Not surprisingly, the clause "He descended into Hell" was interpolated into the Apostle's Creed in the fourth century. The fourth century is just after all the calamity that Emperor Constantine would introduce into the Church, claiming that he had become a "Christian." The fourth century is also the one in which the heretic Jerome existed, wherein he introduced his Latin translation of the Scriptures, the Vulgate, in which was taught that Jesus went to Hell [Lat. inferno] rather than the grave (e.g., Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:31). No doubt this is how that clause got interpolated into the Apostle's Creed. In its original form, the Apostle's Creed read thus: "Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead." In the earliest creeds, is there any teaching of Christ Jesus going to Hell?
Ignatius of Antioch, A.D. 107
Irenaeus, A.D. 180Be deaf, therefore, when any would speak to you apart from (at variance with) Jesus Christ
[the Son of God],
who was descended from the family of David,
born of Mary,
who truly was born
[both of God and of the Virgin . . .
truly took a body; for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us without sin . . .],
ate and drank [truly],
truly suffered persecution under Pontius Pilate,
was truly [and not in appearance] crucified and died . . .
who was also truly raised from the dead [and rose after three days],
his Father raising him up . . .
[and after having spent forty days with the Apostles,
was received up to the Father,
and sits on his right hand,
waiting till his enemies are put under his feet].
Tertullian, A.D. 200First FormThe Church, though scattered through the whole world to the ends of the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples the faith
IN ONE GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY,
who made the heaven and the earth,
and the seas, and all that in them is;
and IN ONE CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF GOD,
who became flesh for our salvation;
and IN THE HOLY GHOST,
who through the prophets preached the dispensations and the advent,
and the birth from the Virgin,
and the passion,
and the resurrection from the dead,
and the bodily assumption into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord,
and his appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father,
to comprehend all things under one head,
and to raise up all flesh of all mankind,
that, according to the good pleasure of the Father invisible, every knee of those that are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth should bow before Christ Jesus, our Lord and God and Saviour and King, and that every tongue should confess to him, and that he may execute righteous judgment over all: sending into eternal fire the spiritual powers of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and apostatized, and the godless and unrighteous and lawless and blasphemous among men, and granting life and immortality and eternal glory to the righteous and holy, who have both kept the commandments and continued in his love, some from the beginning, some after their conversion.
Second FormIf the Apostles had not left to us the Scriptures, would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which those to whom they committed the churches handed down? To this order many nations of barbarians give assent, those who believe in Christ having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit without paper and ink, and guarding diligently the ancient tradition,
believing IN ONE GOD,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and all that in them is,
Through CHRIST JESUS THE SON OF GOD;
Who, for his astounding love towards his creatures,
sustained the birth of the Virgin,
himself uniting his manhood to God,
and suffered under Pontius Pilate,
and rose again,
and was received in glory,
shall come in glory,
the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged; and sending into eternal fire the perverters of the truth and the despisers of his Father and his advent.
Third FormIN ONE GOD ALMIGHTY,
and IN THE SON OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST,
our Lord,
by whom are all things,
and in his dispensations,
through which the Son of God became man;
the firm persuasion also IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD,
who furnishes us with a knowledge of the truth, and has set forth the dispensations of the Father and the Son, in virtue of which he dwells in every generation of men, according to the will of the Father.
First FormThe Rule of Faith is altogether one, sole, immovable, and irreformable—namely, to believe
IN ONE GOD ALMIGHTY,
the Maker of the world;
and HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST,
born of the Virgin Mary,
crucified under Pontius Pilate,
on the third day raised again from the dead,
received into the heavens,
sitting now at the right hand of the Father,
coming to judge the quick and the dead,
also through the resurrection of the flesh.
Second FormBut we believe always, and now more, being better instructed by the Paraclete, and Leader into all truth,
ONE GOD:
but under this dispensation which we call economy,
and the SON of the one God,
his Word [Logos] who proceeded from him,
by whom all things were made,
and without whom nothing was made.
This was sent from the Father into the Virgin,
and was born of her,
both Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of God,
and called JESUS CHRIST:
He suffered,
he died and was buried,
according to the Scriptures;
and raised again by the Father,
and taken up into the heavens,
and sits at the right hand of the Father,
he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
He thence did send, according to his promise, from the Father,
the HOLY GHOST, the Paraclete,
the Sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Third FormThe Rule of Faith is, . . . namely, that by which we believe
That there is but ONE GOD,
and no other besides the Maker of the world,
who produced the universe out of nothing,
by his Word sent forth first of all;
that this Word, called HIS SON,
was seen in the name of God in various ways by the patriarchs,
was always heard in the prophets,
at last was sent down, from the Spirit and power of God the Father, into the Virgin Mary,
was made flesh in her womb, and born of her,
lived (appeared) as JESUS CHRIST;
that then he preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven;
wrought miracles;
was nailed to the cross;
rose again on the third day;
was caught up to the heavens;
and sat down at the right hand of the Father;
sent in his place the power of the HOLY GHOST,
to guide the believers;
he will come again with glory
to take the saints into the enjoyment of eternal life and the celestial promises,
and to judge the wicked with eternal fire,
after the resuscitation (resurrection) of both,
with the restitution (restoration) of the flesh.
Believers after the Reformed tradition generally understand this clause—"He descended into Hell"—to refer to the sufferings, or "hell," that Jesus endured from the moment He was snatched in the garden to His crucifixion to His three days spent in the grave (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 44; Canons of Dort, 2.4; Westminster Larger Catechism, Q&A 50). I think these believers chose to interpret this clause in this way because every Christian who knows their Bible knows that Scripture repudiates the idea that Christ Jesus spent any amount of time in Hell. Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day (Luke 23:43). Does Paradise reside in Hell? According to Dispensationalists it did, but that is sheer nonsense. Jesus committed His soul into the hands of the Father (Luke 23:46). Does the Father now reside in Hell?
How can we know that the Reformed tradition is wrong in their understanding and interpretation of this added clause? Look at the location of the clause:
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
He descended into Hell.
The third day He arose from the dead,
If the clause was referring to the sufferings, or "hell," that Christ Jesus endured, then why is it placed after He has already been buried? Logically, it should find its place either before "suffered under Pontius Pilate" or before "was crucified, dead and buried." Its location does not, and cannot possibly, support the understanding of the Reformed tradition. The Westminster explanation, however, would explain well the location here, but it would likewise fail in interpretation because it says "descended into Hell," and not "endured hell." No amount of linguistical, etymological, or grammatical gymnastics will get you from "descended" to "endured." Upon realization that this clause was added in the fourth century, and knowing that Jesus did not go to Hell, believers of the Reformed tradition ought to have removed this clause from the Apostle's Creed, rather than trying to attach an explanation to it that simply does not support its location in the Creed.
None of the early personal creeds of the church fathers (Cyprian, Novatian, Origen, Lucian, Arius, Eusebius, Cyril, Epiphanius, etc.) says anything about Jesus descending into Hell. Origen had "suffered in truth, and...truly died; for he truly rose from the dead, and...was taken up." Lucian had "who suffered for us, and rose for us the third day, and ascended into heaven." Arius had "and suffered; and rose again; and ascended to the heavens." Cyril had "was crucified and was buried; rose on the third day; and ascended into heaven." Epiphanius had "He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried; and the third day rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven."
The personal and local descent of Jesus into Hell would have been one of the great cardinal facts connected with the incarnation, falling into the same class with the nativity, the baptism, the passion, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension. Less important facts than these are recorded, but none of the Apostles wrote about Christ’s descent into Hell? The total silence of the four Gospels is fatal to this false doctrine, which has mythology at its root.