1 Peter 3:18-20

[Greyson01]

Did Jesus go to hell? What or who are the "spirits" mentioned in 1 Peter 3: 18-20? Are they fallen angels or the spirits of those of Noah's day? What exactly did Christ preach to them and for what purpose?

[Greyson01]

Ok, so its looks like there's no interest. Not much action on this site.

[Covenanter]

Did Jesus go to hell? What or who are the "spirits" mentioned in 1 Peter 3: 18-20? Are they fallen angels or the spirits of those of Noah's day? What exactly did Christ preach to them and for what purpose?

Jesus suffered the wrath of God - total separation from his Father - while on the cross. As he died, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost..... And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

That teaches that at his death, Jesus' spirit went to his Father, not hell.

There is a hint of hell in Acts 2: ²⁵For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
²⁶Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
²⁷Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

There is a dual meaning of "hell" (hades) depending on context, & I suggest that here David is speaking of the place of the righteous dead, not the place of torment. We know that place as Heaven.


What is Peter saying in his letters? We need to read on into 1 Pet. 4, & 2 Pet. 2. Note that Noah was a preacher of righteousness & like all true preachers, preached the word of God. Jesus in effect preached righteousness through Noah. His hearers were disobedient - ungodly. God's longsuffering ended, & the flood came.

We need not think God went to hell to preach to the lost - what could he preach? No. He preached while they lived. Note:
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. "Was preached ..... are dead."

Like living sinners, they will be judged, for their spirits live in hell, awaiting the resurrection of damnation.

3:¹⁸For 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:
¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
²⁰Which 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.
²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
4:¹Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
²That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
³For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
⁴Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
⁵Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

2 Pet. 2:⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
⁵And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

[Wilchbla]

Did Jesus go to hell? What or who are the "spirits" mentioned in 1 Peter 3: 18-20? Are they fallen angels or the spirits of those of Noah's day? What exactly did Christ preach to them and for what purpose?

These verses say that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison AFTER he was quickened in the Spirit. So this took place after his resurrection. The spirits in prison probably has something to do with the angels mentioned in Jude 1:6. What he preached I have no idea. Maybe concerning judgement.

[Kleptes]

Jesus suffered the wrath of God - total separation from his Father - while on the cross. As he died, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost..... And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

That teaches that at his death, Jesus' spirit went to his Father, not hell.

There is a hint of hell in Acts 2: ²⁵For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
²⁶Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
²⁷Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

There is a dual meaning of "hell" (hades) depending on context, & I suggest that here David is speaking of the place of the righteous dead, not the place of torment. We know that place as Heaven.


What is Peter saying in his letters? We need to read on into 1 Pet. 4, & 2 Pet. 2. Note that Noah was a preacher of righteousness & like all true preachers, preached the word of God. Jesus in effect preached righteousness through Noah. His hearers were disobedient - ungodly. God's longsuffering ended, & the flood came.

We need not think God went to hell to preach to the lost - what could he preach? No. He preached while they lived. Note:
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. "Was preached ..... are dead."

Like living sinners, they will be judged, for their spirits live in hell, awaiting the resurrection of damnation.

3:¹⁸For 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:
¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
²⁰Which 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.
²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
4:¹Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
²That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
³For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
⁴Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
⁵Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

2 Pet. 2:⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
⁵And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

I disagree somewhat. This is an example where I believe christians get to theological and explain it away in that manner. First off, Jesus using the word commend doesn't meaning going back to God, but rather Jesus putting his spirit forth to God/or committing his spirit to God to have charge of it were He wouldn't see corruption. I believe Jesus did go to hell, not to suffer as some think. We know Jesus went to the heart of the earth, this is not just the grave or the seplucher that Jesus was placed in it, the seplucher wasn't in the ground at all. Jesus even told Mary Magdelene to not touch Him because He had not ascended unto Father.

John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We have to remember that paradise was in the heart of the earth i.e. Lazarus and Abraham, and the gulf fix between it and hell, the place of torments were the rich man is.

Luke 16:20
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

I believe He did preach to those in prison/ hell, and not as a figurative of using Noah to preach to them in that sense. What He preached was not the gospel to save them but I would imagine is a rebuke to them for not believing what Noah preached. The bible specifically says by which He "went" and preached unto the spirits in prison.

1Peter 3:18
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:
19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20Which 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.

Some may argue that it doesn't mean He literally went there. That argument can be made, but then you would have to some
how put these verses in a figurative form as well.

Matthew 14:25
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mark 6:12
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Mark 16:20
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
John 4:45
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
John 8:1
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

Is it so hard to think Jesus couldn't have done that? What keys does Jesus hold?

Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death. Edited July 25, 2011 by Kleptes

[farouk]

Kleptes:

Interesting thoughts.

Sometimes 'hell' is defined as the place of the departed.

[Crushmaster]

Christ went to Sheol/Hades - the place of the dead. Not Hell. Before Christ's resurrection, everyone, "saved" and lost, went to Sheol. Some, to Abraham's Bosom; some, to the "side" of torment (the story of the rich man and Lazarus).

See this...

http://www.sheol-know.org/
God bless,
Joel ><>.
2 Chronicles 7:14; Romans 5:8.

Edited July 25, 2011 by Crushmaster

[farouk]

Some of the Protestant creeds say of the Lord Jesus, 'He descended into hell', that is, the place of the departed.

[JerryNumbers]

I disagree somewhat. This is an example where I believe christians get to theological and explain it away in that manner. First off, Jesus using the word commend doesn't meaning going back to God, but rather Jesus putting his spirit forth to God/or committing his spirit to God to have charge of it were He wouldn't see corruption. I believe Jesus did go to hell, not to suffer as some think. We know Jesus went to the heart of the earth, this is not just the grave or the seplucher that Jesus was placed in it, the seplucher wasn't in the ground at all. Jesus even told Mary Magdelene to not touch Him because He had not ascended unto Father.

John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We have to remember that paradise was in the heart of the earth i.e. Lazarus and Abraham, and the gulf fix between it and hell, the place of torments were the rich man is.

Luke 16:20
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

I believe He did preach to those in prison/ hell, and not as a figurative of using Noah to preach to them in that sense. What He preached was not the gospel to save them but I would imagine is a rebuke to them for not believing what Noah preached. The bible specifically says by which He "went" and preached unto the spirits in prison.

1Peter 3:18
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:
19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20Which 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.

Some may argue that it doesn't mean He literally went there. That argument can be made, but then you would have to some
how put these verses in a figurative form as well.

Matthew 14:25
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mark 6:12
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Mark 16:20
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
John 4:45
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
John 8:1
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

Is it so hard to think Jesus couldn't have done that? What keys does Jesus hold?

Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death.

I mostly agree with what you stated, I'm surprised at the number that disagrees with this, and we have some very compelling verses to prove it came about.

[Greyson01]

Some of the Protestant creeds say of the Lord Jesus, 'He descended into hell', that is, the place of the departed.

The interesting thing is, the creed that says Christ descended into hell was written in the 4th century, the time when the Roman Catholic church got organized. The RCC needs to twist 1 Peter 3 in order to have there false purgaory teaching.

1 Peter 3-18-20 says nothing about Jesus descending to hades or hell. Maybe the confusion is the different Greek and Hebrew meanings of the words, hades, sheol, etc. Jesus went to the abode of the dead. Could that mean the grave? Of course his spirit wasn't there. He told the thief that TODAY they would be in paradise.

[farouk]

Yes, today in paradise: 'absent from the body, present with the Lord'.

Amen!

[Greyson01]

Jesus suffered the wrath of God - total separation from his Father - while on the cross. As he died, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost..... And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

That teaches that at his death, Jesus' spirit went to his Father, not hell.

There is a hint of hell in Acts 2: ²⁵For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
²⁶Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
²⁷Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.


There is a dual meaning of "hell" (hades) depending on context, & I suggest that here David is speaking of the place of the righteous dead, not the place of torment. We know that place as Heaven.


What is Peter saying in his letters? We need to read on into 1 Pet. 4, & 2 Pet. 2. Note that Noah was a preacher of righteousness & like all true preachers, preached the word of God. Jesus in effect preached righteousness through Noah. His hearers were disobedient - ungodly. God's longsuffering ended, & the flood came.

We need not think God went to hell to preach to the lost - what could he preach? No. He preached while they lived. Note:
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
"Was preached ..... are dead."

Like living sinners, they will be judged, for their spirits live in hell, awaiting the resurrection of damnation.

3:¹⁸For 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:
¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
²⁰Which 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.
²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
4:¹Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
²That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
³For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
⁴Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
⁵Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

2 Pet. 2:⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
⁵And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

I had always thought that the meaning of the passage was that Christ (through the Spirit), had preached through Noah and that was the preaching being referred to in 1 Peter 3:18-20. However, I got hounded on another Christian frum about that. The consensus there was that after the crucifixion, Jesus went and preached to the fallen angels because humans are never referred in the bible as spirits, only angels and demons are spirits. Edited July 25, 2011 by Greyson01

[Greyson01]

I disagree somewhat. This is an example where I believe christians get to theological and explain it away in that manner. First off, Jesus using the word commend doesn't meaning going back to God, but rather Jesus putting his spirit forth to God/or committing his spirit to God to have charge of it were He wouldn't see corruption. I believe Jesus did go to hell, not to suffer as some think. We know Jesus went to the heart of the earth, this is not just the grave or the seplucher that Jesus was placed in it, the seplucher wasn't in the ground at all. Jesus even told Mary Magdelene to not touch Him because He had not ascended unto Father.

John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We have to remember that paradise was in the heart of the earth i.e. Lazarus and Abraham, and the gulf fix between it and hell, the place of torments were the rich man is.

Luke 16:20
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

I believe He did preach to those in prison/ hell, and not as a figurative of using Noah to preach to them in that sense. What He preached was not the gospel to save them but I would imagine is a rebuke to them for not believing what Noah preached. The bible specifically says by which He "went" and preached unto the spirits in prison.

1Peter 3:18
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:
19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20Which 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.

Some may argue that it doesn't mean He literally went there. That argument can be made, but then you would have to some
how put these verses in a figurative form as well.

Matthew 14:25
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mark 6:12
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Mark 16:20
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
John 4:45
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
John 8:1
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

Is it so hard to think Jesus couldn't have done that? What keys does Jesus hold?

Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death.

Correct, the passage deos not say that what Christ preached to the spirits in prison was the gospel. Many bible commentators say the word preach in this case actually means to proclaim. Perhaps Jesus went to proclaim his victory over death, hell and satan.

The one question that remains is why would Jesus single out Noah's preaching and rebuke those who did not listen? If He preached to fallen angels of Noah's day, then why only them and not all the fallen angels from all of history?

Are we agreed that spirits are angels and demons, and not humans? Humans have spirits but the bible never refers to them as spirits.

[dantheman2]

Did Jesus go to hell? What or who are the "spirits" mentioned in 1 Peter 3: 18-20? Are they fallen angels or the spirits of those of Noah's day? What exactly did Christ preach to them and for what purpose?

No, Jesus did not go to "Hell" as far as the eternal place of torment. Jesus went to Hadies (the unseen world) where there is Paradice and Tartorus (pardon the spelling). Jesus told the thief that he would be with him that day in paradise. That is where Jesus went. By the way, this is not heaven for Jesus told Mary not to touch him since he had not been back to the father at that time.

Though I like and use the KJV, it indescrimanently uses the word "Hell."

[dantheman2]

I had always thought that the meaning of the passage was that Christ (through the Spirit), had preached through Noah and that was the preaching being referred to in 1 Peter 3:18-20. However, I got hounded on another Christian frum about that. The consensus there was that after the crucifixion, Jesus went and preached to the fallen angels because humans are never referred in the bible as spirits, only angels and demons are spirits.

Why would Jesus go to Hell and preach the Gospel to anyone? Once one is in Hell, he will never come out therefrom. Hell is eternal punishment. Once we depart this life, there is no more opportunity for us to be saved.