Spirits in prison
Encyclopedia
New Testament
The subject takes its starting point from one obscure Bible reference:- 1 PeterFirst Epistle of PeterThe First Epistle of Peter, usually referred to simply as First Peter and often written 1 Peter, is a book of the New Testament. The author claims to be Saint Peter the apostle, and the epistle was traditionally held to have been written during his time as bishop of Rome or Bishop of Antioch,...
3:19-20 "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." (KJV)
Early Christian interpretations
According to Augustine the spirits are the unbelieving contemporaries of Noah, to whom the spirit of Christ in Noah, preached, or to whom pre-existent Christ himself preached.Reformation and Enlightenment views
Unitarians, such as Thomas BelshamThomas Belsham
Thomas Belsham was an English Unitarian minister- Life :Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the dissenting academy at Daventry, where for seven years he acted as assistant tutor...
, considered that the spirits in prison were simply Gentiles in the prison of ignorance to whom Christ preached through his apostles.
Modern Christian interpretations
Wayne GrudemWayne Grudem
Wayne A. Grudem is a Protestant theologian and author. He was born in 1948 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and married Margaret White on June 6, 1969 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin...
(1988) identifies five commonly held views on the interpretation of this verse:
- "View 1: When Noah was building the ark, Christ 'in spirit' was in Noah preaching repentance and righteousness through him to unbelievers who were on the earth then but are now 'spirits in prison' (people in hell)."
- "View 2: After Christ died, he went and preached to people in hell, offering them a second chance of salvation."
- "View 3:After Christ died, he went and preached to people in hell, proclaiming to them that he had triumphed over them and their condemnation was final."
- "View 4: After Christ died, he proclaimed release to people who had repented just before they died in the flood, and led them out of their imprisonment (in Purgatory) into heaven."
- "View 5: After Christ died (or: after he rose but before he ascended into heaven), he travelled to hell and proclaimed triumph over the fallen angels who had sinned by marrying human women before the flood."
These views revolve around the identity of the spirits in prison, the time in which the preaching took place, and the content of the preaching.
View 1. Augustinian interpretation
This is also found in Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
; Summa Theologica
Summa Theologica
The Summa Theologiæ is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas , and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main...
(3,52,2). A variant of this view is the view of the Rev. Archibald Currie (1871) that Christ through Noah preached to "the spirits in prison ;" meaning the eight persons interned in the Ark as in a place of protection.
Views 2. Harrowing of hell
The Anglican Edward Hayes PlumptreEdward Hayes Plumptre
Edward Hayes Plumptre was an English divine and scholar, and was born in London.-Life:This son of E.H. Plumptre was born in London. A scholar of University College, Oxford, he graduated with a double-first class degree in 1844. In the same year he was elected Fellow of Brasenose College. Married...
, Dean of Wells, in The Spirits in Prison starting from the verse in Peter argued for revival in the belief in the harrowing of Hell
Harrowing of Hell
The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed that states that Jesus Christ "descended into Hell"...
and the spirit of Christ preaching to the souls of the dead in Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
while his body was in the grave.
View 3. Proclaiming triumph
This is a variant of the harrowing of HellHarrowing of Hell
The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed that states that Jesus Christ "descended into Hell"...
idea, except that Christ only proclaims triumph.
View 4. Release from purgatory
This view originates with Robert BellarmineRobert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
(1586) and has been followed by some Catholic Church commentators in relation to a belief in Purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
.
View 5. Angels and the Book of Enoch
Friedrich SpittaFriedrich Spitta
Friedrich Spitta , German Protestant theologian, was born at Wittingen, Lower Saxony.Friedrich studied at Göttingen and Erlangen, and in course of time became professor ordinarius and university preacher at Saint Thomas Church in Strasbourg...
(1890), Joachim Jeremias
Joachim Jeremias
Joachim Jeremias was a German Lutheran theologian, scholar of Near Eastern Studies and university professor for New Testament studies. He was abbot of Bursfelde, 1968–1971....
and others suggested that Peter was making a first reference to Enochic traditions
Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
, such as found again in the Second Epistle of Peter chapter 2 and the Epistle of Jude. Stanley E. Porter
Stanley E. Porter
Stanley E. Porter is an American academic specializing in New Testament studies and the grammar of Koine Greek.He studied at Point Loma College, San Diego, , Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois and earned his Ph.D. at the...
considers that the broad influence of this interpretation today is due to the support of E. G. Selwyn (1847).
Human souls
The concept that the dead await a general resurrection and judgment either in blessed rest or in suffering after a particular judgement at death was a common 1st century Jewish belief (see Lazarus and DivesLazarus and Dives
The Parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a well known parable of Jesus which appears in one of the Four Gospels of the New Testament....
and bosom of Abraham
Bosom of Abraham
"Bosom of Abraham" refers to the place of comfort in sheol where the Jews said the righteous dead awaited Judgment Day.-Origin of the phrase:The word found in the Greek text for "bosom" is , meaning "lap" "bay"...
). A similar concept is taught in the Eastern Orthodox churches, was championed by John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
(who vigorously opposed Luther's
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
doctrine of soul sleep), and is reflected in some Early Church Fathers.
Other religious traditions
In the works of Joseph SmithJoseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
the verse is a starting point for belief in a spirit prison in the spirit world.
It appears in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as barzakh
Barzakh
In Islamic eschatology, Barzakh is the intermediate state in which the soul of the deceased is transferred across the boundaries of the mortal realm into a kind of "cold sleep" where the soul will rest until the Qiyamah . The term appears in the Qur'an Surah 23, Ayat 100.Barzakh is a sequence that...
, and also in 9th-century Zoroastrian writing (after and perhaps due to two centuries of Muslim influence and several more of Christian influence).
See also
- GehennaGehennaGehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
- Hell in Christian beliefsHell in Christian beliefsChristian views on Hell vary, but in general traditionally agree that hell is a place or a state in which the souls of the unsaved suffer the consequences of sin....
- LimboLimboIn the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
- Outer darknessOuter darknessIn Christianity, the outer darkness is a place referred to three times in the Gospel of Matthew into which a person may be "cast out", and where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth"...
- Prayer for the deadPrayer for the deadWherever there is a belief in the continued existence of man's personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the relations between the living and the dead...