Understanding our Faith

Jesus Christ – the Creed

Both creeds confess that Jesus was conceived by means of the action of the Holy Spirit and was born of Mary his mother as a virgin.  Both then go on to summarise the essentials of the life and work of Jesus in the mystery of his death, resurrection and ascension.

There are some interesting details.  Does it seem strange that Pontius Pilate is the only person to be mentioned apart from Jesus and Mary.  There is a reason for this: there were groups of people in the early centuries who did not believe that Jesus truly died but was somehow spirited off to heaven.  Such a belief undermines the nature of Christianity as a reality of this world and it undermines the fact that Jesus shares our human life and death.  The mention of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate ties his death into history; it locates his death in time and place.

In the Apostles’ Creed, we find the phrase ‘he descended into hell’.  I think I have been asked about this more than any other element of either of the creeds.  The word ‘hell’ in the Scriptures is ‘Sheol’.  It does not carry the same meaning as was later attributed to hell especially in some of the wilder preaching!  This phrase in the creed refers to the place where all of humankind was waiting – starting with Adam and Eve – for the Messiah to come and deliver them.  He was described as descending into hell in order to deliver them from their place of waiting and bring them to the resurrection he had gained for them.  We still believe that his resurrection is a gift to all humankind but we would express it somewhat differently.  It applies backwards as well as forwards so to speak. 

Some of us might remember talk about Limbo.  The word ‘Limbo’ means the doorstep.  We used to speak about children who died before baptism as being in a state of natural happiness called Limbo.  Pope Benedict XVI drew a conclusion to such talk by explaining that Christ’s redemption applied to all who did not explicitly and finally reject it.  In ancient times ‘hell’ was conceived as being like a limbo of all who went before the time of Christ who were waiting for his liberation of them.  They were waiting not suffering.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 15 March 2024