Descendit ad [in] inferna : "A matter of no small moment in bringing about redemption"

This article endorses Calvin’s conviction that the ‘descendit ad inferna’ of the Apostles’ Creed is part of the ‘summary of doctrine‘ and a matter of ‘no small moment in bringing about redemption‘ (Calvin 1960:Inst. II, xvi, 8). The reason for this role, however, is not Calvin’s metaphorical interpr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Buitendag, Johan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2009
In: HTS teologiese studies
Year: 2009, Volume: 65, Issue: 1
Further subjects:B Space and time
B Descensus
B John Calvin
B Apostolicum
B Hermeneutics
B Hell
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Summary:This article endorses Calvin’s conviction that the ‘descendit ad inferna’ of the Apostles’ Creed is part of the ‘summary of doctrine‘ and a matter of ‘no small moment in bringing about redemption‘ (Calvin 1960:Inst. II, xvi, 8). The reason for this role, however, is not Calvin’s metaphorical interpretation of the clause. Instead, the author tries to argue that a scientific theological approach will maintain the clause because of its transcendence of finitude and the proclamation of Christ’s victory. The whole of creation is delivered from sin. Proper hermeneutics will take the original socio–historical environment into account and make one suspicious about certain ecclesiastical biases. Spatial terms in the Creed should therefore not be demythologised, but rather be transformed in accordance with the insights of the contemporary physics of time and space.
ISSN:2072-8050
Contains:Enthalten in: HTS teologiese studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.4102/hts.v65i1.273