(The Truth of Heaven and Hell)
To explain the seeming contradiction of Jesus statement, that no human has ever gone to the third heaven to other passages in the Bible that seem to contradict this (such as the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man and the case with the thief on the cross) some say humans do go to a paradise at death:
but it's not the third heaven, it’s a place in hell called “Abraham’s bosom”.
Abraham’s bosom is believed to be a paradise section in Hell (basically described as a sliver of heaven in the middle of a fiery burning hell). Since before Christ died, loyal human Souls could not go to the third heaven, because Jesus had not yet paid the price for them to go yet. So, God made a temporary paradise for them in hell until Jesus could finally come and pay the price for them. Christians/People who believe this think this perfectly explains why Jesus said no human had gone to heaven:
Because they all went to Abraham’s Bosom/Paradise in Hell when he said this!
But after Jesus died, his soul went down into Hades/paradise to get all the souls of the saints out of paradise (some also say/believe to also beat up Satan and his demons in this fiery hell, for the keys of Hades/death to free the souls there). These souls were then brought back up to Earth’s surface, after Jesus was brought back to life, and wandered in Jerusalem as souls before joining Jesus in the third heaven. (These are believed to be the ones mentioned as coming back to life in Matthew:
Matthew 27:52-53
“...many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus...[was brought back to life]...and went into the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people.”
So, after Jesus died, loyal humans who die now go to the third heaven right at death, therefore heaven is now open to human souls.
Is all this true? Is this really what the Bible is saying?
Not exactly, there is a lot of problems with this idea that greatly contradict with the Bible on this subject:
The reason why all humans went to Sheol in the Old Testament?
People who believe this conclude this is the reason all humans were have said to go to Sheol in the Old Testament. But instead of just the actual grave they were buried in, it had a twofold meaning: it also meant both the paradise in hell and (the fiery) hell itself too (Sheol covers everything after death). So, when a human went to Sheol in the Old Testament it really meant two things: their physical bodies not only went to the physical grave, but their souls also went to the spiritual Sheol (either to the main fiery hell if they were evil or to Abraham’s Bosom if they were good).
The problem with this belief:
While at first, this does sound like something that could be happening, there is something very wrong with this belief. This is not how Sheol is described in the Old Testament at all: it’s only described as the physical grave not a spiritual afterlife of punishment or paradise! As for an afterlife as well, the Old Testament does not really say!
Also, as proven in the Hell Contradictions article, there is no real proof there is an actual afterlife Hell underground (because hell, as in the fiery punishment, is always described as a physical futuristic event). So, if Abraham’s bosom is supposed to be in the middle of this fiery afterlife hell underground, how can that be if an afterlife hell does most likely not exist?
Solves all contradictions about heaven in the New Testament?
In the New Testament, this belief fits almost perfectly with Jesus’s statement and other verses concerning heaven therefore it must be true. We will examine some of these solved contradictions with this belief:
Jesus confirms this place is real when he tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man
One of the biggest verses used to prove this doctrine is the story of Lazarus and the rich man, which Jesus tells:
Luke 16:20
“...there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his [the rich man’s] gate,…”
Many who believe in this think Jesus confirms this is what happened to humans at death in the afterlife and since Jesus confirms there is a fiery spiritual hell and a paradise in the afterlife it must be true!
The problem with this:
As said before, this story pretty much either contradicts with every description of hell and heaven or the details in this story are otherwise completely unmentioned in the Bible altogether (despite that there are some parallels to some Biblical details of heaven and hell).
But the biggest problem is the strong proof that this is just a retold pharisee legend and not based off of an actual event (see biblical hell for more details).
It also interesting to note that many people who believe in this doctrine pretty much believe what the ancient pharisees believed about the afterlife:
In Hades (underground somewhere) there is a fiery hell of torture for wicked humans and Abraham’s Bosom for loyal humans.
But People who believe in this doctrine need to also seriously think about three very important facts:
isn't it strange that:
this is the only place in the entire Bible where Abraham's bosom/being comforted by Abraham’s soul is even mentioned (you would think it would be mentioned much more in the Bible and at least in more than one place, considering all loyal human souls go to this place after death).
Every detail in this story fits perfectly with pharisee afterlife beliefs of this time and even fits almost perfectly with a popular story of this time. (Not to mention Pharisees were who Jesus was speaking to in this context.)
And
3.After Jesus told this story, this place is really never mentioned again (even before he died to free these souls from there) and this story is never mentioned or never even quoted by one of his disciples/apostles in the many books they speak in/wrote after Jesus went to heaven ( you would think at least one person would talk about this place; even to use it as a past example of God’s grace for his saints, but there is no direct mention of it at all).
So just because Jesus told a legendary story containing pharisee beliefs in afterlife does not necessarily mean that that he endorses such a place without other Biblical proofs. Therefore, this story alone does not necessarily mean that this actually happens in the afterlife, nor does it make Abraham’s bosom real.
Perfectly explains how the thief on the cross went to paradise that very day with Jesus
Jesus made a promise before dying that the believing thief would be in paradise with him that day, but the thief on the cross did not, nor could not, go to the third heaven with Jesus the very day he died (because Jesus only went to heaven 43 days later). Yet Jesus told him on that very day he died he would be with him on that day in paradise/heaven. So, many who believe this doctrine conclude the paradise Jesus was referring to must have been Abraham’s bosom in Hades, this is further proven because Hades is where Jesus went to when he died. Therefore, even though Jesus’s body was in the grave, his soul went to spiritual Hades and joined the thief’s soul in Abraham’s bosom (paradise) that very day, thus solving this contradiction.
The problem with this:
Though this belief seems to perfectly solve this contradiction, there are a lot of problems with this idea too.
As covered before, there is no evidence that Hades/Sheol is nothing more than the physical grave: this is true for both the Old and New Testament because the description of Sheol does not change from how the Old Testament describes it as. Therefore, if Jesus was said to have gone to Hades (the New Testament version of Sheol) then it means his physical body went to his physical grave (which is exactly what happened after he died his body (which as covered before, is directly connected to a human) was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb:
Mark 15:45-46
“…Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body [From the cross], wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”)
Hades is not described as anything more or anything less than this!
Also, as covered before, there is no evidence that there is even an afterlife hell underground, so there is still the problem of where exactly this Abraham’s bosom is.
Finally, the thief and Jesus were clearly talking about the kingdom of God (kingdom of heaven) NOT about Abraham’s Bosom . Even if this thief knew about Abraham’s Bosom, this was clearly not the subject:
because all Jews of this time believed the kingdom to be a physical future kingdom on earth; the kingdom was never known to be used to refer to Abraham’s bosom.
So, when Jesus said the thief would be with him in paradise, he wasn’t talking about the third heaven or Abraham’s Bosom: he was clearly talking about his future kingdom on Earth!
So, there are a lot of problems with paradise here being Abraham’s Bosom in Hades, but there is still a contradiction here:
what did Jesus mean by ‘today you will be with me in paradise’?
However, as covered before, this can be solved another way: it is simply solved by rightfully moving the comma in front of today to give an entirely different meaning.
Luke 23:43
“Truly, I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.”
You don’t need to say this refers to Abraham’s bosom and say Jesus went there by going to Hades to make this contradiction fixed, moving the comma Biblically (and grammatically) fixes everything much better: it goes from meaning this thief would be in paradise that very day to Jesus promising on that very day that one day he would be in paradise with him.
Jesus went to the depths/heart of the earth indicating he went deep below the earth’s surface
Another common point made by this doctrine to give evidence that Sheol means more than just the physical grave and shows that Jesus’s soul went below the Earth somewhere, are these verses describing Hades (and Jesus soon going there) as deep under the earth’s surface:
Matthew 12:40
"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth."
Ephesians 4:9
“...he [Jesus] had also descended into the lower parts of the earth…”
All these verses describe Jesus as going deep below Earth, if this was just the physical grave where his physical body was buried (which was not even a typical hole in the ground; it was a hole in the side of a hill called a tomb: far from being underground) then this is nowhere descending deep below the Earth’s surface. So how could Jesus descend to the heart/lower parts of the Earth if not by his soul going to a spiritual Hades under the earth?
Not exactly, by saying these verses are referring to Jesus’s soul going to a spiritual Hades somewhere under the earth is putting something into this verse that is just not there, but then we are still left with the problem of what exactly is meant by the heart/lower parts of the earth.
First let’s take a closer look at Jesus’s comment
Matthew 12:40
“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.”
Notice this verse is mostly a parallel Jesus makes to Jonah's situation to what he would experience: so in order to understand what Jesus would go through we need to know what Jonah went through.
Jonah was a prophet that was eaten alive by a large sea creature and stayed alive in its stomach for three days and nights. Notice (as covered before in The Biblical hell) for those three days and nights Jonah said he was deep in the Grave/Sheol:
Jonah 2:1
“From deep in the realm of the dead (Sheol) I called for help,… the earth beneath barred [trapped] me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.”
As covered before, this was not meant to be taken literally; he was not saying he was deep underground, but rather he was going to die deep in the ocean from drowning/being digested, but still, notice the sea creature's stomach being Jonah’s grave, parallels to what would happen to Jesus:
As Jonah was eaten by a sea creature and stayed inside of its stomach (in his grave) for three days and nights before being vomited back up, Jesus would also be “eaten” by the earth and stay in its heart/stomach (his personal grave) for three days and nights!
In other words, it isn't farfetched to say Jesus was not exactly being literal with this statement but was poetically comparing his grave/death to Jonah's experience (much like Jonah was poetically comparing the ocean and sea creature’s stomach to being deep below earth in a grave).
We can then conclude the phrase “The heart of the earth” is very likely just a figure of speech; specifically, it is a poetic way to refer to being in a grave of dirt/dead.
And this is exactly what happened! After Jesus died, his body was taken off the cross and buried in a tomb: a hole in the side of a hill/mountain. Like Jonah, he was “Eaten up” by the Earth by being sealed up in a tomb. Also, like Jonah, he remained in the grave of the heart/stomach of the Earth for three days and nights before being “spit out” of the Earth when he was brought back to life.
This is most likely what Jesus meant, it was not necessarily meant to somehow suggest his soul sunk below his body to a spiritual place at the center of the earth called Hades.
Now what about Paul’s statement?
Ephesians 4:9
“...he [Jesus] had also descended into the lower parts of the earth…”
Let's also take a closer look at this verse
Here is the main context this verse is in:
Ephesians 4:7-10
“...Therefore it is said,
(Paul paraphrasing Psalm 68:18)
‘When he ascended on high…he gave gifts to his people.’
(When it says, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens,…).”
In the context, Paul is comparing the massive contrast of Jesus’s journey:
The same person that rose to the highest heaven is the very same one that went in the exact opposite direction before:
To Earth’s surface and even then, Below it.
Paul points out since this prophetic verse says Jesus ascended up into heaven therefore it stands to reason that he must have first descended from heaven to ascend again: and this seems to be the case since Jesus was originally from God in the third heaven.
(As told by Jesus himself:
John 3 13
“...the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man [Jesus Christ].”
John 8:23
“I am from above (from Heaven)… I am not of this world (not originating from Planet Earth).”
And
John 13:1-3
“…Jesus knew that…he had come from God…”)
He had to come from Heaven to Earth, and since heaven is above Earth, he had to come down from heaven or descend.
But that seems to not be all the descending he did, by using the phrase “the Lower parts of Earth” Paul strongly suggest he went even lower than that: he went below the Earth.
The term “The lower part(s) of the Earth” is basically referring to a lower point than Earth’s surface. It does not necessarily have to be deep underground; and this particular place underground Paul is referring to, is most likely referring to Hades. Those who believe in this doctrine say that Hades is the spiritual Hell/Paradise under the earth but once again there is no solid proof of this, this conclusion is not supported by the rest of the descriptions of Hades: Hades means just means the general area below the Earth where dead humans are usually buried: the physical grave nothing more than that!
This term is poetically used in the Old Testament to describe the grave/death as well (in fact, this term is used in the same chapter of Psalms, Paul was paraphrasing from):
Psalm 63:9
“But those who seek my life to destroy it
will go into the depths of the earth.”
So, these people were supposed to go deep below ground too, but what actually happened is they didn’t even end up getting buried: the rest of the verse tells, these people get killed in battle and their bodies become food for foxes:
Psalm 63:10
“They will fall to the power of the sword [be killed in battle];
they will become a portion(food) for foxes.”
but they did die!
So, this term is also used like Sheol to refer to death in general.
Since Hades can also refer to below the surface of the earth (Because, as covered before in the Biblical hell article, the grave is usually a hole dug in the ground for the dead body then covered up) this seems to be the most likely case for what Paul meant:
Jesus not only descended down to Earth’s surface but at death even went below the Earth by going into a tomb (a place below the earth’s surface)!
It could be said Paul was trying to say this in our modern language:
“When it says, ‘He ascended,’ what else could it mean except that he had to first descend to earth- going even into the earth below.”
These are two main points of this verse:
The first is to show that this prophecy Paul is quoting from was referring to Jesus as the Messiah
The second point was to show the two extremes of Jesus’s journey:
that he went to the lowest depth possible in an earthly perspective: that is below the Earth’s surface only then to go to the highest point possible: the third heaven. Going to these two extremes happened so Jesus could fulfill all prophesies (like this one Paul quotes) about his first coming:
Ephesians 4:10
“He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fulfill all things [about him in prophecy].)”
A Similar point is also made by Paul in Philippians this time comparing the two major extremes of Jesus nature on his Journey: one of first humility, then even less than that in defeat at death, and then finally glory in the highest form (and also notice at the same times Jesus’s nature corresponds with his descending and then ascending as well!).
Philippians 2:5-11
“…He(Jesus)… emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of humanity (he descended to Earth’s surface: he became a humble human). Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (descending even deeper under the Earth’s surface: was defeated in humility in death). For this reason…God highly exalted Him (he ascended from below; he came back to life in a new power by God), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name(He then ascended back to the third heaven: gaining glory and power as a king above all kings: above everything in existence besides God), so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,…and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,…”
So, considering the whole context of the verse and the exact meaning of “The lower parts of the Earth” this does not necessarily mean Jesus’s soul went to the center of the Earth to spiritual Hades, but just means a place lower than the surface of the Earth (which can be proven to be Hades: which is the grave).
So, these verses do not prove that Jesus’s soul went to a spiritual Hades somewhere below the Earth, but rather just prove that Jesus just went to the physical grave: which is exactly what happened. Therefore, these verses aren't sole proof that a paradise exists, and that Jesus’s soul went there after his death.
Bible verses prove Jesus fought Satan in hell/ the afterlife to free the captive saints and get the keys of death
People who believe that Jesus’s soul went to the spiritual Hades also usually believe Jesus fought Satan and his demons to free the captives from Paradise and get the keys to death:
This event can be pieced together by several scattered verses found in the New Testament writings of Paul: seeming to tell things Jesus did that are not recorded in the four main Gospels:
Such as Colossians 2 telling of Jesus fighting Satan and his demons and winning
Colossians 2:15
“ He disarmed the rulers and authorities (Satan and his demons) and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.”
And Hebrew 2 tells us Jesus then took the power of death from the Devil (supposedly by winning this fight in Hell and getting some type of key):
Hebrew 2:14-15
“…through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…”
After this, Jesus came back to life and brought all the souls from paradise with him and he took them back to the third heaven with him (supposedly called the captives here):
Ephesians 4:8
“...This is why it says:
(Paul paraphrasing Psalm 68:18)
‘When he ascended on high,
he took many captives…’ ”
Then he made a public declaration to Satan and his demons of his victory before going back to the third heaven:
1 Peter 3:18-19
“...After being made alive, (but made alive in the spirit, in which also) he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits…”
Now Jesus reigns victorious in the third heaven and now has the keys of death to prove he fought this battle (and Hades/the grave):
Revelation 1:18
“... I hold the keys of death and Hades…”
Does all this prove that Jesus’s soul really did go to Hades to battle Satan (and his demons) for the keys of death and freed the souls of Abraham’s bosom? And does all this directly prove that there is such a place known as Abraham’s bosom?
We will have to closely examine each verse to find out for sure:
Jesus fought with Satan and his Demons?
Colossians 2:15
"He disarmed the rulers and authorities (Satan and his demons) and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it."
This particular verse is supposed to support Jesus having some type of fight with evil rulers and authorities (that would be Satan and his demons).
Let's look at the context to find out for sure
In the original context, Jesus's sacrifice on the cross was being refereed in the greater subject of forgiveness of the owed wadges of sin:
Colossians 2:13-15
“When you were dead in your sins…, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,…”
The first thing to realize is this verse is talking about Jesus’s crucifixion; not his time in Hades, the verse even says this is where Jesus made them a spectacle in triumph:
Colossians 2:15
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
It clearly says here that Jesus won victory over Satan and his demons by being on the cross! Nowhere does it say that Jesus won victory over Satan and his demons in a physical battle in spiritual Hades, but rather won victory by dying on a cross: this is the day that he disarmed their power!
The point of this verse is to show that by Jesus’s blood sacrifice on the cross, he was able to pay the dept and curses brought on by sinning. And through paying for those curses from breaking God’s rules, he also took the power of those curses away from Satan and his demons.
Therefore, this verse in its context is not talking about a secret fight with Satan and Jesus in a spiritual hell it simply does not mention it. It's just saying that Jesus defeated the power that Satan had over humans through God’s law through his sacrifice. Therefore, there is no proof that Jesus fought a battle with Satan in a spiritual hell.
Jesus won the keys of Death from Satan?
Hebrews 2:14-15
“…through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…”
This particular verse is supposed to support that Jesus won the keys to death from Satan after a fight, is this what the verse is really saying? How exactly did he destroy the power of Death that Satan had?
Hebrews 2:14-17
“Since the children [God’s people Israelites] have flesh and blood [are physical human beings], he [God] too shared in their humanity (God became a human: that is Jesus) so that by his death (by his sacrifice on the cross) he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—…For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them,(become human like the Isrealites were) fully human in every way,…”
This verse talks absolutely nothing about winning keys to death from Satan through a physical war, but rather it just says God had to become a human in order to die as a sacrifice for his people, and through this sacrifice of God as a human he would break the power hold Satan had on human death through the punishment of sin (because for sin the wadge is death
Romans 6:23
“…the wages of sin is death” )
So, Jesus does have power over death because he paid the price for sin, but not because he fought a war in hell (the text nowhere says this or even suggests it!) but rather because he gave his life up on a cross in order to pay the dept of sin which is death. Therefore, this verse is not proof that Jesus got keys from Satan in a battle.
So, if this is not proof that Jesus got keys from Hades then why does Jesus say he holds the keys of death and Hades:
Revelation 1:18
“... I hold the keys of death and Hades…”
If Jesus didn’t have these keys, then why did he say this?
Why, at first, it may seem be the case that Jesus had gotten the keys of death and Hades from Satan. Especially, since he says he has them here, but before we come to a conclusion, we need to understand some things:
In the main context, this is what Jesus said to John in a vision describing himself:
Revelation 1:17-18
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’”
Jesus was describing his power and identity to John and this is one of the things he mentions about himself: he had the keys to death and Hades, meaning that he had the power over death and the grave (another word for death). And from other verses this is 100% true: Jesus has total power over everything in existence:
Matthew 28:18
“Then Jesus…said, ‘All authority (power) in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’ ”
Ephesians 1:20-21
“...Christ…[God]…seated him at his right hand (that means he was ruling with him) in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,..."
Philippians 3:20-21
“..the Lord Jesus Christ…the power that enables him to bring everything under his control…”
He especially has power over life and death:
John 11:25
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am…the life. The one who believes in me will live,…’”
Even death/the grave in bringing someone back to life after they had died:
John 11:43-44
“…Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out,…”)
These keys represented Jesus’s complete control over death/the grave by his power (he could bring people back to life if he wanted) but does this also mean that he actually had physical keys taken from Satan why he was in hell?
Not Exactly, the Book of Revelation is a book full of symbolism: That is, not everything that is described or seen by John is not actually physically there: it's just a mental image seen to symbolize/represent something that is real. In the same chapter Jesus is said to also have seven shinning stars in his hand with a shard sword sticking out of his mouth being surrounded by seven candles:
Revelation 1:12-16
“...I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, (Jesus)…In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.”
But since John saw this does this mean Jesus literally has a sword coming out of his mouth, holding seven literal stars in his hand with seven literal candlesticks? No this does not mean that at all in fact Jesus even says the stars and candlesticks are just symbols:
Revelation 1:20
“The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (seven churches in Turkey talked about earlier), and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
So, at least the stars and candlesticks were not necessarily real but were rather just spiritual symbolism to represent real messengers and churches in Turkey at the time.
And even though the sword coming out of Jesus mouth is not mentioned as representing anything later its strongly hinted in the rest of this book to be Jesus’s power by his voice to defeat his enemies:
Revelation 19:15
“Coming out of his [Jesus’s] mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations:
(Referencing Psalm 2:9)
‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’”
Revelation 19:21
“The rest (rebellious humans) were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse,…”
So, we can’t necessarily say that Jesus had literal keys taken from Satan and even with all this symbolism notice there is not mention by John of real literal keys Jesus showed him when saying this so we cannot conclude that Jesus got literal keys from Satan in a fight in hell there is absolutely nothing in this text to support that.
The keys of the kingdom?
Notice a similar thing happened in Matthew 16: Jesus gave Peter the keys to his kingdom.
Matthew 16:19
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
So did Jesus pull out some keys from his pocket and give them to Peter? most likely not, nothing like this is mentioned in the verse. But Jesus did give Peter authority/power to heal and pray for people (his power of the kingdom) just like Jesus did!
So, we can pretty much conclude that Keys in the Bible (especially New Testament) represent power and authority over something:
Keys=power/authority
But notice Jesus had this power and authority over death even before he was crucified:
John 11:25
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am…the life. The one who believes in me will live,…’”
Even death/the grave in bringing someone back to life after they had died:
John 11:43-44
“…Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out,…”
This strongly shows he had always had power over death but other verses (the ones that are covered above) at the same time reveal that he did win a battle because of his death, but it was not won in a battle in spiritual hell it was won by his sacrifice on a cross!
Colossians 2:13-15
“...Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,…”
Hebrews 2:14-17
“… so that by his (Jesus’s) death (by his sacrifice on the cross) he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil…”
This victory on the cross was a complete and total victory over all human death by paying the penalty for sin, which is death, so that humans who believe in him could be free from that penalty!
So therefore, these verses about Jesus having the keys to death/the grave do not prove in any way that Jesus actually got physical keys from Satan in a fight in spiritual Hell underground, but rather just say Jesus won victory by his holy sacrifice for human sin and through this he now legally has total control over death/the grave!
Therefore, this does not prove Jesus’s soul went to a spiritual hell.
Jesus freed the souls in paradise, and they came back to Earth and wander around
Speaking of Jesus being brought back to life, something similar happened at this time to other loyal humans: this strange case is found in Matthew; where dead saints came back to life after Jesus’s death/or bringing back to life and went into Jerusalem:
Matthew 27:52-53
“...many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’…[came back to life]…and went into the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many people.”
Speaking of Jesus being brought back to life, something similar happened at this time to other loyal humans: this strange case is found in Matthew; where dead saints came back to life after Jesus’s death and went into Jerusalem:
Matthew 27:52-53
“...many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus...[came back to life]…and went into the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many people.”
Some say these dead saints who came back to life were all the loyal human souls from paradise Jesus brought back with him to Earth to wander around and show people that they were alive and tell people the Gospel. If this is true, then this means all loyal humans of the ancient past (including famous saints from the Old Testament such as Elijah and Moses) were brought back from Hell. This means all of them must have gone to heaven with Jesus. Is all this true and what this verse means? And does this mean that this is proof that there is such thing as paradise and proof Jesus got all these souls out of paradise?
The first thing to notice is that this is not a vision (like the transfiguration was) it is an actual even that is happening. So, we can’t say this is a future vision of some sort, these people are actually coming to life at this time!
However, this does mean that these people are souls from Paradise, notice it was not their souls that were brought back from paradise/somewhere else, it was their entire body that was brought back to life in the tomb that they were buried in!
Matthew 27:52
“...The bodies (not Souls/spirits) of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”
That is most likely why the tomb doors busted open before they were raised back to life:
Matthew 27:51-52
“...The earth shook (Earthquake)…and the tombs broke open.”
This was so they could get out of their tombs once their dead bodies inside the tombs were brought back to life:
If they were just souls/ghosts straight from Paradise this would not necessarily be a problem (since souls/ghosts seem to be able to walk through solid objects), but this seems to not be the case:
Their physical bodies had to have an exit from the tombs, so this strongly hints they were brought back to life in their same physical bodies they died in: not as incorporeal souls/spirits of some sort!
Okay, so these people were physically brought back to life in their bodies within the graves they were buried in, but surely that just means that their souls just entered into their bodies when returning and like Jesus they were physically reunited, and their bodies restored to life again.
Why this might seem like a logical explanation the verse simply does not say, it just says they were dead and at this time they were brought back to life, it does not say what their souls were doing before this time. So, we don’t have enough information/evidence to come to that conclusion.
We also have some problems with these people being all loyal humans' souls throughout history being brought back to life:
First of all, these people mentioned here, are really described as coming back to life around the city of Jerusalem (Judah) where the earthquake was happening. Now if this was truly describing all the loyal human souls ever to exists coming back to life from paradise, then how is that possible if this is only really taking place around Jerusalem or at most Judea/surrounding countries? While there might have been many loyal humans buried in Judea there most likely were many many more loyal humans buried far away from Judah (such as Moses whose body was buried somewhere in a neighboring nation called Moab or Elijah who [as cover earlier in Heaven contradictions] went to another unknown location on Earth seeming to be far away from his original homeland in Northern Israel: which is still not even around Jerusalem).
So, if it’s true that all loyal humans came back to physical life right where they were originally buried then this would mean dead humans would be popping up all over the middle east, even all over the world!
While we can also say that this would not be a problem for God/Jesus who could have supernaturally open up graves of loyal humans all over the world, even if the Earthquake would not have been felt all the way in Judea. The next part of the verse presents a big problem to all this:
All these people then when into the city of Jerusalem:
Matthew 27:52-53
“...many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus …[came back to life]…and went into the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many people.”
If God did miraculously bring all human souls back to physical life, then as soon as they left their graves, there had to be a mass migration from all parts of the world to this one little city, and they had to be there in less than 43 days.
If this happened, Jerusalem would most likely be loaded with people from all different cultures and races they might have never even heard of: Jerusalem would be overrun! But there is no record at this time of such a major event, nor is their any mention of this in this verse or any New Testament verse from this point on.
Also, it would not even be possible (without supernatural help, at least) for all people around the world to get to Jerusalem in about a month. If someone had come to life in North America at this time, they would have to get in a boat and sail all the way to the other side of Earth to get to Jerusalem! During this time, with even the most advanced boats, it would have most likely taken up to a year or more to get here!
So, there are a lot of problems with this being all loyal humans to ever even exists, but the problems don’t stop there:
Not all the loyal humans buried in or around Jerusalem did not come back to life:
All loyal humans coming back to life is not possible, even for those loyal humans who were buried in Jerusalem:
This can be known because one of these loyal humans of the Old Testament (that would have definitely been one of the loyal souls brought back from paradise to physical life) is clearly said to still no have been brought back to life from the grave:
And that loyal human is King David
If king David was one of these humans brought back to life it would have almost definitely been mentioned (especially since he would have appeared to someone in Jerusalem before going to heaven only a month earlier). But Peter does not say this about King David, in fact he says the exact opposite:
King David is still in his grave in Jerusalem, like he had been for over 1,000 years at this time!
Acts 2:29
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.”
Notice he does not say “oh, but he came out of his grave by the power of God as he showed some of you.” no, it does not say that here. In fact, the rest of the speech Peter makes here compares David’s death to Jesus’s death as complete opposites: unlike Jesus, he did not come back to life and go to heaven!
So therefore, we can conclude not all the loyal human souls came back to life in their physical bodes (Even if their grave was in Jerusalem): some of them never came back to physical life! So therefore, this is not proof that these people who were dead were all the souls from paradise brought to Earth, they were just some loyal humans near Jerusalem who God chose to bring back to life as Jesus was brought back to life.
Jesus took those souls with him to heaven?
Ephesians 4:8
“...This is why it says:
(Paul paraphrasing Psalm 68:18)
‘When he ascended on high,
he took many captives…’ ”
Many say these captives from this prophecy are referring to the loyal souls in Paradise that Jesus freed and took back to heaven with him. is this true? And does this prove that a paradise in hell exists? Let’s examine this verse to see:
We see in this verse, Paul does not really discuss much about these captives, he is more focused on Jesus's ascension and his receiving/giving of gifts, but the context of the rest of the verse might give the answers:
Since this prophecy from Psalms is identified as a prophecy of Jesus concerning his victory over death and rising to heaven and the aftereffects of this (one of these aftereffects is discussed in detail in Ephesians as his giving of gifts being Jesus’s gift of the holy spirit/the gifts that came with receiving it to his people:
Ephesians 4:7-12
“…each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
(Paul paraphrasing Psalm 68:18)
‘When he ascended on high,
He…gave gifts to his people.’
So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers (talents from the holy spirit), to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…”
So according to what we know in the New Testament, what did Jesus capture and make his slave while ascending up into Heaven?
Slaves (captives) in the New Testament
Jesus identifies the slaves (basically the same meaning as captives) while talking to a group of Jews:
John 8:34
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’”
So Jesus really identifies the slaves (captives) here; the captives are human sinners in bondage to sin! And Jesus then goes on to say that he(taking about himself in the third person as ‘the son’) would free them:
John 8:35-36
“…Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
And Jesus did eventually set these captives free by his sacrifice! And now God’s people seem to be those prophesied captives (slaves) that have been set free:
Galatians 5:1
“... Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Romans 6:20-23
“…you were slaves to sin,…But now…you have been set free from sin…”
And now they are Jesus’s slaves(captives)!
1 Corinthians 6:20-23
“the person who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, the person… is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price (like a slave);…”
Romans 6:22
“...But now you…have become slaves of God,…”
So, when Paul quotes this prophecy in context, he is not referring to souls taken from paradise and taken to heaven by Jesus, he is talking about sinful human beings under the power of sin being saved by his sacrifice and thus being freed (but, at the same time, being bought to be his slaves).
So, this verse is not proof that Jesus freed souls from paradise (or even went to paradise) and took them back to heaven and thus there are humans now in heaven.
Jesus preached in Hell to human Souls/Demons?
1 Peter 3:19
“…he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits…”
This is said to mean While Jesus was in hell he made a triumphing proclamation to Satan, demons, and possibly evil human’s souls in hell there over his victory, is this what this verse is really saying?
Once again let's take a closer look at this verse to find out for sure:
Notice Jesus only did this proclamation AFTER he came back to life:
1 Peter 3:18-19
“...He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—…”
So, he could not have done this BEFORE being brought back to life while dead/in Hades, this is chronological account of Jesus it was only after he came back to life that he did this!
Okay, so after he came back to life, he went to Hell to proclaim this to these spirits?
Well, the verse does not say that either: it nowhere mentions he made a special trip to hell, nor does it say these spirits were in a spiritual hell it just says these spirits were in a type of prison and were the same ones disobedient when Noah was building the ark (before the flood):
1 Peter 3:19-20
“After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built (before the flood).”
So, who exactly are these spirits? Are they evil human souls in hell since before the flood of Noah or something else?
Why Peter here does not necessarily say who these spirits are Peter in his other book (2 Peter) identifies some rebellious spirits that have been imprisoned (if you have read the article Biblical Hell this should sound familiar):
2 Peter 2: 4
“...God did not spare angels (which are spirits) when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[Tartarus] putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;…”
So, Peter here seems to identify the rebellious imprisoned spirits he talked about in 1 Peter: They're not evil human souls in a spiritual hell, but rather rebellious Angelic spirits trapped in a place called Tartarus (which, as covered in Biblical Hell article, is NOT the same as the fiery Hell humans go to!).
So whatever Jesus might have proclaimed to these spirits in prison two things we can be sure of:
1.This did not happen before Jesus came back to life, so he could not have done this during his death as a soul in spiritual Hell.
2.When it did happen it was not to preach to human souls in hell or human souls of any kind, it was to show victory over rebellious Angelic (non-human) spirits seeming to be in a place called Tartarus (not spiritual hell).
So, this last verse is not proof that Jesus's soul went to a spiritual Hell in victory after his death nor is it proof that he went to a spiritual hell after he physically came back to life either.
So, in conclusion, all the verses commonly used as proof that Jesus’s soul went to a spiritual hell to fight a battle with Satan and his demons for the keys to death/the grave and freed the souls in paradise taking them first to Earth then to the third heaven can all be proven to be refereeing to something else mentioned in other verses in the bible. In this way, these verses completely agree with the four gospels:
That Jesus was killed on the cross as a sacrifice to save humanity and won at his death, then he was buried in a tomb and stayed there for three days before coming back to life in victory and returning back to heaven. The Gospel accounts say absolutely nothing about what Jesus’s soul did while he was dead! (And neither does any other verses in the New Testament!) So, therefore, there is no real proof that Jesus’s soul went to hell and did all this and therefore no proof that a spiritual hell even exists.
So, all these verses above used to support this doctrine of a paradise in hell can all really be proven to mean something else, but now we will look at other verses that completely go against this doctrine and even completely contradict it!
The 12 disciples could not come to heaven with Jesus
Remember, right before Jesus was to be killed, the time was getting close to his return to heaven, so he said this to all the disciples:
John 13:13
“...Where I am going (that is, to the third heaven), you cannot come.”
Of course, Jesus might have meant that they could not go with him physically (why they were still alive) to heaven (and this is true; they did not get taken up with Jesus to heaven) But then again, if this is what he meant ,then why didn’t Jesus just say: “ you cannot go where I’m going why you are alive, but when you die you will join me there.” why just say “where I am going you cannot come”? like it’s a permanent thing?
Well, that could be because they really did not get to go to the third heaven, even after they died! This can be proven by what Jesus said next: he was going away (to heaven) to prepare a place for them and when he was done, he would come back (to Earth) to get them and then take them to this place!
John 14:2-3
“…I am going there [to heaven] to prepare a place for you… I will come back (to earth) and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
So, he went away went to heaven, but he has not yet come back to Earth to get his disciples (his second coming)! So therefore, we can conclude since Jesus has not yet returned to Earth his disciples have not yet been brought to heaven to be with him: therefore, they are still not in heaven, they are still on Earth because Jesus has to come back and get them!
So, according to this belief, they definitely would go to heaven after death, especially since Jesus had paid the price and all those souls were allowed to go to heaven now. But according to Jesus himself they clearly cannot still go, even when they die!
King David is still not risen to the third Heaven
Also, by all this logic, King David (who died somewhere around 1000 B.C.) would be one of those loyal saints that went to Abraham’s Bosom before Jesus was born. However, he should also have been freed around 31 A.D. by Jesus’s death and then ascended to the third heaven with all the other saints. Therefore, following this logic, King David should now be in the third heaven after 31 A.D. does the Bible say this?
Peter speaking about the present state of king David AFTER 31 A.D.: that is after Jesus went to Heaven, clearly says he is NOT ASSENDED UP into the third heaven where Jesus is:
Acts 2:34
“For David (himself, compared to Jesus) is not ascended into the heavens (gone through the first two to get to the third)…”
So, what is happening here with all these contradictions that seem to have no answer? Can we conclude that King David decided to stay behind in paradise and then the disciple’s souls at death were sent by God to join him? Or the more likely explanation that none of these events really never happen and there is no such thing as Abraham’s Bosom/a paradise in Hell like there is no true proof that there is even an actual afterlife hell?
In conclusion of all this, there is no solid Biblical proof that there is a paradise in Hell (or even an actual afterlife hell) But there is very strong proof that this is just a Pharisee myth about the afterlife that Jesus happened to used to retell their legend to them. People who believe in this doctrine are really just believing in an old pharisee myth about the afterlife with a Christian twist, the Bible, as a whole, does nowhere support a paradise in hell.
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