Thread by @NicolasGold1

McAlpine notes Berkhof argued the weapon the Powers wield is ideological: claims to legitimacy. After self-proclaimed guardians of truth/justice crucified God, false claims were exposed. I've yet to find this argument fully satisfactory, though it points in the right direction.

Wink delves into the above significantly, noting Étienne de la Boetie in his Discourse on Voluntary Servitude. The latter argued tyrants have power b/c the people give it to them. I de-flesh that out a bit myself for how idolatrous Powers enslave humans in *part*.

Oddly enough, Kanye West raised the question of how black Americans could remain as slaves so long if only they'd rise up. One could say the same about segregation & apartheid in S.A. He was pilloried for it, but, whether he understood it or not, he was on the right track.

But while the Powers do partly oppress with obedient compliance of those being oppressed, I don't necessarily see the Cross as just an exposing of false claims.

McAlpine also notes Berkhof's belief that the Church's role in fighting is as a sign exposing the Powers. Basically, living the truth to show a better way. Yes, that is extremely important & has a sanctifying effect, but it isn't just that. My one area of disagreement w/ Berkhof.

He quotes extensively from Linthicum (indebted to Wink) on the "angel" or "inner spirituality" of a city (though one could use church, business, denom, or nation). Wink has a great passage on discernment of a church's inner spirituality.

Wink showed how a particular situation in a church caused leadership to behave in a particular way but continued to do so long after the situation changed. A pattern of behavior developed that shaped the thoughts and reactions of those involved in that church for years later.

I'm reminded of a southern town once dominated by textile mills. Christians working & managing the mills unwittingly began to run the churches like mills, causing numerous problems over many generations, long after the mills closed down. People conformed to the world's patterns.

Too important not to post.

"'Jesus is Lord' draws yawns, but 'Jesus, friend of the poor' draws bullets, so 'fidelity to the gospel lies not in repeating its slogans but in plunging the prevailing idolatries into its corrosive acids.'" (quotes from Walter Wink)

More quotes from Wink. "[T]here are three types of demonic manifestations: outer personal possession, collective possession, and the inner personal demonic."

McAlpine notes that Origen identified the "man of Macedonia" in Paul's vision (Acts 16:9) was an angelic being, specifically the angel of Macedonia.

He quotes Wink: "People do not change national attitudes and policies simply because they are told they are wrong. They change because of love for their country." Wink was noting the missteps of protestors who show hate for their country when showing love is better for change.

The above point is significant. It largely explains the failures of Kaepernick, BLM, & the Women's March.

This book is from 1991 and between the 2nd and 3rd volumes of Wink's trilogy.

One problem I continually see with Powers theologians is the lack of engagement with the Powers in order to subject them to Christ. They mostly argue for living lives of worldly contrast. That is extremely important & part of the engagement, but only part.

He's mentioning Yoder's cruciform path of "revolutionary subordination". McAlpine is actually grouping Powers theologians into three camps: Reformed Tradition, Anabaptist Tradition, and The Third Wave Tradition.

He's on Vernard Eller. "Since Paul is pro-God, it is a secondary question whether he is pro- or anti-slavery."

Eller notes Paul's approach in the Philemon Epistle, "rather than demanding the denunciation and destruction of the moral dignity if the slaveholder, offers him a gracious way out. Onesimus was liberated without Philemon's having to be demeaned in the process."

Aside: Regarding the above approach, far too many Christians who speak out against racism make a public spectacle of their denunciations & ridicule, coming off like Pharisees waving their moral superiority like a flag. I see this among egalitarians and discernment bloggers too.

So far in McAlpine's summary of the Powers theology traditions, my understanding & approach is a combination of both the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions. The Reformed Tradition errs in seeing spiritual warfare as political action - the same weapons as the Powers.

On the Third Wave Tradition, McAlpine notes C. Peter Wagner. The latter says that a wave on conversions followed in Thailand when the missionaries set aside one day a week for spiritual warfare. He cites many more examples.

John Dawson advocates essential research in spiritual warfare: history, covenants, current revelation, and demographics. Then the steps are worship, waiting on the Lord for insight, identifying with the sins of the city, overcoming evil with good, travailing until birth.

McAlpine is contrasting spiritual battle paradigms: Indo-European and Judeo-Christian. The first is symmetrical, the second asymmetrical. The first wants to defeat the enemy with force, the second wants to win the enemy with love.

He mentions the idea that "the resurrection is a sort of review by a higher court, which finds the lower court decision not simply wrong, but done with criminal intent. Hence the lower court loses its legitimacy." Perhaps this ties into the info from an earlier tweet.

"None of us have made much progress in escaping from our own cultural captivity, for we rarely notice our chains."

"[U]nless our language about spiritual warfare forces us to confront ourselves more honestly, then it is a virtual certainty that we are simply using it as a way of reinforcing positions we hold for other reasons."

An excellent book! A great overview/resource of the three basic understandings & approaches of the Powers subject. Until now, I hadn't given thought to the reality of different approaches, let alone organizing them. That might relate to why my understanding is a mix of all three.

On most of the points of contrast, I found myself agreeing with both options. Also, the book notes many authors and works on the subject.