Spiritual Warfare

[TimCallahan]

While a fair number of the miracles of Jesus involved exorcisms, and the Gospel of John even says that Satan entered Judas, and entire evangelical Christian doctrine, that of spiritual warfare, derives almost entirely from the Epistle to the Ephesians, specifically Eph. 6:11 - 17. Most of this passage is devoted to putting on the whole armor of God, itself a warfare metaphor, which is an elaboration on the the armor of God from the deutero-canonical Wisdom of Solomon. However, the core of the passage, reason one must put on the whole armor of God, is to found in this single verse (Eph. 6:12):

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

In this hyper-charged verse lies the basis for a whole siege mentality in which an invisible army of demons is daily psychologically oppressing believers as well as controlling world governments, making everything from chronic depression to Obamacare part of a satanic plot. This is indeed an example of Carl Sagan's "demon haunted world." Though, for early Christians, the "world rulers of this present darkness" would have constituted the Roman Empire, the "present darkness" is constantly updated to mesh well with current conspiracy theories. In these the "world rulers of this present darkness" include the U.N., the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission and the Obama administration.

It is ironic that this verse, on which hangs most of the doctrine of spiritual warfare, is from an epistle that is quite likely not, though it deceptively purports to be, from the hand of Paul.

 

[Multivac]

While a fair number of the miracles of Jesus involved exorcisms, and the Gospel of John even says that Satan entered Judas, and entire evangelical Christian doctrine, that of spiritual warfare, derives almost entirely from the Epistle to the Ephesians, specifically Eph. 6:11 - 17. Most of this passage is devoted to putting on the whole armor of God, itself a warfare metaphor, which is an elaboration on the the armor of God from the deutero-canonical Wisdom of Solomon. However, the core of the passage, reason one must put on the whole armor of God, is to found in this single verse (Eph. 6:12):

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

In this hyper-charged verse lies the basis for a whole siege mentality in which an invisible army of demons is daily psychologically oppressing believers as well as controlling world governments, making everything from chronic depression to Obamacare part of a satanic plot. This is indeed an example of Carl Sagan's "demon haunted world." Though, for early Christians, the "world rulers of this present darkness" would have constituted the Roman Empire, the "present darkness" is constantly updated to mesh well with current conspiracy theories. In these the "world rulers of this present darkness" include the U.N., the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission and the Obama administration.

It is ironic that this verse, on which hangs most of the doctrine of spiritual warfare, is from an epistle that is quite likely not, though it deceptively purports to be, from the hand of Paul.

Personally, it doesn't really matter to me which bronze-age goat herder wrote it as it has no basis in reality.

 

[Craig4]

I think it's more of a case of a certain group of Christians deciding they were besieged and wanted to wage a cultural war, then finding something to justify themselves.

 

[TimCallahan]

Personally, it doesn't really matter to me which bronze-age goat herder wrote it as it has no basis in reality.

The "bronze-age goat herder" bit is a little trite and highly inaccurate. Even the authors of the Jewish scriptures, what are called, in a Christian context, the Old Testament, lived well into the Iron Age and, a literate people, were not likely herders of any sort. That said, they were not scientifically sophisticated, nor would we expect them to be. We don't disregard the writings of the Greeks and Romans, or example, even though they, for the most part, had a geocentric view of the cosmos.

As to Ephesians 6 not having any basis in reality, that's obvious, unless someone actually believes in a world of invisible demons and angels locked in an apocalyptic struggle. What I find interesting is that there are enough people so married to a siege mentality to actually support a belief in spiritual warfare.

I should also point out that there's a curious splitting that goes on in the minds of many of those who believe in a demon haunted world. For example, back when I was monitoring our local fundamentalist radio station, KKLA, they would frequently host such people as Hal Lindsey and give credence to their views, i.e. that the tribulation and the end of the world would occur in our generation. Then they would cut to a commercial. Many of these were for low interest loans to help send your kids to college, refinancing of mortgages, living trusts, degree completion programs and other long term plans. All of these, of course, run completely counter to the belief in a near term end of the world.

So, one may well find computer programers and engineers, perfectly competent in their fields, who also believe in the demonic powers against whom the author of Ephesians says the Christian must struggle, and who honestly believe they are personally involved in spiritual warfare.

 

[TimCallahan]

I think it's more of a case of a certain group of Christians deciding they were besieged and wanted to wage a cultural war, then finding something to justify themselves.

What is particularly curious about siege mentality is that those who feel so besieged, who see themselves as threatened, are often doing well financially and under no real threat to their existence. At the same time, I've met people who were living marginally, not sure whether or not they were going to be able to hang on to their house, or, if they were renters whether or not they would be able to come up with the next months rent, who do not have a siege mentality.