Mysterious Encounters

1 Peter 3:18–22 is one of the strangest and most difficult texts of the Scriptures. The paraenesis addressing the unjustly suffering Christians in Asia Minor is amended by a confession of faith. The pericope testifies that the death, resurrection, ascension and redemption of Christ has much broader spatial and temporal implications than one might think at first. This article aims to mark the exegetical and theological coordinates of the mysterious encounter between Christ and the souls in prison. Three questions will be explored: Who are these souls? What did Christ preach them about? When did the encounter take place?