Hades

Hades, not to be confused with the pagan concept of “Hell,” was the place in the Old Covenant period where all souls went upon death. It was neither a place of reward nor of punishment. It may be likened to “Death's prison” where the souls both of the just and of sinners were confined. While Christ’s body rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (the day after the Crucifixion), His soul descended into Hades. When Christ died, Death claimed His soul for Hades, but Hades received more than it expected; it received the Giver of Life who destroyed the power of Hades from the inside out. The notion of “Hell” as a place of “everlasting punishment” is not biblical, but pagan. What people generally mean today when they use the word “Hell” is something not taught in the Bible, but is in fact taught by ancient Egyptians and other paganized cultures. Hebrew Scripture speaks of Sheol and Greek Scripture speaks of Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus, none of which can be equated to what most people mean today when speaking of “Hell.” Replacing the meaning of these biblical terms with the popular but pagan concept of “Hell” heretically perverts the Gospel. Kingdomculturally speaking, Hades is not an eternal warehouse for evil, but a place whose gates shall not prevail as Jesus builds His Church (Matt. 16:18). Therefore, Basileia as a specific expression of the Church, symbolized by a logo of four gateways that shall prevail, is a kingdomcultural alternative to Hades’ gates, which shall not prevail.

Also see Gateway, Icon of the Resurrection, and Logo.

Head

A Head is an elder who, in Basileia is a Presbyter who serves as the Head or Presiding Member of a Presbyter Council. Since Deacon Councils and Missional Councils administrate individual forms of governance instead of collective governance like Presbyter Councils, Presbyters who may serve as Presiding Members of Deacon Councils and Missional Councils are referred to as Presiding Members, not Heads, even though in other capacities in their eldership role in the Church, family or state they may exercise headship. Thus headship is a very specific kind of leadership that male Presiding Members perform in relation to formal eldership roles, such as those performed by Presbyters in relationship to Presbyter Councils. The Scriptural basis for our understanding what headship is in relation to eldership is as follows: The LXX reading, “the presbytery [gerousia] of Israel” in Exodus 3:16-18; 4:29; and 12:21, shows that elders did not function merely as a collection of individuals, but rather as a collective body that exercised collective governance in contrast to individual governance. Thus when elders exercise headship they act in a collective capacity on behalf of a collective body, not just in an individual capacity as men and women do in individual governance. Head elders therefore have a double collective governing role. They not only represent the collective people as a whole, but also the particular eldership council of which they are head. James, for example, as the head elder of the Jerusalem Council, gave voice to the Scripturally based decision of both the Jerusalem Council as a whole and of the Church as a whole (Acts 15:19). Likewise, Peter's confession in response to Jesus' question which Jesus asked all of the disciples, was a confession as a head elder of the disciples in particular and of the people of God in general (Matt. 16:15-17). Finally, we may note that Jesus' reference to the “two or three gathered together in My name,” in its immediate context means elders who represent both all the elders of a particular body of believers and “the Church” collectively (Matt. 18:17-20).

Also see Consensus Decision-Making, Elder, and “Governing Roles of Men and Women in Basileia and Head.”

Heavenizing Earth

The covenantal approach to governance embraces the idea of development and changing patterns of relationships as mankind in Christ moves progressively toward that city which has foundations, whose building and maker is God. Thus we may speak of the covenantalizing of all of life as the pattern for heavenizing earth. The conflict with sin, Satan, and death makes this anything but automatic or easy. Nevertheless, by means of the cross, which exhausts evil, we shall finally see in the resurrection the restoration of all things ruined by evil.

Also see Ancient-Future, Restoration, and Theosis.

Holistic Unity

Holistic unity is fourfold: 1) unity with God, 2) unity within ourselves, 3) unity with others and 4) unity with creation. The Father’s pleasure to “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth” (Eph. 1:10) embraces these four modes of unity. The first place where this unity is manifested is in the second movement of the Liturgy in which the worshipers assemble in unity with God, themselves, others and creation. Thus the Church, as the “assembly” or “congregation,” in her various ecclesiastical functions, operates as the microcosm of holistic unity on behalf of all creation. In this sense, each jurisdiction of Basileia is a microcosm of the holistic unity that is the Father’s pleasure to manifest in the whole of heaven and earth.

Also see Jurisdictions.

Hospitality

Hospitality is what Basileians offer to each other and to those yet beyond the Church that creates a thin place, kingdomcultural environment where Theosis happens. In subcultural and countercultural thinking, hospitality is conditional upon believing in order to belong. Kingdomcultural hospitality extends to all a welcome to belong in order to believe. These two different forms of hospitality are rooted in two different views of the nature of evil. If evil is seen as permanent, as subcultural and countercultural thinking assumes, then hospitality is perverted into creating prisons that put some in bondage. Ironically, with subcultural hospitality, the hosts become captive in their own prisons, locking out everyone else who doesn’t believe like they do. Countercultural hospitality does just the opposite; it creates gulags to imprison those who are not welcome in the “hospitality” zones that those who control power and wealth have built for themselves. But kingdomcultural hospitality doesn’t see the world as a place where evil has the last word. Therefore since the world is not lacking in abundance, hospitality may be offered to all. As Jesus declared in parable form, “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’” (Lk. 14:23).

Also see Belong in Order to Believe, Hosts, Kingdomcultural, Theosis, and Thin Place.

Hosts

Basileians are Hosts who in the practice of offering hospitality to all already within the Church and to those yet beyond the Church extend the embrace of Christ to the lost whom He has come to seek and save. This priestly lifestyle practice is related to our primary discipline of serving the Church and the world.

Also see Ambassadors, Hospitality, Serve, and Voluntary Exiles.