Christ’s victory is not bound by time

SIR — In the New Vision of June 22, Mr. Michael Okia posed one of the most difficult questions in the New Testament. He wanted to know the biblical basis of praying for the souls of the dead. What seems to be the difficulty with this question is the “time factor”. Once a person dies not believing in God, is there another time for him to hear God again? There is only one passage in the New Testament which specifically says that Jesus Christ preached to the dead: “For Christ died for our sins once and for all. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually... He went and preached to the imprisoned spirits, these were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God during the days of Noah”. (I Peter 5:18—20). In the interval between his death and resurrection, Christ preached to the dead, the people who died in the flood being specially mentioned. The victory of Christ over sin and death cannot be restricted by time and space! The whole universe is redeemed. St. Paul exclaims, “And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord...”.

Canon George Noel Enyagu
Soroti