Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2026 · 69th Convention, Phoenix › Page 343
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 343

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
(J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, Third Ed. [London:
Longman Group, 1972], 102–3) furthermore, when this phrase is
found in later Greek versions of the Creed more than 300 years later,
the phrase in question states that Jesus descended into “Hades,”
which means to the dead or the grave, and not to a place of
punishment (i.e. Gehenna, Tartarus, Apollyon, or the abyss); and
WHEREAS, The first appearance of this phrase is in only one of
the two Latin versions of the Apostles’ Creed from Rufinus, circa
A.D. 390, where it was written as “descendit ad inferos,” which
meant that Jesus “descended to those below,” but the phrase does
not show up again until A.D. 650, when it became the official
version of the Apostles’ Creed adopted by the Roman Catholic
Church at the Council of Trent; and
WHEREAS, The Greek translations today have this phrase as
“κατελθόντα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα,” which translated means “descended
to the lower ones,” again consistent with Psalm 16:10 (Sheol) and
Acts 2:27, 31 (Hades), that Christ Jesus after dying on the cross was
in the realm of the dead until raised back to life on resurrection
Sunday; and
WHEREAS, Somewhere along the way the original Latin word
inferos, (meaning lower) referring to those below, the dead ones in
Sheol/Hades, became infernos, from which we get our English word
inferno (meaning a fire), which came to be used for our modern
word and understanding of hell; and
WHEREAS, Paul in 1 Cor. 15:3–4 states: “For what I received I
passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures,” thus highlighting those
things that we should be confessing in our Creed concerning
Christ’s death, that He was “crucified, died, and was buried” and
that “the third day He rose again from the dead,” with no mention
of any descent into hell; and
WHEREAS, It is clear from the original insertion of this phrase
into the Apostles’ Creed that it was not meant to represent Christ’s
post-resurrection visit to preach to the spirits in prison referenced in
1 Peter 3:19, but rather, it seems to have been inserted to show the
genuine and complete deadness of Jesus, which is taught and
supported throughout the Scriptures, thus making the power of
Christ Jesus over death that much more significant and His
identification with and participation in the human condition that
much more real, since He really was dead; and
WHEREAS, The original Greek and Latin versions of the “descent
into hell” phrase all referred to the realm of the dead and not a place
of suffering, thus it is placed between Jesus’ burial and His
resurrection, which then also means that it belongs as part of Christ's
state of humiliation and not exaltation; and
WHEREAS, Our modern word hell simply does not reflect the
original intent of the state of Christ Jesus between His burial and
His resurrection; and
WHEREAS, A creed is a statement of belief, and as such our
Christian creeds should only contain those things which are clear
and explicit in the Scriptures, and which are necessary to our faith
and confession; and
WHEREAS, There is no clear word in the Scriptures that states that
Jesus descended to a place that corresponds with our modern
understanding of hell at any point in His life, death, or after His
resurrection; and

343

WHEREAS, This non-biblical addition to the Apostles’ Creed
does not add clarity to the essence of our faith and confession, but
rather serves to compel the confessor to confess something which is
not clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures, and which adds no value
to the Creed nor to our theology; and
WHEREAS, Some of the other Christian church bodies who
confess the Apostles’ Creed have translated this phrase as “He
descended to the dead,” (including but not exclusive to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal
Church) which is consistent with the origin of this phrase and with
the placement of this phrase before Christ’s resurrection on the third
day, or have left the phrase “descended into hell” out of the creed
entirely, which is consistent with the Old Roman Creed; therefore
be it
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in
convention commend this resolution to the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) for further study; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Synod encourage all of its rostered pastors to
study the history and addition of the phrase “He descended into
hell” into the Apostles’ Creed since it wasn’t part of the old Roman
Creed from which the Apostles’ Creed was developed, nor did this
phrase reference a descent of Christ into a place of suffering in any
of the early translations or understandings when it was first added
to the Creed; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod encourage all of the rostered pastors of
the Synod to educate their people as to the non-biblical nature of the
phrase “descended into hell” in the Apostles’ Creed, and that the
Synod allows pastors after educating their congregations to change
the word hell to Hades in the Creed to reflect the original word as
drawn from the Holy Scriptures (Acts 2:27, 31), or to change hell
to “the realm of the dead,” to reflect the original phrase in the
Apostles’ Creed, and thus to remain in agreement with the biblical
references and teaching concerning the state/place of Jesus
following His burial but before His resurrection; and be it finally
Resolved, That if the CTCR finds the rationale of this overture to
be true, that the Synod would have the courage and the integrity to
return the Apostles’ Creed to its original form, either without a
reference to Christ’s descent into hell altogether, or to change its
form back to the way it was when it was first introduced to the
Creed, being that after Christ Jesus died and was buried He
“descended to Hades,” or that He “descended to the realm of the
dead.”
Christ
Austin, TX
Ov. 5-12

To Review Practice of Divine Call
in Synod Constitution and Bylaws
WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Office of the
Holy Ministry in Matt. 28:18–20 and John 20:21–23, and our
Lutheran Confessions teach us, and we are bound to the doctrine
that the ministerium docendi evangelii et porrigendi sacramenta,
“the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the
Sacraments” (AC V 1), is a divinely instituted office, which should
never be confused with human offices and positions; and
WHEREAS, The Synod’s theology teaches us that, in its practice,
the church may transfer an ordained minister to another post only
2026 Convention Workbook