Christ's Descent Into Hell by Ortlund

Recently I recommended a teaching video by Dr. Gavin Ortlund on the fall of the angels involving their marriage and union with females, against the command of God, and by this union brought forth a monstrous race of human/angelic hybrids who were the giants or titans of old per Genesis six. I have plans, the Lord willing, to write further upon the fall of the angels.

I watched another short video by Gavin titled "Did Jesus Descend Into Hell?" and I once again highly recommend all who are interested in this subject to listen to it (here).

In my series "Beliefs About The Afterlife" I wrote several chapters on Christ's descent into Hades and what he did there. (See chapters eight through twelve; here, here, here, here, here, here, here) I thoroughly investigated both sides of this question, both those who deny that Christ went to Hades (or Sheol) and those who affirm it.

Some Protestants shrink back from believing in both subjects and hesitate to believe what Gavin or I believe on those two. But, they ought not to be so resistant for the views he and I take are clearly taught in scripture and represent the prominent view of the first generation of Christians. Dr. Matthew Emerson, an able Bible teacher and Baptist apologist, as is Gavin, recently wrote a book on Christ's descent into Hell titled "He Descended to the Dead": An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday." You can read a short essay on this by Emerson (here). In that essay Emerson wrote:

"The doctrine of Christ’s descent to the dead is that Christ, in remaining dead for three days, experienced death as all humans do: his body remained in the grave, and his soul remained in the place of the (righteous) dead. He did not suffer there, but, remaining hypostatically united to the divine nature of the Son, proclaimed the victory achieved by his penal substitutionary death to all those in the place of the dead—fallen angels, the unrighteous dead, and the OT saints. This doctrine should be held because it has both biblical and historic support, although the doctrine was called into question by some during the Reformation."