Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 35:1 (Mar 1992)
Article: He Did Descend To Hell: In Defense Of The Apostles’ Creed
Author: David P. Scaer

JETS 35:1 (March 1992) p. 91

He Did Descend To Hell:
In Defense Of The Apostles’ Creed

David P. Scaer*

I can respect Wayne Grudem’s decision to omit “he descended into hell” from his recitation of the Apostles’ Creed within the congregation,1 but I sincerely doubt that he will succeed in winning a sufficient number of adherents to his cause to effect the change. At least this is my hope. More importantly, there are good Biblical, historical and theological reasons for retaining the phrase.

The descent into hell is not the only creedal phrase whose history is cloudy and whose interpretation lacks agreement. Among Protestants “the communion of saints” is taken as an explanation of the Church, while it is used among some Roman Catholics to demonstrate the close association of heavenly saints with the Church on earth. Linguistically both interpretations are highly suspect. Adolph von Harnack saw it as a reference to baptism and the Lord’s supper, but it would be hard to point to any place in the Church’s history when this view was held. More likely it is a reference to the Lord’s supper—that is, the communion of the “holy things,” Christ’s body and blood. Each interpretation reflects a particular period of Church history, and all the interpretations may in a certain sense complement each other. In the Nicene Creed there is the problem of the filioque: “who [the Holy Spirit] proceeds from the Father and the Son.” The Eastern Orthodox churches in omitting it have history and conciliar authority on their side, but the Western churches may carry the theological weight. To accommodate ecumenical relationships with the Eastern Orthodox churches the Anglican churches are seriously considering eliminating the filioque, but in so doing they would pass judgment on their own four-hundred-year Reformation history, a price too high for some to pay.2 Grudem is asking us to pay a similar price in discarding the descent-into-hell clause. A moment of reflection may be in order.

There are several good reasons to retain the creeds in their present form beyond the simple fact of their antiquity, though this one too cannot be ignored. We are not the first to recognize problems in the history and interpretation of troublesome creedal phrases, and we may have to humbly admit that not all the historical evidence leading to their inclusion is available to

*David P. Scaer is professor of systematic theology and New Testament at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825.

JETS 35:1 (March 1992) p. 92

us. Yet this cannot excuse us from squarely facing the available evidence. ...