A Question I Want to Share
This is a question that I asked on a community board that I am a member of. I am not sure how I am going to address the conversation myself but I wanted to share the question and any pertinent insights on here. This is my question: "As we all affirm, "Christ descends not as a victim of hell but as the Victor over death and Hades. Before him the powers of hell are powerless (34, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Christ the Conqueror of Hell).” However, this word ‘powerless.’ I want to know more about how it was used in apocryphal literature from the early Christian period. Did they become powerless in the way that they were defeated? In a state of ongoing powerlessness? Or is this only being powerless in the presence of Christ at that moment when He harrowed Hell/Hades? This question is very interesting because it leads to the question of whether Hades and Satan, going through their defeat by Christ, are powers still operating after their momentary defeat?...