He led captivity captive

February 17, 2012

What's the gospel in seven words? We asked theologians, pastors and others both to answer this question and to
expand on this in a few sentences. To see all the responses together as they're posted, bookmark this page. Add your own version here. --Ed.

He led captivity captive.

Among Gospel epitomes I
especially love the Jesus prayer, the Agnus Dei and "When he ascended on high,
he led captivity captive"--the good news as I first heard it from Paul
(Ephesians 4:8) and Christ's Jubilee proclamation (Luke 4:18). Christ ascended
the cross, descended to the dead and ascended to heaven to restore us to the
Father. He has broken our fetters; it remains for us to shake them off and
enlist in the service of self-giving love.

Carol Zaleski

Carol Zaleski is professor of world religions at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

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