Was Jesus Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth? ~ Dr. Ron McRay and John Eoff

When my husband first came to Arkansas, him being Lutheran, we tried out many churches before we found a common middle ground.  I recall my trip to a Lutheran church in Texarkana.  Among many drastic differences they recited the Apostle's Creed.  I had never heard this, nor seen anyone mindlessly recite something in this format.  Then they got to:  " He descended into hell." as I am sure you can imagine I flipped just a bit.  I started googling on my smart phone... descended to hell ??? What could that mean? I found no satisfying answers.  

Having been raised in the Baptist church denomination, I have never done "Confirmation".  My daughter being in 6th grade, this is the year for her at our current church.  So... I asked the Pastor's wife, who leads the class, if I could sit in and learn.  Well of course the first thing we study is the Apostle's Creed.  But this time there is no:  "He descended into hell."   Now I'm really confused.  And set out on a quest to find the answer that has been in the back of my head for a couple of years now.  

So... I come home that evening, search amazon for any books on this subject.  And find this book.  $10.25, is not a lot for some in depth discussion on this trip of Jesus' into hell.  I await patiently.

67 pages, really big font, not a whole lot to read.  Took me 15 minutes.  And ugh, such disappointment.  My query is still unanswered, and further research needed.  And $10.25 wasted.  

This story is NOT about Jesus' descent into Hell, and what he may or may not have done while he was down there.  This novella, at best, is a story of how long Jesus was in the tomb... 2 days or 3 days.  Who would have thought that was even an issue, that needed to be expounded upon.  The Jewish day starts in the evening at sunset, or total dark, and ends approximately 24 hours later before the next sunset.  This is specified in Genesis, and is how the Jews run their day.  

I truly must take more time in my selection of books to read on this journey, there really is a lot of worthless fluff out there that can rapidly dwindle your bank account.  And waste your precious research minutes on a wild goose chase. 

Did Jesus descend to Hell during the three in the tomb days? What did he do while there? And WHY is  "He descended into hell."     in the Lutheran version of the Apostle's Creed, but NOT in the Methodist one?  Stay tuned, I will eventually have an answer.