For Christ also hath... suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18-20)
The questions we shall try to answer here are: Who, or what, are the spirits in prison? When did Christ preach to them?
It is always helpful to consider the context of difficult scriptures. Here it is quite impossible to understand the passage without studying the verses preceding it. We recommend, in fact, the reading of the whole of the first epistle — here and now.
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Author: Peter Watkins
Keywords: Spirits in prison, Hell, Hades, Soul, Spirit, Preaching to the dead, Preached to the dead, Souls in prison, Dead people, Preaching to spirits, Preaching to souls, Preached to spirits, Jesus preached to the dead, Jesus preached to the spirits, The Flood, Days of Noah, Immortal soul, Immortal spirit
Bible reference(s): 1 Peter 3:18-20, 1 Peter 4:6
Source: Some Difficult Passages, Book 1 (CIL).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.