In the days of belief in a three-part universe
HELL was where bad people went after death
to suffer for their sins, eternally,
entombed in the depths below
as the good went to heaven
in the skies above.
Preachers today try to explain this in other ways
mollifying the words of scripture to fit their ideas,
yet refusing to admit that the error lies in
the ancient world-view of scripture.
For they see it as inerrant!
The clause is taken to explain where Jesus went
in the three days before his resurrection,
releasing those bound in Hell
by his saving grace.
It is difficult to make sense of this clause.
As always the doctrine is complex, interlocking,
and a product of minds stuck in an environment
of supernatural and untenable magic.
The ancients truly lived in
a different world!
Is there a Hell, a place of punishment?
If not, is there no justice in divine judgement?
Are the willfully wicked as welcome as the good?
Is there then any form of judgement or any afterlife?
Despite our need, are we but dust on the carpet of time?