Question:  Dear Greg,

            At the time of Christ’s Transfiguration, where were Moses and Elijah summoned from?  The gates of heaven had not yet been opened and there would not have been any escape from hell.  Could there have been another place as described in the Creeds where Christ descended for three days?

            In Christ,

            Dave

Answer:  Dear Dave,

            The Transfiguration was a vision (Matthew 17:9).  Elijah and Moses were not literally “summoned”.  As for the gates of heaven and hell being “opened” and “closed”, the Bible is not absolutely clear on this issue.  Neither is the Bible clear about what was meant by that portion of the Apostle’s Creed to which you refer—it is a subject of speculation for many, Protestant and Catholic alike.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht