Why is it commonly thought that Jesus' Spirit went to Hell for three days?

Question

Considering the fact that He told the thief on the cross "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Answer 1

I don't know why that's common - I've never heard it.
In the apostles creed, it is said that He descended into hell, however it doesn't specify for how long. My thought is that since God exists out of time and space, His visit to hell may well have been a millisecond in our time, but enough in His time to accomplish what He needed to do there.
Quite possibly, people believe the 3 days you mention because He was in the grave for 3 days before He rose again...... just a thought.

Answer 2

Go here:
http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/did-jesus-go-to-hell-faq.htm

He didn't go to hell for three days. There is a lot of Biblical evidence that hell doesn't even exist yet. When Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise," we don't know whether he's saying "Today I'm telling you," or "Today you will be with me," because the original scriptures had no punctuation. Other places the Bible says that the dead know nothing, they don't praise God, and they are asleep until the resurrection. If any dead people are in Heaven, don't you think they'd be praising God?

Answer 3

Because the bible does say this. however what you really need to know is what is hell?

In the King James Version, the Greek word Hades is rendered "hell" in each of its ten occurrences in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The rendering at Luke 16:19-31 mentions torment, but the entire account is symbolic in meaning.
The Hebrew word Sheol occurs 65 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and is rendered "hell," "grave," and "pit" in the King James Version.

The Bible writer Luke recounts: "Neither was [Jesus] forsaken in Hades [hell, King James Version] nor did his flesh see corruption."* (Acts 2:31) So Jesus was in hell, the grave, but he was not abandoned there, for he was raised up, or resurrected.

So with the real meaning in view of hell what are the condition of the dead? You can find out. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, Psalms 146: 4. As with Jesus their is a promise to all those in Hell ( the common grave) As Jesus promised, "the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear [Jesus'] voice and come out." (John 5:28, 29).

Answer 4

There was no punctuation in the scripture. It could very well be, "Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise." Obviously we do not know for sure, but it certainly seems to be more in harmony with the other scriptures and we know that all scripture is inspired of God and God does not contradict himself so any contradiction must be a result of man. Jesus was dead for parts of 3 days. Hell is the common grave of mankind--not a place of torment.

Answer 5

They did not use punctuation back then.

However the correct English rendering is
"Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise."

See how you place a comma, can change the message of a sentence?
See how it contradicts that Jesus was indeed dead for 3 days?

Answer 6

Interesting question. After Jesus "died", His spirit was freed, and he could have went anywhere he wanted in an instant. He may
indeed have carried the criminal to heaven before He went into
hell.
It says Christ went "into the heart of the Earth, and preached
to the souls there." Which leads me to believe hell is actually
inside the Earth, but on a multi-dimensional level.
I like a story I read where Beelzebub, the archdemon and
ruler of the underworld, was bragging to Lucifer about how he
got Jesus crucified and in hell.
Lucifer cried, "You fool! Now you've opened up the door for the souls to get out!"

Answer 7

Because of many translations, they call the place where souls wait for judgement Hell instead of Hades. It's really Hades. And there are 2 parts to it: Paradise-good, and Tartarus-bad. So while Jesus went to Hades, he went to the Paradise part.

Answer 8

That is what the Apostles Creed says " he descended into Hell, on the third day he rose again and sittith at the right hand of God the Father "

Answer 9

He knew what he was talking about . We can not understand every thing now ,one day we will. My personal belief is that he can be in many places at the same time. otherwise how can the people all over the world pray at the same time and he hears them all. I think spiritual bodies can do that. We are still in our mortal bodies. and it's hard to conceive spiritual things. I hope this helps you.He had to go to hades to get the keys. but he didn't stay.

Answer 10

I don't know the answer to your question because I've wondered the same. I'm a Christian and I went to a Christian college, yet I never learned the answer to this. I think that's probably something we won't know till we get to heaven. :-) And as my husband just pointed out, it isn't that big of a deal...it's an awesome enough thing that He died for us!