On Holy Saturday, the Orthodox Church celebrates Christ’s descent into Hell (Hades). For many Protestants and Evangelicals this is a strange idea. When I was a Protestant, I was often puzzled by the line in the Apostles Creed: “he [Christ] descended to hell.” I thought this line was bizarre and unnecessary. As a Protestant, I was never taught the theology behind the historic creeds of the Church. However, after attending the…
Today Hades cried out groaning: “My power has been trampled on; the Shepherd has been crucified, and Adam He raised up. I have been deprived of those, over whom I ruled; and all those, I had the power to swallow, I have disgorged. He, Who was crucified has cleared the tombs. The dominion of Death is no more.” Glory O Lord, to Your Cross and Your Resurrection. Holy Saturday Morning…
Many Protestants know of Isaiah 53 which predicted Christ’s suffering, but few know of the Wisdom of Solomon which predicted the persecution of Christ by ungodly men. One unexpected blessing of becoming Orthodox has been a larger Old Testament. Where many Protestant bibles omit the Deuterocanonical books (often referred to as “Apocrypha”), Orthodox bibles include them. The reason for the inclusion is because the Old Testament used by the Apostles was the Septuagint which…