What happened to the Departed Souls before Christ? According to St Epiphanios, who lived in the fourth century, the souls of the departed who lived before Christ were in waiting in Hades, or the underworld. What were they waiting for? They were neither in heaven or hell, but waiting. St Epiphanios writes that after Christ was crucified and before His Resurrection, He descended into Hades and those who were righteous ran with eagerness to join Him, but others ran and hid from Him, their hearts unable to receive the love He was so freely offering. He brought the righteous souls [...]

Why doesn’t God destroy the devil? The devil does exist.  One of his many tricks is to fool us into believing he does not exist.  There are people in our community who make money out of fortune telling, sorcery, astrology, séances, and other satanic practices - it is very important that we keep well away from such things.  A much more common situation we all face is being tempted by the devil.  The temptation is not the sin; it is not our fault. But if we give in to it, if we allow that passion to remain in us, then [...]

Why would God voluntarily choose to give Himself up? The origin of our salvation goes back to Adam and Eve. The Scriptures tell us that God made humans in His image and likeness. He did this so that we could all share in His glory. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they placed a great chasm between themselves and God. We have inherited this fallen state. No matter what we do or how we live, we are too small and sinful to repair this chasm. God, on the other hand, could pluck us out of this world and place us [...]

Is my personal holiness enough for salvation? We speak a lot about the spiritual struggle. We say that we need to be close to Christ; be one with Him. We need to pray, to participate in the Sacraments of the Church, to fast, to fight against the passions, to cultivate virtue. However, if we become too introspective with our spiritual life, we lose perspective and thus lose sight of the purpose of our spiritual life. Unfortunately many people practice Christianity in a very personalised and self-centred way. They end up feeling very privileged and entitled in the eyes of God, [...]

Where does evil come from? The ultimate source of evil is the devil. The Bible tells us that the devil was once an angel of light, who fell because of pride. The devil tempts us, but we are free, and it is up to us whether we fall for the devil’s traps. The devil is very cunning, so we need to be vigilant and watchful. The Apostle Peter warns us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We must not be complacent, believing we [...]