, I want us to take a trip back to the beginning. This is where our account takes place. In Genesis chapter one, God has just created the world as He intended for it to be. A place of peace and harmony. No pain, sorrow, and a perfect relationship with his creation. After this incredible account of creation, God concludes by creating man. He designed a perfect world for Adam and Eve. He placed them in the garden, a perfect home where they had everything they would need.

He gives them only one command in Gen. 2:15-17,  “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

The following account in chapter three is what I want to focus on. God gave Adam a helper suitable for him and her name was Eve. Everything was perfect. God even says after He looked upon his creation that everything was “very good.” But one decision changed the course of mankind forever. 

In this account of the sinners at the tree, Adam and Eve are an example of what not to do when faced with temptation. This account also reveals the methods Satan uses to tempt us, and the choice that changed the course of the world. 

  1. Satan Sows Doubt (3:1-5) 
  2. Eve Felt Desire (3:6) 
  3. The Fall And Punishment (3:7-24)

One question that I’ve always had about this account is why God placed this forbidden tree in the garden. Genesis 2:9 says, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Did God set Adam and Eve up to fail? Was He hoping they would slip up and eat the fruit? On the contrary, God was giving Adam and Eve the power of free will. Without this free will to choose, Adam and Eve would’ve been puppets. 

True love always requires a choice. 

Our parents would make us hug and apologize when we fought with each other. And I can tell you, there is a big difference between a hug that is forced and a hug that is given out of love and concern. God wanted Adam and Eve to choose to love and trust Him. The only way to give this choice was to command something that was not allowed. Therefore Adam and Eve could decide whether or not they wanted to be in a relationship with God. What choice will we make today? Will we live in sin, or live for Almighty God?