Spiritual warfare is a range of activity by various Christian groups whereby
SatanicSatanic may refer to:*Satan*Satanism*Satanic , a 2006 film*Operation Satanic, when the DGSE bombed the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour...
demons are combatted, using a variety of methods depending on the group, but typically through
prayerPrayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship...
.
Range of practice, history, and methodology
Spiritual warfare is practiced all over the world. According to the Christian Broadcasting Network commentator Carl Moeller, spiritual warfare is practiced even into North Korea, which its commentator described as the most dangerous place on earth to be Christian. The expression came into wide use in the non-Christian media when African spiritual warrior Pastor
Thomas MutheeThomas Muthee is a Kenyan preacher and bishop. During the 2008 United States Presidential campaign, his visit to the Wasilla, Alaska Assembly of God in 2005, including a blessing that he gave Sarah Palin, was widely discussed. His prior claims of successful spiritual warfare in Kiambu, Kenya...
visited America and prayed over a 2008 presidential candidate. The Nigerian Tribune, the oldest surviving private newspaper in Nigeria, has published articles calling for the need for spiritual warfare.
In June, 1973,
Jessie Penn-LewisJessie Penn-Lewis was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works.-Early life:Penn-Lewis was born in Victoria Terrace, Neath in 1861. Her father was a Methodist minister...
published the Pentecostal book,
“War on the Saints”, and Kurt Koch published
"Occult ABC", which contain elements of the concept of spiritual warfare, if not explicitly using the expression. In 1991,
C. Peter WagnerCharles Peter Wagner Christian missionary, writer, teacher, and church growth specialist, notable for his controversial spiritual warfare practices and beliefs...
published
"Confronting the Powers: How the New Testament Church Experienced the Power of Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare” and edited
"Territorial Spirits". In 1992, Dr. Ed Murphy wrote a modern 600 page book on the subject,
“The Handbook of Spiritual Warfare“, from the point of view of
deliverance ministryIn charismatic Christianity, deliverance ministries are activities carried out by individuals or groups aimed at solving problems related to demons and spirits, especially possession. Leaders of and adherents to these ministries emphasize the activities of evil spirits in many physical,...
. Other notable expositions on spiritual warfare were written by Mark Bubeck and Neil Anderson.
According to the
Christian Science Monitor, "C. Peter Wagner, head of Global Harvest Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colo., is in the vanguard of the [spiritual warfare] movement." Others might disagree. In the version of spiritual warfare of Wagner and his associates and followers, “spiritual mapping", or “Mapping” involves research and prayer to locate specific individuals who are then accused of
witchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, or individuals, groups, or locations that are thought to be victims of witchcraft or
possessedDemonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
by demons, against which spiritual warfare is then waged. Peter Wagner claims that this type of spiritual warfare was "virtually unknown to the majority of Christians before the 1990s”. According to Wagner, the basic methodology is to use “spiritual mapping” to locate areas, demon-possessed persons, occult practitioners such as witches and FreeMasons, or occult idol objects like statues of Catholic saints, which are then named and fought, using methods ranging from intensive prayer to burning with fire, “they must burn the idols… the kinds of material things that might be bringing honor to the spirits of darkness: pictures, statues, Catholic saints, Books of Mormon… and what have you…. the witches and warlocks had surrounded the area … When the flames shot up, a woman right behind Doris [Wagner's wife] screamed and manifested a demon, which Doris immediately cast out!”
Christian practices of spiritual warfare range from an internal conflict with one's self, to versions involving taking some physical action against other persons, places, or objects, with the physical actions ranging from use of words, such as public accusations of witchcraft, to violence such as burning objects of others or harming women accused of witchcraft. The
CatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith has a different perspective on spiritual warfare from Wagner, which in no way considers statues of its own saints as objects which "honor to the spirits of darkness", to be burned in spiritual warfare. Pope John Paul II stated, “ ‘Spiritual combat’… is a secret and interior art, an invisible struggle in which monks engage every day against the temptations”, very different from the quote of Wagner cited above. At the other extreme is the historic Catholic
InquisitionThe Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
with its use of torture and slow execution of those accused of witchcraft. As in the Islamic community, elements of the Christian community differ about spiritual warfare, with extremes of opinions ranging from a view that it should be restricted to an internal war inside oneself as just cited, to calls for the death of homosexuals in Uganda for being possessed by demons, and outright hunting of women then accused of witchcraft and harmed, as in some other parts of Africa. Controversies have developed over interpretations of spiritual warfare methods (and purposes) by some Christian groups, which are used to persecute others, from other Christian groups (e.g. Catholics by some Pentecostals, or Protestants by Catholics over history), to other religions (e.g. Buddhists), other groups (e.g. practitioners of transcendental meditation or Freemasons), women who are accused of witchcraft, persons with other beliefs (such as in astrology), and owners of objects (e.g. native American art, Oija boards, tarot cards).
In some cases,
funeralA funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
s of gay people and American soldiers are picketed, which is practiced by the
Westboro Baptist ChurchThe Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
.
Basis, evangelical interest, and scriptural basis
Spiritual warfare responds to the Christian concept that the
devilThe Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
and
demoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s attempt to thwart Good and the
will of GodThe will of God or divine will refers to the concept of God as having a plan for humanity, and as such desires to see such a plan fulfilled...
, and are manifested in multiple ways, including by
demonic possessionDemonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
, demonic harassment, by attacks on a person's thoughts, relationships, or life with
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Those involved in Spiritual warfare are often referred to as
Prayer WarriorsPrayer Warrior is a term used by many evangelical and other Protestant Christians to refer to anyone who is committed to praying for others.Within the context of Dominion theology, prayer warriors see themselves as engaged in spiritual warfare against satanic forces.Prayer warriors may pray for...
.
Some contemporary
EvangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
circles are particularly interested in the concept of spiritual warfare. Some Evangelicals believe that when someone is attacked by demons or fallen
spiritThe English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
s, the targeted person can combat the attack by
prayerPrayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
,
fastingFasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
, consulting with their spiritual advisers, and perhaps also by a process known as
casting out demonsExorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
.
An example of a biblical basis for spiritual warfare methods is that the magicians burned the idols in
EphesiansThe Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, often shortened to Ephesians, is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been credited to Paul, but it is considered by some scholars to be "deutero-Pauline," that is, written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by...
.
A
scripturalThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
starting point for the concept of spiritual warfare can be found in the sixth chapter of the
Epistle to the EphesiansThe Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, often shortened to Ephesians, is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been credited to Paul, but it is considered by some scholars to be "deutero-Pauline," that is, written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by...
(
Ephesians 6:11-18), where Paul
metaphorA metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
ically urges the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
to arm him or her self with weapons and armor that resemble those of a
Roman soldierA centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
. However, it is worth noting that the idea "armor" from God, including the "helmet of
SalvationWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
" and the "breastplate of
RighteousnessRighteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
" which Paul mentions, are included in , which predates the
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
and its
legionary armyThe Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
by several centuries Psalm 18 in particular gives visualization of spiritual warfare (the divine power of God defeating the strategies of His enemy), and makes several references to equipment for battle. (Verses 32, 33, 36, 39). Psalms 17:5, 140:4, and 149:6-9 also allude to this battle. The battleground for this war was transferred from the physical realm to the spiritual. See Ephesians 2:5-6 (see also 1 Corinthians 15:24, Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:10 and 2:15).
Ideas related to spiritual warfare is mentioned as far back as in the Bible in Genesis 3, where the "serpent" (NACHASH in Hebrew, meaning "whisperer" or "enchanter") gave a different meaning to God's words and the man and woman's reality - especially as to the motives of God. They had been given "dominion" over the earth (Chapter 1:26) but the serpent (later identified as Satan in Revelation 12:9 and other passages) usurped this dominion through enslaving the man and woman through obedience to his words and meanings. (Romans 6:16 teaches that one is the slave of the one obeyed). Spiritual warfare throughout the Bible can be seen as the struggle to be freed from the control gained through deception, both historically and personally.
Traditional demonology
Major traditions of Christianity — including Catholic,
OrthodoxThe Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, Anglican, and Protestant — acknowledge a belief in the reality (or ontological existence) of a fallen angel known as the
devilThe Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
and
SatanSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. This affirmation is reinforced in the writings of the
Church FathersThe Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
, in the Councils and Creeds of the early Church, and in the later
confessionalA confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
documents of some Christian denominations.
The doctrinal position of some Western Christian Church traditions is that Satan and other fallen angels, or demons, are spiritual entities that exist and sometimes manifest their presence in the world. These entities exist to deceive humanity. Their primary mission is to thwart God's purposes on earth, and to prevent non-believers from placing faith in Christ and to prevent Christians from being effective disciples of
JesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. In the New Testament, Satan is referred to as "the father of lies" and as "the accuser of our brothers" .
Demonic powers in Scripture
Biblical passages that highlight the subject of demons are principally found in the gospels of
MatthewThe Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
,
MarkThe Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
and
LukeThe Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
, and the
Acts of the ApostlesThe Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
. St. Paul's epistles focus on the victory of Christ over principalities and powers. The
Book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
portrays the casting down of Satan and of Satan's being bound forever due to the triumph of Christ in the Resurrection. Other passages concerning demons and angels are scattered throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Outside of the
biblical canonA biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
, demonology is found in pseudepigraphal writings, such as the First Book of Enoch, and in the post-New Testament writings of the early fathers such as The Didache,
The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian literary work of the 1st or 2nd century, considered a valuable book by many Christians, and considered canonical scripture by some of the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus. The Shepherd had great authority in the 2nd and 3rd centuries...
, Ignatius's epistle to the Ephesians, and
OrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
's
Contra Celsum.
Possibly the clearest and most detailed example of spiritual warfare in the Bible can be found in Daniel 10. The prophet Daniel had been praying and fasting for three weeks, seeking understanding from God. When an angel finally came to Daniel to deliver a message from the Lord, he explained that he had been dispatched the very first day that Daniel began to pray but that "the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." Eventually, as the angel explained, the Archangel Michael had been fetched and was able to overpower the Prince of Persia, allowing this unnamed angel-messenger to make contact with Daniel.
The traditional response of the Church has been to positively confess and proclaim the supremacy and
victory of ChristThe term Christus Victor refers to a Christian understanding of the atonement which views Christ's death as the means by which the powers of evil, which held humankind under their dominion, were defeated...
in his resurrection from the dead over all things, including the devil, demons or fallen angels. In the early church, the rite of exorcism took various forms including prayer, laying-on of hands, fasting, and
anointingTo anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit, power or God...
oil .
Church FathersThe Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
such as
Justin MartyrJustin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
and
TertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
attest to the importance of authority in the name of Jesus Christ and the anointing power of the
blood of Jesus ChristThe Blood of Christ in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby; and the sacramental blood present in the Eucharist, which is considered by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and...
.
Roman Catholicism
In modern times the views of individual Roman Catholics have tended to divide into traditional and more modern understandings of the subject. An example of a more modern view of the demonic is found in the work of the Dominican scholar Richard Woods'
The Devil.
The traditional outlook is represented by Father
Gabriele AmorthGabriele Amorth is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome who claims to have cleansed tens of thousands of people of evil spirits. Controversially, he believes that practising yoga is satanic and leads to evil just like reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter...
who has written two books on his personal experiences as an exorcist for the
VaticanThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
:
An Exorcist Tells His Story, and
An Exorcist: More Stories.
Francis MacNuttFrancis Scott MacNutt was a leading member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and is an author of books on healing prayer, including Healing, The Healing Reawakening and Deliverance from Evil Spirits....
, who was a priest within the Roman Catholic
Charismatic MovementThe term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
, has also addressed the subject of the demonic in his writings about healing.
Reformation and Post-Reformation
The practice of exorcism was also known among the first generation of teachers and pastors in the Lutheran
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Johannes Bugenhagen Pomeranus was the pastor of the
WittenbergWittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
town church and officiated at
Martin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
's wedding. In a letter addressed to Luther and Melanchthon dated November 1530, Pomeranus recounted his experience of dealing with a young girl who showed signs of demon possession. Pomeranus' method involved counseling the girl concerning her previous baptismal vows, he invoked the name of Christ and prayed with her. (Letter reproduced in Montgomery,
Principalities and Powers).
The Anglican-
PuritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
writer William Gurnall wrote a lengthy three-volume work
The Christian in Complete Armour that was published between 1662 and 1665. In this work Gurnall stressed the place of reading Scripture, prayer and the name of Christ.
Protestant evangelicalism
In the American revival tradition among evangelicals, prominent preachers such as
D. L. MoodyDwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
,
Billy SundayWilliam Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...
, R. A. Torrey and
Billy GrahamWilliam Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
have all affirmed their belief in the existence of the demonic and had occasions to recount some of their own spiritual warfare encounters. In the nineteenth century, one of the major evangelical authorities on demon possession was the missionary to China,
John Livingstone NeviusJohn Livingston Nevius was, for forty years, a pioneering American Protestant missionary in China, appointed by the American Presbyterian Mission; his missionary ideas were also very important in the spread of the church in Korea...
.
During the late twentieth century, evangelical writers such as Mark Bubeck and
Merrill UngerMerrill Frederick Unger was a Bible commentator, scholar, and theologian. He earned his A.B. and Ph.D degrees at Johns Hopkins University, and his Th.M and Th.D degrees at Dallas Theological Seminary. After serving as a pastor at several churches, Unger taught for a year at Gordon College...
presented their theological and pastoral response to demonic phenomena. The problem of demon possession and spiritual warfare became the subject of a Christian Medical Association symposium that was held in 1975. This symposium brought together a range of evangelical scholars in biblical studies, theology, psychology, anthropology, and missiology (see Montgomery,
Demon Possession).
One of the very significant German writers is the Lutheran Kurt Koch whose work has influenced much of both evangelical and charismatic thought in the late twentieth century. The impact of his ideas has been recently examined by the folklore specialist
Bill EllisBill Ellis is a professor, author and researcher who contributes to the Journal of American Folklore .-Biography:William Ellis was born January 3, 1950 in Roanoke, VA and spent his childhood in Roanoke, as well as in Portsmouth, Ohio when his father was transferred to a section branch with the...
.
Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity
Spiritual warfare has become a prominent feature in some pentecostal and charismatic churches. The concept is well embedded in Pentecostal history, particularly through
Jessie Penn-LewisJessie Penn-Lewis was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works.-Early life:Penn-Lewis was born in Victoria Terrace, Neath in 1861. Her father was a Methodist minister...
's book
War on the Saints arising from the Welsh Revival in the early twentieth century. However, Jessie Penn-Lewis preaches a very different kind of spiritual warfare than that preached by the third-wave Charismatic movement of today - notably
C. Peter WagnerCharles Peter Wagner Christian missionary, writer, teacher, and church growth specialist, notable for his controversial spiritual warfare practices and beliefs...
and Cindy Jacobs. Other Pentecostal and charismatic pastors include
Don BashamDon Wilson Basham was a Bible teacher and author. Born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, Basham was raised in a Baptist home but later joined the Christian Church whilst at college...
and
Derek PrincePeter Derek Vaughan Prince was an international Bible teacher whose daily radio programme Derek Prince Legacy Radio broadcasts to half the population of the world in various languages...
, who have emphasized claiming the power of the blood of Christ.
The concept of spiritual warfare has been applied by Pentecostals to the Christian's spiritual growth in
holinessHoliness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
or what is technically called sanctification. A preacher may discern that parishioners are experiencing obstacles in their faith, prayer life and general spiritual well-being. That process of discernment may yield an awareness of spiritual oppression caused by a combination of personal sin and demonic influence. The obstacles are then removed through prayer, delivering a parishioner from demonic possession, and breaking down false beliefs about God. Dr. Ed Murphy is the author of a modern 600-page tome on the subject from the point of view of deliverance ministry entitled
The Handbook of Spiritual Warfare.
Pentecostals and charismatics have also applied the concept in the task of
evangelismEvangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and worldwide
missionsChristian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
. Former missionaries such as Charles Kraft and
C. Peter WagnerCharles Peter Wagner Christian missionary, writer, teacher, and church growth specialist, notable for his controversial spiritual warfare practices and beliefs...
have emphasized the problem of demonology on the world mission fields and the need to drive demons out.
A popular fictional portrayal of spiritual warfare is found in the novels by
Frank E. PerettiFrank Edward Peretti is a New York Times best-selling author of Christian fiction, whose novels primarily focus on the supernatural. To date, his works have sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Peretti is best known for his novels This Present Darkness and The Oath...
,
This Present DarknessThis Present Darkness is a Christian novel by Frank E. Peretti. Published in 1986 by Crossway Books, This Present Darkness was Peretti's first published novel for adults and shows contemporary views on angels, demons, prayer, and spiritual warfare as demons and angels interact and struggle for...
and
Piercing the DarknessPiercing the Darkness, which was published in 1988, is a sequel to Frank E. Peretti's novel This Present Darkness. It shows contemporary views on angels, demons, prayer and the spiritual realm. Piercing the Darkness won the ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award for best fiction in 1990...
, and Darrin J Mason,
Ominous.
Controversy and assessments
From inside the evangelical tradition a number of concerns have been raised about the current emphasis on spiritual warfare. Robert Guelich of
Fuller Theological SeminaryFuller Theological Seminary is an accredited Christian educational institute with its main campus in Pasadena, California and several satellite campuses in the western United States...
has questioned the extent to which spiritual warfare has shifted from its basic moorings as a metaphor for the Christian life. He is disturbed to find spiritual warfare metamorphosing into "spiritual combat" techniques where Christians seek power over demons. Guelich argues that Paul's writings in the Epistle to the Ephesians are focused on proclaiming the peace of God and nowhere specify any techniques for battling demons. He also finds that the novels of Frank Peretti are seriously at odds with both the gospel narratives on demons and Pauline teaching.
Missions specialists such A. Scott Moreau and Paul Hiebert have detected traces of animist thought encroaching on both evangelical and charismatic discourses about the demonic and spiritual warfare. Hiebert indicates that a dualist
cosmologyA Religious cosmology is a way of explaining the origin, the history and the evolution of the universe based on the religious mythology of a specific tradition...
now appears in some spiritual warfare texts and it is based on the Greco-Roman mystery religions and Zoroastrian myths. However, Hiebert also chastises other evangelicals who have absorbed the modern secular outlook and have tended to downplay or even ignore the demonic. Hiebert speaks of the flaw of the excluded middle in the thinking of some evangelicals who have a cosmology of God in heaven and humans on earth, but have ignored the "middle" realm of the angelic and demonic.
The excesses of unsubstantiated allegations made in the
satanic ritual abuseSatanic ritual abuse refers to the abuse of a person or animal in a ritual setting or manner...
phenomenon of the 1980s and 1990s has also prompted critical reviews. Some apologists in the
Christian countercult movementThe Christian countercult movement is a social movement of Christian ministries and individual Christian countercult activists who oppose religious sects thought to either partially abide or do not at all abide by the teachings that are written within the Bible. These religious sects are also known...
have expressed concerns that spiritual warfare techniques seem at times to have been based on spurious stories and anecdotes without careful discernment and reflection. Some of these general concerns have been expressed by apologists like Elliot Miller (
Christian Research InstituteThe Christian Research Institute is an Evangelical Christian apologetics ministry. It was established in October 1960 in the state of New Jersey by Walter Martin . In 1974 Martin relocated the ministry to San Juan Capistrano, California. The ministry's office was relocated in the 1990s near Rancho...
), and
BobRobert "Bob" Passantino , was an American Christian author and journalist who wrote on subjects related to Christian apologetics, philosophy, and the Christian countercult movement.- Career :...
and Gretchen Passantino in various articles published in the
Christian Research Journal. Others, such as Mike Hertenstein and Jon Trott, have called into question the claims of alleged ex-Satanists like
Mike WarnkeMichael Alfred "Mike" Warnke is a Christian evangelist and comedian. With the success of his books and recordings, Warnke became one of evangelical Christianity's best-known experts on the subject of Satanism before his claims of having been a Satanist high priest were discredited in 1991 by the...
and Lauren Stratford whose stories have subsequently influenced many popular books about spiritual warfare and the
occultThe word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
. Bill Ellis's work,
Raising the Devil, has detected the presence of folkloric stories about the occult and demons circulating in evangelical and charismatic circles, which later become accepted as unquestioned facts.
In 2000 an international collaborative attempt was made by evangelicals and charismatics in the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization to reach some common agreement about spiritual warfare. The conference gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, and yielded a consultation document as well as many technical papers published as the book
Deliver Us from Evil.
See also
- Territorial Spirit
According to some Christians , Territorial Spirits are demons who rule over certain geographical areas in the world....
- Thomas Muthee
Thomas Muthee is a Kenyan preacher and bishop. During the 2008 United States Presidential campaign, his visit to the Wasilla, Alaska Assembly of God in 2005, including a blessing that he gave Sarah Palin, was widely discussed. His prior claims of successful spiritual warfare in Kiambu, Kenya...
- Ed Kalnins
- Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps
The Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps is an American absolutist, military structured, intentional community. Founded in 1981 by "Generals" Jim and Lila Green, it is based in a remote area of Cibola County, New Mexico...
- New Testament military metaphors
The New Testament uses a number of military metaphors in discussing Christianity, especially in the Pauline epistles.In Philippians 2:25 and Philemon 1:2, Paul describes fellow Christians as "fellow soldiers"...
- World to Come
The World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
Further Reading
- Clinton E. Arnold
Clinton E. Arnold is a New Testament scholar who is currently serving as department chair of New Testament studies at Talbot School of Theology and 2011 president of the Evangelical Theological Society...
, 3 Questions about Spiritual Warfare (Grand rapids: Baker, 1997).
- Bill Ellis, Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religious Movements, and the Media (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2000).
- Robert A. Guelich, "Spiritual Warfare: Jesus, Paul and Peretti," Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, 13/1 (1991), pp. 33–64.
- Paul G. Hiebert, "Biblical Perspectives on Spiritual Warfare," in Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 203–215.