1 Peter 4:6

Context

1 Peter is a letter addressed to Christians scattered throughout various regions of Asia Minor. The letter identifies its author as the apostle Peter (1 Peter 1:1). In 4:1–5, the author observes that when believers no longer join in their former dissolute way of life, their Gentile neighbors think it strange and speak evil of them. He adds that these neighbors will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead (4:5). Verse 6 takes up the word "dead" from the preceding verse and explains the purpose for which the gospel was preached also to the dead. Together with the passage on "the spirits in prison" in 3:19–20, this verse is regarded as one of the most difficult passages in 1 Peter.

Interpretations

• Believers who heard the gospel in life and then died: Many evangelical commentators follow this interpretation. It understands "the dead" as believers who heard and believed the gospel while they were alive but have since died. Though they underwent death in the flesh like everyone else, they are alive in the spirit before God, and the verse is therefore a word of comfort. Proponents point to the past tense of "was preached" and to the fact that "the dead" in verse 5 refers to people who have literally died.
• A reading connected with Christ's descent into hell: The descent into hell is the confession that after his death Christ went down to the realm of the dead (Hades, or the underworld). Some of the early church fathers and the Catholic Church connect this verse, together with 3:19, to that event. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also cites this verse in its explanation of Christ's descent into the realm of the dead.
• The spiritually dead: This interpretation takes "the dead" to mean people who are dead in sin (compare Ephesians 2:1). Because of the continuity with "the dead" in verse 5, however, it is considered a minority view.
• "Like men" and "like God": The Greek can also be read as "according to men" and "according to God." For this reason, some interpret the passage as contrasting human judgment with divine judgment, and the wording varies somewhat from one translation to another.

Controversies and Issues

The chief point of contention is whether this verse means that there is an opportunity for salvation even after death. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cites this verse in support of its teaching that the gospel is preached to the spirits of the dead. By contrast, most Protestant denominations, including Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, reject the possibility of salvation after death. Citing passages such as Hebrews 9:27, which teaches that judgment follows death, they regard reading this verse in that sense as an interpretation that ignores its context.

Even within the traditions that confess the descent into hell, understandings differ. Lutherans understand it as Christ's proclamation of victory. Question 44 of the Heidelberg Catechism interprets it as the anguish of soul that Christ suffered on the cross. Neither tradition regards the descent into hell as an opportunity for repentance after death.

In the Korean Church

The translation of the Apostles' Creed widely used in Korean Protestantism omits the clause "he descended into hell." The Apostles' Creed used by the Catholic Church in Korea does include a clause confessing that he "descended to the realm of the dead." Consequently, in Korean Protestantism this verse is mentioned mainly in discussions of the doctrine of the descent into hell or of the question of salvation after death.

Related Passages

• 1 Peter 3:18
• 1 Peter 3:19–20
• 1 Peter 4:5
• Ephesians 4:8–10
• Hebrews 9:27