Lord’s Day 16, Chapter 4: The Descension Into Hell (2)

The third possible explanation of the article concerning Christ's descension into hell, and the one which, according to Dr. Phillip Schaff (Creeds of Christendom, II, 46), presents the meaning of the early church, is that it refers to "an actual self "-manifestation of Christ after the crucifixion to all the departed spirits." And Dr. Schaff continues: "As such the descent is a part of the universality of the scheme of redemption, and forms the transition from the state of humiliation to the...