Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective Paperback – December 10, 2009

In most Protestant hymnals and books of worship, the Nicene Creed has parentheses around "he descended into Hell". Most people in the pews have no idea of what that means, and not one in one hundred have ever heard a sermon on the subject. From the outset, Bishop Alfeyev lays out the biblical background for this doctrine. Many Protestants would be surprised at the amount of biblical teaching there is on the subject. For example, how many would know what Matthew has to say about Jesus entering into hell and setting the righteous free - so free, the Gospeler tells us, the dead rose and walked around Jerusalem? Now that must have been a sight indeed! The wise bishop goes on to demonstrate how worship and art helped shape this doctrine. Lest we become too concerned about this argument, we must recall that when most of the bishops of the church were Arians [some out of conviction, some out of fear of the emperor], it was the church at worship that held onto and insisted upon a Nicene christology. The Christ the early Christians met in Scripture and worship was not the the christ of the Arian bishops.The other reviews on this book do an adequate job of discussing the strengths of this work. I would take a bit of a different slant on this work. Not only did Christ break down the "gates of Hades" once and for all, thus disarming the evil one, but also, as St. Ephrem said, when the Roman lance pierced the side of Jesus and the water and blood flowed from Christ's side, the angel with the flaming sword sent to guard the gates of Paradise was recalled, because the eternal living water flowed forth from the Savior. Hell was destroyed and Paradise reopened! In the eternal present in which Christians now dwell in Christ, we need have no fear of the evil one, or as a certain country singer called him, "sneaky snake." In my work of planting churches among Muslim and animist populated areas of Africa and India, I am strengthened by the reality that the evil one is done; the Kingdom of God is near; we are bid to go out and plant the flag of Christ and call people to the light. Because the Second Adam has conquered death and reversed the course set by the First Adam, we can, in the name and might of the First Adam, command the demons to flee, sickness to depart, blindness to become sight, and the poor to rejoice. What need we fear? Rise up O Church, have done with lesser things! Let the reign of Christ be made apparent wherever your foot treads.Bishop Alfeyev has written not only a little gem of theology, he has performed a wonderful pastoral task. What more could we ask of a bishop?

This book is great! It’s a must read if you’re someone struggling with severe Western Christian doctrines like predestination. I had no idea that the good news was this good! My faith has been renewed.

Recently, I completed the Antiochian Orthodox Church's St Stephen's Program (a three-year theology course) designed to 'prepare' people for the diaconate. Having been raised as a Protestant, the concept of 'Christ entering Hell' was rather foreign and novel to me, and I wanted to know more. I bought the book, and upon first receiving it, put it aside for a while, somewhat intimidated by it. Once I finally made the decision to get into it, however, I found that, not only does the author speak in an authoritative voice on the subject, but the text is actually a rather 'easy' and enjoyable experience to read. Having 'been thru' the diaconate training course, I was more than familiar with the overarching themes of Orthodox theology, and so I was really looking for material which would specifically discuss that which is known as 'the harrowing of Hell,' and so forth. This book does that, in depth, and does contain a very good number of references and 'academic'-style supporting material. Nevertheless, the text itself if quite 'user-friendly,' and quite illuminating, discussing the Biblical and extra-biblical bases for Christ's journey thru Hell, its purpose -- and the book does not shy away from discussing the 'outcome' of this, if that is the proper term for it. I highly recommend the book, and offer this: Don't be afraid, it's a better reading experience than you might think at first; you can handle it! It will particularly expand the mind of converts to Orthodoxy, and aid the non-Orthodox in understanding the essence of Orthodox theology, and how we view the 'role of Christ,' if I can put it that way.

Great overview of holy Scripture, writings of the Fathers, and hymnographers about what happened when Christ died on the Cross and descended into Hades and granted resurrection to us all. As the author so helpfully reminds us, Christians were liturgical and always have been and the early Christians were who put together the New Testament. Liturgy, Scripture, and tradition are all important in understanding our relationship with God. Also briefly compares East and West regarding interpretations of Christ's decent into Hades.

This is a very readable book. What`s more, it deals with an important and often very overlooked aspect of Christian theology. As a Latin Rite Catholic, but with very strong leanings towards Eastern Orthodoxy, I was thrilled to at last find a book containing so many patristic references to Christ`s descent into Hades. The early Fathers of the Church and indeed the early Christians in general were much more aware than we are of what `He descended into hell` means and the significance of the event, as Metropolitan Hilarion states, `for the entire cosmos, for all created life`.The Faithful are told that it is impossible to have an Easter Day without a Good (Great) Friday. Indeed, but humanity needed also the descent of it`s Lord into Hades, a turning point in history and the `starting point of humanity`s ascent towards deification`. Highly recommended.

WHAT IT COVERS:A. KEY SCRIPTURESB. KEY CHURCH LITURGYC. THE ANAPHORA; & THE EUCHARISTD. 4TH CENTURY SIGNIFICANCEE. DESCENT AS “SIGN-OF-JONAH”F. JOHN DAMASCENEG. AUGUSTINE AND AQUINASTHIS is an excellent historical approach to the “descent-into-hades”5 stars; highly recommended*****Submitted 7-23-2021

A fantastic, well-written work which greatly opened up my understanding of this critical doctrine.A very worthwhile investment in time and money.

It was very heavy on quotations. You need to provide more details on theological books so that the purchaser knows what he is buying.