Following the Footsteps of St. Paul (15)

One may sympathize with Paul as he faced rejection and persecution in Philippi and Thessaloniki as Kar Yong has written in his post. We always assume that Christians are being persecuted because they refuse to worship the deified Caesars. That may be the case in Gentiles but not so for the Jews. The Jews were excepted from worshipping Caesar.

What possible reasons may there being for the violent reaction of the Jews toward Paul? Throughout Jewish history there have been many persons claiming to be the Messiah.

I suggest that this may be due to the Mithraic mystery cult. Remember there were many mystery cults around at that time and some of them were very powerful and influential. The Mithraic cult worship Mithra, a Persian god, during the first four centuries AD. Only men were admitted so it was very popular among the soldiers. Again we are reminded that many of the landowners of Philippi and Thessaloniki were former Roman legionnaires.

There are a number of similarities between this cult and Christianity that the Jews may be mistaken in thinking Paul was preaching a Mithraic-Messiah cult. Later, this cult became Christianity's chief rival religion in the Roman era.

(1) Both appealed to the masses instead of limiting to the upper castes or intellectuals
(2) Both has baptism
(3) Both has a ritual similar to the Lord's supper
(4) Both preach a disciplined life, avoiding the ecstasies and orgies of the other cults
(5) Both taught a cosmic struggle between good and bad, with good being victorious; a great flood, immortality, a resurrection, final eternal punishment, a heaven, a hell, and even a festive day in December 25th !

No wonder Paul has a problem. Which one-ar?

Following the Footsteps of St. Paul (15)

One may sympathize with Paul as he faced rejection and persecution in Philippi and Thessaloniki as Kar Yong has written in his post. We always assume that Christians are being persecuted because they refuse to worship the deified Caesars. That may be the case in Gentiles but not so for the Jews. The Jews were excepted from worshipping Caesar.

What possible reasons may there being for the violent reaction of the Jews toward Paul? Throughout Jewish history there have been many persons claiming to be the Messiah.

I suggest that this may be due to the Mithraic mystery cult. Remember there were many mystery cults around at that time and some of them were very powerful and influential. The Mithraic cult worship Mithra, a Persian god, during the first four centuries AD. Only men were admitted so it was very popular among the soldiers. Again we are reminded that many of the landowners of Philippi and Thessaloniki were former Roman legionnaires.

There are a number of similarities between this cult and Christianity that the Jews may be mistaken in thinking Paul was preaching a Mithraic-Messiah cult. Later, this cult became Christianity's chief rival religion in the Roman era.

(1) Both appealed to the masses instead of limiting to the upper castes or intellectuals
(2) Both has baptism
(3) Both has a ritual similar to the Lord's supper
(4) Both preach a disciplined life, avoiding the ecstasies and orgies of the other cults
(5) Both taught a cosmic struggle between good and bad, with good being victorious; a great flood, immortality, a resurrection, final eternal punishment, a heaven, a hell, and even a festive day in December 25th !

No wonder Paul has a problem. Which one-ar?

Following the Footsteps of St. Paul (9)

spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....

Delphi


The Deplhi sanctuary is located on a slope on the mountainous range of Krisa below Mount Parnassos. It can be reached by means of a road along the mountain ranges or from Corinth. Other than the sanctuary, it is also the site of the Pythian Games.

The first diviner of Deplhi oracle was the mother of the gods, Gaia, The second was her daughter, Themis and the third the female Titan, Phoibos. Apollo slew Python, the guardian of Gaia's oracle, making himself master of the oracle. (Python was the daughter of Gaia. Because he had killed a god, as punishment Apollo have to leave Delphi every three months during winter in addition to the eight years he served to cleanse himself of his sin of murder. He buried her underneath the omphalos). The temple in Delphi was dedicated to Apollos.

omphalos (navel-stone)

Another story was that Zeus wishing to find the centre of the earth sent two eagles to the ends of the earth and they met at Delphi thus making it the centre or 'navel' of the earth. An omphalos (navel stone) mark the centre of the earth.

The Apollonian oracle was the most celebrated and venerated place in the ancient world. It was a powerful spiritual stronghold in a high place. It was the centre of the earth. It also became one of the richest from offerings from the many Greeks and barbarian city-states. Croesus, king of Lydia sent a lion of solid gold weighing 250kg, set up a pyramid made of 117 bricks of "white gold." The oracle were protected by Phoibos during the Persian wars when huge boulders rolled down the hill on the invaders.

Delphi owed it fame to that fact that Apollos himself spoke through the Pythia. The Pythia was a woman over 50 years. No one know how she was selected. Yet, for nine days of the year when she spoke, the whole ancient world listened. Modern men tried to explain the trances, the ecstasies and oracles of the Pythia by noting that she breathed vapours from the 'chasm of earth', chewing laurel leaves and drinking from the water of the Kassotis spring (which contained "hydroflurocarbonate"). Another explanation may be that of a supernatural order. There seem to be a strong linkage to goddess worship which leads all the way to Gaia.

Many scholars offer evidence to support the idea that the Pythia was an office originating in the cult of Gaia. Dempsey states that the office of the Pythia was always held by a female (originally a virgin, but later at least fifty years old and married) and he points out the connection between the Pythia's gender and the cult of Mother Earth (53-55). Dempsey also points out that the ecstatic nature of the Pythia's prophecy was an abundant characteristic in the cult of Gaia (53-5). A detailed account of the frenzy or mania of the Pythia is presented when Appius Claudius Pulcher visits the oracle at Delphi in Lucan's Civil War (5.64-236). Additionally, many scholars believe that the Python's death at the hand of Apollo symbolized the change in oracles at Delphi (Powell 172). more

There may be a linkage to the spirit possessing the slave girl in Acts 16:16-19. As Kar Yong shows, the spirit may be the Python, daughter of Gaia. It is interesting to note how the Enemy twist the words to change its meaning. Note the "telling you to the way to be saved" and "telling you a way to be saved." By one 'article' the meaning changed. Jesus instead of the way becomes a way. Reminds me of another incident when another serpent said to Eve, "You will not surely die" (Gen.3:4). A twist of words makes a world of difference.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12 NIV)

May God have mercy

Following the Footsteps of St. Paul (9)

spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....

Delphi


The Deplhi sanctuary is located on a slope on the mountainous range of Krisa below Mount Parnassos. It can be reached by means of a road along the mountain ranges or from Corinth. Other than the sanctuary, it is also the site of the Pythian Games.

The first diviner of Deplhi oracle was the mother of the gods, Gaia, The second was her daughter, Themis and the third the female Titan, Phoibos. Apollo slew Python, the guardian of Gaia's oracle, making himself master of the oracle. (Python was the daughter of Gaia. Because he had killed a god, as punishment Apollo have to leave Delphi every three months during winter in addition to the eight years he served to cleanse himself of his sin of murder. He buried her underneath the omphalos). The temple in Delphi was dedicated to Apollos.

omphalos (navel-stone)

Another story was that Zeus wishing to find the centre of the earth sent two eagles to the ends of the earth and they met at Delphi thus making it the centre or 'navel' of the earth. An omphalos (navel stone) mark the centre of the earth.

The Apollonian oracle was the most celebrated and venerated place in the ancient world. It was a powerful spiritual stronghold in a high place. It was the centre of the earth. It also became one of the richest from offerings from the many Greeks and barbarian city-states. Croesus, king of Lydia sent a lion of solid gold weighing 250kg, set up a pyramid made of 117 bricks of "white gold." The oracle were protected by Phoibos during the Persian wars when huge boulders rolled down the hill on the invaders.

Delphi owed it fame to that fact that Apollos himself spoke through the Pythia. The Pythia was a woman over 50 years. No one know how she was selected. Yet, for nine days of the year when she spoke, the whole ancient world listened. Modern men tried to explain the trances, the ecstasies and oracles of the Pythia by noting that she breathed vapours from the 'chasm of earth', chewing laurel leaves and drinking from the water of the Kassotis spring (which contained "hydroflurocarbonate"). Another explanation may be that of a supernatural order. There seem to be a strong linkage to goddess worship which leads all the way to Gaia.

Many scholars offer evidence to support the idea that the Pythia was an office originating in the cult of Gaia. Dempsey states that the office of the Pythia was always held by a female (originally a virgin, but later at least fifty years old and married) and he points out the connection between the Pythia's gender and the cult of Mother Earth (53-55). Dempsey also points out that the ecstatic nature of the Pythia's prophecy was an abundant characteristic in the cult of Gaia (53-5). A detailed account of the frenzy or mania of the Pythia is presented when Appius Claudius Pulcher visits the oracle at Delphi in Lucan's Civil War (5.64-236). Additionally, many scholars believe that the Python's death at the hand of Apollo symbolized the change in oracles at Delphi (Powell 172). more

There may be a linkage to the spirit possessing the slave girl in Acts 16:16-19. As Kar Yong shows, the spirit may be the Python, daughter of Gaia. It is interesting to note how the Enemy twist the words to change its meaning. Note the "telling you to the way to be saved" and "telling you a way to be saved." By one 'article' the meaning changed. Jesus instead of the way becomes a way. Reminds me of another incident when another serpent said to Eve, "You will not surely die" (Gen.3:4). A twist of words makes a world of difference.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12 NIV)

May God have mercy

Following St.Paul's Footsteps (7)

spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....


The Parthenon rests on a plinth three steps high. It is a peripteral temple (surrounded by columns). The peristyle consists of eight Doric columns on the east and west side, and seventeen along the north and south side (if you count the corner columns twice). The shafts consist of twelve fluted drums and are about 33 feet high (10.43 m), including the capitals, with diameters tapering from 6 feet 3 inches (1.92 m) at the base to 4 feet 9 inches (1.49 m) at the top.

There is a perceptible bulge two fifths up each column; the Greeks knew the principle of the outward curvature of a column (entasis), which compensates for the optical effect that makes columns seem thinner in the middle when viewed from below. The corner columns are thicker, reducing the space between them and their neighbors: because they receive more sunlight, they would otherwise have appeared thinner than the rest. Finally, to give the impression of absolute perfection, the plinth gradually increased in height, by about 4 inches in the middle of the long sides and by about 3 inches at the center of the facades.

When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. Work on the temple continued until 432; it symbolizes the power and influence of the Athenian politician, Perikles, who championed its construction.

It was built to replace two earlier temples of Athena on the Acropolis. One of these, of which almost no trace remains today, stood south of the Parthenon (between the Parthenon and the Erechtheum). The other, which was still being built at the time of the Persian sack in 480 BC, was on the same spot as the Parthenon. It was called pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon. It was built as a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. 490-88 BC) in which the Greeks won a decisive victory against the Persians.

The name Parthenon means the "temple of the virgin goddess", and refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos that was associated with the temple. Athena's cult seems to have existed from very early times as the patron of Athens. The Parthenon survived as a temple to Athena for close to a thousand years.

After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 6th century, the Parthenon became the Church of the Parthenos Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the Theotokos (Mother of God). During the Fourth Crusade where Greece was captured from the Byzantine Empire by the crusaders, it became a Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady.

Question: Is there a change in the deity worshipped or a change in name only?

After the Ottoman conquest, the church was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s. On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon/church/mosque.

Following St.Paul's Footsteps (7)

spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....


The Parthenon rests on a plinth three steps high. It is a peripteral temple (surrounded by columns). The peristyle consists of eight Doric columns on the east and west side, and seventeen along the north and south side (if you count the corner columns twice). The shafts consist of twelve fluted drums and are about 33 feet high (10.43 m), including the capitals, with diameters tapering from 6 feet 3 inches (1.92 m) at the base to 4 feet 9 inches (1.49 m) at the top.

There is a perceptible bulge two fifths up each column; the Greeks knew the principle of the outward curvature of a column (entasis), which compensates for the optical effect that makes columns seem thinner in the middle when viewed from below. The corner columns are thicker, reducing the space between them and their neighbors: because they receive more sunlight, they would otherwise have appeared thinner than the rest. Finally, to give the impression of absolute perfection, the plinth gradually increased in height, by about 4 inches in the middle of the long sides and by about 3 inches at the center of the facades.

When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. Work on the temple continued until 432; it symbolizes the power and influence of the Athenian politician, Perikles, who championed its construction.

It was built to replace two earlier temples of Athena on the Acropolis. One of these, of which almost no trace remains today, stood south of the Parthenon (between the Parthenon and the Erechtheum). The other, which was still being built at the time of the Persian sack in 480 BC, was on the same spot as the Parthenon. It was called pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon. It was built as a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. 490-88 BC) in which the Greeks won a decisive victory against the Persians.

The name Parthenon means the "temple of the virgin goddess", and refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos that was associated with the temple. Athena's cult seems to have existed from very early times as the patron of Athens. The Parthenon survived as a temple to Athena for close to a thousand years.

After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 6th century, the Parthenon became the Church of the Parthenos Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the Theotokos (Mother of God). During the Fourth Crusade where Greece was captured from the Byzantine Empire by the crusaders, it became a Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady.

Question: Is there a change in the deity worshipped or a change in name only?

After the Ottoman conquest, the church was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s. On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon/church/mosque.

Deliver Us from Evil

From 16-22 August, 2000, thirty practitioners, missiologists, pastors and theologians came together in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss issues of spiritual conflicts in the "Consultation on Deliver Us from Evil" convened by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation and the Association of Evangelicals in Africa. The consultation objective was to seek a biblical and comprehensive understanding of (1) who the enemy is; (2) how he is working; and (3) how we can fight him in order to be most effective in the evangelisation of all peoples.

The outcome is published in this book. I find this book well worth reading and very insightful.

.

Deliver Us from Evil

From 16-22 August, 2000, thirty practitioners, missiologists, pastors and theologians came together in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss issues of spiritual conflicts in the "Consultation on Deliver Us from Evil" convened by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation and the Association of Evangelicals in Africa. The consultation objective was to seek a biblical and comprehensive understanding of (1) who the enemy is; (2) how he is working; and (3) how we can fight him in order to be most effective in the evangelisation of all peoples.

The outcome is published in this book. I find this book well worth reading and very insightful.

.

Demon Possession

Apparent possession by spirits is a world-wide phenomenon. It may be sought deliberately, as by the shaman and witch-doctor among primitive peoples, and by the medium among both primitive and civilized men and women. It may come upon individuals suddenly, as with watchers at the Voodoo rites, or in the form of what is generally known as demon-possession. In each case the possessed person behaves in a way that is not normal for him or her, speaks in a voice totally different from normal, and often shows powers of telepathy and clairvoyance.

In the Bible the pagan prophets probably sought possession. The prophets of Baal in 1 Ki. 18 would come in this category. Mediums, who were banned in Israel, must have deliberately cultivated possession, since the law regards them as guilty people, not as sick (e.g. Lv. 20:6, 27). In the OT Saul is an outstanding example of unsought possession. The Spirit of the Lord leaves him, and ‘an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him’ (1 Sa. 16:14; 19:9). We may fairly interpret this by saying that, if a person has been powerfully open to the Holy Spirit in a charismatic way, disobedience is liable to be followed by the entry into his life of an evil spirit allowed by God. On the other hand, we may simply say that ‘evil’ has no moral connotation here, but signifies depression. The spirit is driven away by David’s playing: since playing was normally accompanied by singing, it was probably David’s psalm-singing that drove away the spirit, as Robert Browning implies in his poem Saul.

The NT records many cases of possession. It is as though Satan had concentrated his forces in a special way to challenge Christ and his followers. The Gospel records show that Christ distinguished between ordinary illness and those that accompanied demon-possession. The former were healed by laying on of hands or anointing, the latter by commanding the demon to depart (e.g. Mt. 10:8; Mk. 6:13; Lk. 13:32; also Acts 8:7; 19:12). Possession was apparently not always continuous, but when it came it produced effects that were often violent (Mk. 9:18). Blindness and dumbness, when caused by possession, would presumably have been persistent (e.g. Mt. 9:32-33; 12:22).

Douglas, J.D.: New Bible Dictionary. electronic ed. of 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL : Tyndale House, 1982; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. 278


Does demon possession still occurs?

Can Christians be demon possessed?

.

Demon Possession

Apparent possession by spirits is a world-wide phenomenon. It may be sought deliberately, as by the shaman and witch-doctor among primitive peoples, and by the medium among both primitive and civilized men and women. It may come upon individuals suddenly, as with watchers at the Voodoo rites, or in the form of what is generally known as demon-possession. In each case the possessed person behaves in a way that is not normal for him or her, speaks in a voice totally different from normal, and often shows powers of telepathy and clairvoyance.

In the Bible the pagan prophets probably sought possession. The prophets of Baal in 1 Ki. 18 would come in this category. Mediums, who were banned in Israel, must have deliberately cultivated possession, since the law regards them as guilty people, not as sick (e.g. Lv. 20:6, 27). In the OT Saul is an outstanding example of unsought possession. The Spirit of the Lord leaves him, and ‘an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him’ (1 Sa. 16:14; 19:9). We may fairly interpret this by saying that, if a person has been powerfully open to the Holy Spirit in a charismatic way, disobedience is liable to be followed by the entry into his life of an evil spirit allowed by God. On the other hand, we may simply say that ‘evil’ has no moral connotation here, but signifies depression. The spirit is driven away by David’s playing: since playing was normally accompanied by singing, it was probably David’s psalm-singing that drove away the spirit, as Robert Browning implies in his poem Saul.

The NT records many cases of possession. It is as though Satan had concentrated his forces in a special way to challenge Christ and his followers. The Gospel records show that Christ distinguished between ordinary illness and those that accompanied demon-possession. The former were healed by laying on of hands or anointing, the latter by commanding the demon to depart (e.g. Mt. 10:8; Mk. 6:13; Lk. 13:32; also Acts 8:7; 19:12). Possession was apparently not always continuous, but when it came it produced effects that were often violent (Mk. 9:18). Blindness and dumbness, when caused by possession, would presumably have been persistent (e.g. Mt. 9:32-33; 12:22).

Douglas, J.D.: New Bible Dictionary. electronic ed. of 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL : Tyndale House, 1982; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. 278


Does demon possession still occurs?

Can Christians be demon possessed?

.

Spiritual Warfare and Worldviews

Direction Journal Fall 2000 · Vol. 29 No. 2 · 114-24

Paul G. Hiebert is Professor of Mission and Anthropology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois. He wrote an excellent article on Spiritual Warfare and Worldviews

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the gospel as power in the lives of people and in spiritual warfare between God and Satan (Anderson 1991, Arnold 1997, Kraft 1992, Moreau 1997, Powilson 1995, Wagner 1991, to name a few). This comes as an important corrective to the earlier emphasis in many Western churches on the gospel as merely truth, and on evil as primarily human weakness. Both truth and power are central themes in the gospel and should be in the lives of God’s people. But much literature on spiritual warfare has been written by Western missionaries who have been forced to question their Western denial of this-worldly spirit realities through encounters with witchcraft, spiritism, and demon possession. Too often they base their studies in experience and look for biblical texts to justify their views. They fail to examine the worldviews they use to interpret both Scripture and experience. These are hard to see because they are what we think with, not what we think about...

...spiritual warfare emerging out of this Cartesian dualism is that God, angels, and demons are involved in a cosmic battle in the heavens, but the everyday events on earth are best explained and controlled by science and technology (fig. 1). People pray to God for their salvation, but turn to modern medicine for healing and psychology for deliverance from so-called demon possession, because demons exist in the heavens, not on earth. Western missionaries influenced by this dualism affirm the cosmic battle between good and evil, but deny the realities of witchcraft, spirit possession, evil eye, and magic in the cultures where they serve...

...Spiritual warfare in animistic societies is seen as an ongoing battle between different alliances of beings (fig. 2). For the most part these alliances are based on ethnicity and territory. The battle is not between “good” and “evil,” but between “us” and “others.” ...

...Warfare is an important metaphor in Scripture and we must take it seriously. Eugene Peterson writes,
There is a spiritual war in progress, an all-out moral battle. There is evil and cruelty, unhappiness and illness. There is superstition and ignorance, brutality and pain. God is in continuous and energetic battle against all of it. God is for life and against death. God is for love and against hate. God is for hope and against despair. God is for heaven and against hell. There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square foot of space is contested (1997, 122-23)....

...Scripture and church history show that demonstrations of God’s power often lead some to believe, but they also excite the enemy to greater opposition leading to persecution and death (fig. 5). We see this in the book of Acts where victories are followed by persecution, imprisonment, and death. Above all we see it in John’s Gospel where Jesus confronts the religious and political establishments and is crucified...

...Central to our understanding of spiritual warfare is the cross, but the cross as victory makes no sense in the Indo-European or tribal worldviews. In the Indo-European worldview (fig. 6), Christ should have taken up the challenge of his tormentors, called down his angelic hosts waiting ready in heaven, and come down from the cross in triumph to establish his kingdom. In Scripture, the cross is the demonstration of victory through weakness. At the cross Satan stands judged because he put Christ, God incarnate as perfect man, to death. On the cross Jesus bore the sins of the world and triumphed over all the powers of evil. His obedience unto death rendered “powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil” (Heb. 2:14). The cross was Satan’s undoing (Col. 2:15), but Satan’s defeat was not an end in itself. Rather, it removes the obstacles to God’s purpose of creating people fit for his kingdom (Gen. 12:1; Exod. 19:3-6; 1 Pet. 2:9). The cross is the victory of righteousness over evil, of love over hate, of God’s way over Satan’s way. If our understanding of spiritual warfare does not see the cross as the final triumph, it is in error...

read more

Spiritual Warfare and Worldviews

Direction Journal Fall 2000 · Vol. 29 No. 2 · 114-24

Paul G. Hiebert is Professor of Mission and Anthropology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois. He wrote an excellent article on Spiritual Warfare and Worldviews

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the gospel as power in the lives of people and in spiritual warfare between God and Satan (Anderson 1991, Arnold 1997, Kraft 1992, Moreau 1997, Powilson 1995, Wagner 1991, to name a few). This comes as an important corrective to the earlier emphasis in many Western churches on the gospel as merely truth, and on evil as primarily human weakness. Both truth and power are central themes in the gospel and should be in the lives of God’s people. But much literature on spiritual warfare has been written by Western missionaries who have been forced to question their Western denial of this-worldly spirit realities through encounters with witchcraft, spiritism, and demon possession. Too often they base their studies in experience and look for biblical texts to justify their views. They fail to examine the worldviews they use to interpret both Scripture and experience. These are hard to see because they are what we think with, not what we think about...

...spiritual warfare emerging out of this Cartesian dualism is that God, angels, and demons are involved in a cosmic battle in the heavens, but the everyday events on earth are best explained and controlled by science and technology (fig. 1). People pray to God for their salvation, but turn to modern medicine for healing and psychology for deliverance from so-called demon possession, because demons exist in the heavens, not on earth. Western missionaries influenced by this dualism affirm the cosmic battle between good and evil, but deny the realities of witchcraft, spirit possession, evil eye, and magic in the cultures where they serve...

...Spiritual warfare in animistic societies is seen as an ongoing battle between different alliances of beings (fig. 2). For the most part these alliances are based on ethnicity and territory. The battle is not between “good” and “evil,” but between “us” and “others.” ...

...Warfare is an important metaphor in Scripture and we must take it seriously. Eugene Peterson writes,
There is a spiritual war in progress, an all-out moral battle. There is evil and cruelty, unhappiness and illness. There is superstition and ignorance, brutality and pain. God is in continuous and energetic battle against all of it. God is for life and against death. God is for love and against hate. God is for hope and against despair. God is for heaven and against hell. There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square foot of space is contested (1997, 122-23)....

...Scripture and church history show that demonstrations of God’s power often lead some to believe, but they also excite the enemy to greater opposition leading to persecution and death (fig. 5). We see this in the book of Acts where victories are followed by persecution, imprisonment, and death. Above all we see it in John’s Gospel where Jesus confronts the religious and political establishments and is crucified...

...Central to our understanding of spiritual warfare is the cross, but the cross as victory makes no sense in the Indo-European or tribal worldviews. In the Indo-European worldview (fig. 6), Christ should have taken up the challenge of his tormentors, called down his angelic hosts waiting ready in heaven, and come down from the cross in triumph to establish his kingdom. In Scripture, the cross is the demonstration of victory through weakness. At the cross Satan stands judged because he put Christ, God incarnate as perfect man, to death. On the cross Jesus bore the sins of the world and triumphed over all the powers of evil. His obedience unto death rendered “powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil” (Heb. 2:14). The cross was Satan’s undoing (Col. 2:15), but Satan’s defeat was not an end in itself. Rather, it removes the obstacles to God’s purpose of creating people fit for his kingdom (Gen. 12:1; Exod. 19:3-6; 1 Pet. 2:9). The cross is the victory of righteousness over evil, of love over hate, of God’s way over Satan’s way. If our understanding of spiritual warfare does not see the cross as the final triumph, it is in error...

read more