Planted by Water

This book I have just read is a kind of precis of a trilogy of books that Walter Wink (great name!) wrote in the 80s and early 90s, concerning ‘Principalities and Powers’ and I had heard that he had some interesting insights on it. I was actually a little disappointed as it was more about Wink’s pacifist ideology, but still it was an interesting read. 

Wink is very liberal in his theology and I certainly wouldn’t recommend him for someone young or weak in the faith, or to anyone who was concerned with getting a general good overview of sound biblical theology! He is not your man!! But it is a fact of this messy life that not all the writers who are basically sound are right on everything, and not all the writers who are way off on many things are without insight on some things. Life and reading would be a lot easier if I knew all the writers to discard completely and the few writers who would be right on everything! But it is not so, and critical discernment is essential if you are going to read quite widely; you have to learn to pick out the meat and spit out the bones. You also have to be clear and firm in what you are convinced of! But I have found that even people who I would disagree with profoundly and passionately have given me some insights on certain things.

However, it is not Wink’s insight into ‘non-violent resistance’ that I learn from as, although I have sympathies, I cannot reconcile myself to a totally pacifist position in a still fallen world. I do think he has some interesting things to say on what he calls ‘the myth of redemptive violence’ which is that basically our whole history and culture teaches us that good can come out of fighting and violence - think Cowboys and Indians, James Bond, cartoons and just about every film that comes out of Hollywood. I think he overstates his case but it is worrying if it might be the case that a greatly over-simplified ‘goodies and baddies’ approach to the world, coupled with the belief that you can only overcome your enemies with guns or smart bombs, might be influencing world governments!

However, it is his insights into the ‘principalities and powers’ that I find helpful. Although we must reject his liberal approach to the Bible - he doesn’t believe in actual demons and evil spirits so he is trying to de-mythologise it all - he does, in the process, propose a useful take on the Powers. He regards the Powers, which were defeated at the cross (Col.2:15) but against whom we still must struggle (Eph.6:12), not as demonic beings, but as the ’impersonal spiritual realities at the centre of institutional life’ In other words, every group or institution in fallen society can take on an ethos, or corporate attitude and mindset that is ultimately destructive. It isn’t down to just one person, but becomes part of the ’spirit’ or ‘prevailing attitude,’ of a company, for example. And it happens on both sides of the political divide. You can have a Power at work in a big corporation and in a trade union, in the globalised market and in an anti-globalisation pressure group, in an Islamic terrorist network, and in the militaristic response of Western governments to it. Nothing is beyond coming under the influence of a Power.

I think he is right about this although I would disagree with his demythologising of demons, obviously. I would say it is these Powers that demons then ‘latch on to’ and exploit. They are ultimately demonic. What is most significant is that our spiritual warfare, and advancing of the Kingdom, does not just mean prayer meetings where we shout at the devil and identify so-called ‘territorial spirits’. It must  involve increasingly an awareness of and an engagement with the social, cultural, economic and political forces at work in our world, an engagement that is discerning and which transcends the typical and traditional political divides. Christians must avoid becoming identified with any one political ideology (as their will be a Power at work in it somewhere, as with any power or force in a world that is estranged from God) but rather bring the Word of God to bear upon them by being a voice and an example in the world. Our response to these Powers will certainly be with prayer and faith (they were ultimately defeated at the cross) but it must also be with critical engagement with our world.