URBANarmy

Jesus, through "turning the other cheek, giving the undergarment, going the second mile"presents a non-violent way of standing up against that which wishes to exert self, domination or evil on the other. Walter Wink does a great exposition on Jesus' Third way as seen in Luke 6:29ff . It strikes me that not only do we have here the essence of fullness of life, but also the consequent mandate for missional engagement. We have here the means to demonstrate a self renouncing love that offers an alternative way of living that could transform the world through resultant right relationships. Jesus, through "turning the other cheek, giving the undergarment, going the second mile", presents a non-violent way of standing up against that which wishes to exert self, domination or evil on the other. Through the discourse Wink suggests that Jesus' Third Way presents a means to meet domination head on, without compromise, by catching it by surprise. He gives us a list o

Whereas Christianity has allowed for the devil to have power and authority in and of himself, the satan only has power granted by God, and has no authority in and of himself" I remember the whisperings in college when it was suggested that a member of staff did not believe in the person hood of devil. I remember as cadets feeling part of a crusade to correct their erroneous thinking!! I smiled inwardly the other day when a cadet asked me if I believed in The Devil! Of course it might be interesting to work through what Jewish mind in 1 CE Palestine might have made of that question. No doubt Eleanor will help here (not that she is that old of course! :o). What Jews Believe... is a helpful website and resource and I was interested to read that Jews believe in The Satan, and not in the devil ( here ); that rather than simply a variance in terminology, the the terms are not synonymous, in other words there is a difference between The Satan and the devil. "For Jews, anything tha

While Pentecostal 'Bishop' Michael Reid has drawn some negative attention in recent years, and his book in many ways represents one of those give away Ph.D's from an unknown American seminary. There are some interesting points that are worth noting when considering evil and spiritual warfare. After giving a historical context through looking how an understanding of evil developed as an apologetic for the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the subsequent period of exile (586- 539 BC) and how the exile also exposed the Jewish people to new influences in particular Zoroastrianism he makes several interesting points worth keeping in mind in wrestling with any theology of evil and spiritual warfare that goes beyond glib! We fail to understand where Christianity ends and paganism begins. We do not know where the boundaries are. There is no explicit biblical teaching relating to the demonisation of Christians, by implication the Scripture makes it quite clear that this

NT in his commentary on Romans deals, I think, helpfully with the question of evil when he looks at Romans 6.12-14. This is what he says. "There are two spheres, two places to live, the Adam-humanity and the Messiah humanity. Paul doesn't mention the devil at this point, but when he talks about 'sin' there is a sense of a suprahuman power, a force or energy which is more than the sum total of unhelpful instincts and wrong actions. This force can and does act like a tyrannical landlord, making demands and backing them up with threats. You must live like this: you must go out and get drunk; you must indulge your sexual appetites as fully as you can; you must help yourself to other people's property; you must develop new types of weapons to kill more and more people; you must extend your business empire as far as you possibly can....if you don't live like this, you're missing out on real life; you'll never be satisfied until you give in; you'll get s

Hiebert makes some interesting points regarding Spiritual Warfare and evil. He points to three worldviews but 'Cosmic Dualism' would it seem to influence much of what I have read regarding SW; it underlies a sense of redemptive violence where order can be established only when one side defeats the other in spiritual warfare. One side seeks to establish a kingdom of righteousness and order, and the other an evil empire. Sounds familiar - Hiebert interestingly draws parallels with other religious similarities found in Zoroastrianism, Manicheism and Hinduism where mighty gods battle for control of the universe. Hiebert points out that: Many current Christian interpretations of spiritual warfare are based on an Indo Euro worldview which sees it as a cosmic battle between God and his angels and Satan and his demons for the control of people and lands. The battle is fought in the heavenlies, but it ranges over sky and earth. The central question is one of power - can God defeat

'Mastering Evil' - Henri Nouwen... "Choosing life instead of death demands an act of will that often contradicts our impulses. Our impulses want to take revenge, while our wills want to offer forgiveness. Our impulses push us to an immediate response: When someone hits us in the face, we impulsively want to hit back. How then can we let our wills dominate our impulses? The key word is wait. Whatever happens, we must put some space between the hostile act directed toward us and our response. We must distance ourselves, take time to think, talk it over with friends, and wait until we are ready to respond in a life-giving way. Impulsive responses allow evil to master us, something we always will regret. But a well thought-through response will help us to "master evil with good" (Romans 12.21)."

"Horsley takes an interesting angle that needs processing should we wish to avoid a glib response to the question of evil and spiritual warfare." Richard Horsley writes primarily on the dangers of depoliticising the person and message of Jesus - he contributes to an understanding of the political context within which Jesus' message and ministry is set. It is very hard to do this without addressing the question of evil. Interestingly he looks in particular at the exorcisms and their significance in illustrating that 'God is accomplishing a political as well as a religious or spiritual victory'. (2002:102) In other words: The series of episodes in which Jesus exorcises demons and the discussions of the significance of Jesus' exorcisms in the Gospels indicate that precisely in his practice of exorcism God's kingdom is defeating Roman rule. (2002:99) He illustrates that 'warfare with Satan - was one of the principal ways that Galilean peasants as well as

I think that this observation is significant and easily forgotten: "The personified force of evil, “the satan” is important but not that important. It is wrong to think of the satan as “personal” in the same way that God or Jesus is “personal,” which is not to say that it is a vague or nebulous force. I use the term “subpersonal” as a way of refusing to accord the satan the full dignity of personhood while recognizing that the concentration of activity can and does strike us very much like that which we associate with personhood". NT Wright (2006) Evil and the Justice of God

C. S. Lewis famously suggested two errors when people thought and spoke about the devil. That of imagining him or it as a being equal and opposite to God or to Jesus. The danger outlined is that of an excessive interest and expectation that a satanic influence and activity is behind every problem. That of sneering and mocking the idea of the demonic. The comic caricature conjured from medieval art is probably the foundation of much of the embarrassed dumbing down of any talk of the demonic. NT Wright points to the irony that it was left-wing political theologians who reclaimed a theology of satan in the understanding of systematic failure as being evil. Finding a position between the two extremes causes a tension that is worth exploring. I blame Constantine - he seems to get the blame for everything else!!!? Wright, N.T (2003) The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God)

I just want to be a good evangelical, do the exegesis and not be immature, unprofound and certainly not glib!!! On the fly cover of NT Wright's Evil and the Justice of God - there is a statement that has stuck with me... "The question of evil demands a theological resolution that is mature, profound and never glib..." - Glib - 1. Performed with a natural, offhand ease 2. Showing little thought, preparation, or concern So a fire alarm goes off part way through a seminar on spiritual warfare - to me the merest suggestion of 'dark satanic forces' pulling a well put together and thought provoking lecture to bits is ....er .... glib. Tyranny... racism .... sexism ... exploitation ... trafficking ... poverty ... abuse ... child labour ... terrorism ... intimidation ... world trade ... addiction ... oppression ... ... A fire alarm... allowing 60 people to get to coffee early is hardly up there for me - so no dark sinister forces at work for me - just a fire alarm