Descent (of Christ) into Hell

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Descent (of Christ) into Hell. A subject of Christian affirmation in, e.g., the Apostles' Creed. The belief that Christ descended into hell between his death and resurrection is based, though quite uncertainly, on such passages as Matthew 27. 52 f. and 1 Peter 3. 18–20. Some have understood the descent as an expression of Christ's victory over the evil powers (the ‘harrowing of hell’); others, as the occasion of Christ's preaching to the pre-Christian righteous waiting in Sheol.

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