Better Bible Study: ‘The Spirits in Prison’

By Neil Earle

The General Epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude – as inspiring and inspired as they are – sometimes throw up a few “spiritual potholes” when we read their helpful messages in the English language.

Some sections can indeed be a quagmire for impulsive “quick-study” Bible students. Especially is this true in the age of the Internet and Twitter where opinions and clashing interpretations flash by at the click of a cursor. In some ways our church has always known this. It’s been a while since we reviewed the sound principles of Bible Study. This series on the Holy Spirit across the whole Bible gives us a chance to stop and reflect on the subject. Let’s pause and consider better approaches to the Christian’s chart and compass, the 66 books we call the Bible.

Bible writers using words like Tartarus to convey a darkened spiritual condition (2 Peter 2:4) set forth another reason to approach certain scriptures carefully.

One good “travel advisory” as we set out is to remember the warning that no scripture is of any private interpretation. That’s in 2 Peter 1:19-20 and I do see people getting tripped up on this in our free-wheeling “anything goes” culture. As we have always taught from the Book of Proverbs, a multitude of counselors leads to safety and it’s very ill-advised to be out there on our own making up our own stuff and ending up in the swamp grass as a result.

Some red herrings

One good example of where we need the help of textual students and manuscript experts is in these General Epistle. We know from church history and the work of text critics that a too zealous Trinitarian inserted the red herring of 1 John 5:7 as read in the King James Version. It reads: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.”

This is the famous “Johannine Comma” added only when the scholar Erasmus said if anyone can find this in a MSS he would insert them into his first Greek printed New Testament around 1516. One such text was found and Erasmus was obliged to insert this but…in the words of Thomas Johnson, “None of the best manuscripts of John include these words. All modern translations omit them or note that they are not original” (New International Biblical Commentary, 1, 2 and 3 John, page 127)

This introduces yet another cornerstone principle of good Bible study: use different translations. There is no perfect translation, no, not even the KJV. This hits home with the notably obscure passage in James 4:5 which the KJV has as ”Do you think that the scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusteth to envy?”

Again, another principle adheres – what is the context of the passage or of the thought being advanced? James 4 begins discussing worldliness and the bad effects of Christian’s being too close to the worldly spirit. Thus it makes sense to read this verse the way many translations now do, following the English Standard Version: “Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, He yearns jealously over the spirit he has made to dwell in us?”

James 4:5 is tricky but the above seems to be the best explanation in context. James 4:5 is a good example of using different translations. Any version that was checked over by such noted scholars as James Packer should have our respect.

“The Harrowing of Hell”

Finally, we come to a more complicated passage, the “spirits in prison” reference in 1 Peter 3:19. From this text comes the teaching on the “harrowing of hell” where, associating with it the “the Gospel being preached to the dead” language of 1 Peter 4:6, it is claimed that Jesus did a post-mortem invasion of the afterlife and released the saints of old, taking Abraham and David and others with him to heaven, leading “captivity captive” (Ps. 68:18; Ephesians 3:8).

By the way, this is the official teaching of the Greek Orthodox Church. The excellent Greek expositor William Barclay uses it as well to support his universalist (all will ultimately be saved) stance.

However, let’s hear the counsel of the whole church, in which Christ has placed pastors and teachers.

Wayne Grudem in the Tyndale Commentary and Edwin Blum in the Expositors Bible Commentary both approach this passage differently, though both are very careful in their explanations. Seasoned Bible students realize that “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

In this case it is good to once again get the context. It’s good to read the whole section to see where 1 Peter 3:17-22 is leading. When we see what the main point is – where it leads we can judge the relative weight given to the more obscure reference. Peter’s real point is that just as Noah, the preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), was saved by water, so Christians are saved by the water of Baptism (v. 21). That’s the key idea.

Grudem adds that the enigmatic “made alive in the Spirit” (v. 17) also fits in with Peter’s overall theme from the beginning of his letter, advising Christians to look to the heavenly realms and beyond present-day persecution (Peter 1:4). “The realm controlled by the Spirit,” says Grudem, is clearly in view. By the Spirit, he claims, human beings such as Noah preached righteousness, as we have already read (2 Peter 1:21).

Were these spirits fallen angels in confinement? No, says Grudem. Yes, says Blum. Grudem adds that Hebrews 2:16 says Jesus does not come to the aid of angels though Paul said we shall judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:2). But judging is not the same as leading entities to repentance and salvation – at least not always. This is why David Wheaton in the New Bible Commentary adds soberly: “No view is without problems.”

Most felt the Book beat the Movie.

In the Days of Noah

Some nefarious things were going on before the Flood that involved “spirits in prison.” Are these the same as the spirits that were confined to the prison-house alluded to in 2 Peter 2:4 where the hell here is Tartaroo or a "place of restraint," mentioned only once in the Scriptures? Tartarus in Greek mythology is the place where the vilest souls were kept or the ruler of the dead. Peter borrows this word picture to show we do not have to fear the spirit world. But they can make life difficult for people who become so vile that they open themselves up to demonic influence (Luke 11:24-25). If this is what is meant then that may explain a little better how vile villains before the flood could be under the influence of evil spirit beings.

This, in effect, harmonizes Grudem and Blum but it is not a point this writer or most Bible teachers would care to press. One reason the Spirit is described as leading God’s people into all truth is because we clearly do not know everything yet. No surprise!

By the way, our well-stocked headquarters church web site gci.org is silent on this text and perhaps for good reason. In essence, the daring idea that Jesus preached to rebellious angels AND/OR Old Testament believers in some form of after-death evangelism – intriguing as it is – would be a major diversion away from Peter’s main point. That is: Noah preached by the Spirit, so must we and not be deterred by our adversaries (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Noah was saved by water and we are saved by the waters of baptism. Commentators know that the whole point of the Flood story is God’s reaching out to save those who turned to him in righteousness. That is a cardinal lesson we are meant to take away from this challenging passage, that and how careful and humble we must be when approaching a Book such as the Holy Bible.