"THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER"
Peter's Perplexing Passage (3:18-20)
For the sake of brevity we will break this lesson into two parts. Now let's begin our lesson. In 2 Pe 3:15-16, Peter mentions that Paul wrote some things that were hard to understand. The same could be said about some of Peter's own writings, especially the passage in 1 Pe 3:18-20 “Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:”
Considered by some to be one of the most difficult passages in the Bible, various and sometimes fanciful interpretations have been given. In a lesson designed to inform rather than exhort, we shall examine several of the interpretations that have been offered and suggest which one seems to be the right one (to me, at least). We shall examine five interpretations, in the chronological sequence in which they have been offered.
The view of Clement of Alexandria (200 A.D.). The basic elements of Clement's is that Christ went to hell in His spirit BETWEEN His death and His resurrection. That He proclaimed the message of salvation to the souls of sinners imprisoned there since the flood.
Major difficulties with this view would suggest that for some reason these souls were given a "second chance". Whereas the Bible consistently teaches against such an idea.... "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" - He 9:27. Peter himself later wrote that the wicked souls before the flood were being "reserved... under punishment for the day of judgment" - 2 Pe 2:4-5, 9. Why would people before the flood be given a second chance when those after the flood are not?
The view of Augustine (400 A.D.). The basic elements of Augustine's view is that the "pre-existent" Christ in His spirit proclaimed salvation through Noah to the people who lived before the flood. We know that Noah was "a preacher of righteousness" in his day - 2 Pe 2:5. We know that the Spirit of Christ was at work in O.T. prophets - 1 Pe 1:10-11. This view is held by many brethren today.
The major difficulties with this view is that the wording of Peter would more naturally suggest that he is speaking of the Christ who was "put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit". In other words, the "crucified & resurrected" Christ, not the "pre-incarnate" Christ. Also, the wording would more naturally suggest the preaching occurred to the spirits "in prison", not before they were imprisoned when they "formerly were disobedient", not during their disobedience. Augustine's view dominated the theological scene for centuries, but then other views were presented.
The view of Cardinal Bellarmine (1600 A.D.) is that in His spirit Christ went to release the souls of the RIGHTEOUS who repented before the flood and had been kept in "LIMBO". In Catholic theology, "limbo" is the place between heaven and hell, where the souls of the O.T. saints were kept.
The major difficulties with this view is that the Bible is silent about a place such as "limbo". The "spirits" under discussion by Peter were "disobedient" in "the days of Noah" according to Ge 6:5-13; 7:1, only Noah and his family were righteous. If others had repented, would they not also have been on the ark? In other words, there were none righteous before the flood save Noah and his family!
The view of Friedrich Spitta (1900 A.D.) is that after His death and BEFORE His resurrection, Christ preached to "fallen angels", also known as "sons of God", who during Noah's time had married "daughters of men". This view is based upon a particular interpretation of Ge 6:1-4“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose. And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown....”. Job 1:6“Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.”; 2:1“Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah.”is offered as evidence that angels are sometimes referred to as "sons of God". Jude 6“And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”, also, is offered as referring to "fallen angels"in the days of Noah because it sounds very similar to references in a book called I Enoch. I Enoch expounds in detail the idea that the "sons of God"in Ge 6 were "fallen angels". Jude seems to quote directly from this book in Ju 14“And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,”, 15“to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” , a Jewish historian born in 37 A.D., took a similar view of Ge 6. This view is held by many Protestant scholars.
For the purpose of brevity we will look at the difficulties of this view when we continue this lesson in Part 2. We will also look at a view that is in beautiful harmony with Peter's wording and context...
