{"id":5099,"date":"2011-05-21T08:01:06","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T12:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=5099"},"modified":"2011-05-20T18:12:20","modified_gmt":"2011-05-20T22:12:20","slug":"naming-the-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"Naming the Powers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Do you want your thinking about angels and demons to be blown out of the water? Read “The Powers Trilogy” by Walter Wink.<\/p>\n

And then read them again.<\/p>\n

If Wink is right, then pretty much everything we think we know about Satan, angels, and demons is completely wrong, everything we think we know about spiritual warfare is wrong, everything we think we know about the separation of church and state is wrong, and everything we think we know about sin and temptation is wrong.<\/p>\n

I am going to do a three-part review, one for each book in the Trilogy. This review is on the first volume in the series: Naming the Powers<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of the three books, this one is both the hardest to read and the most important. It is hard to read because it contains a lot of the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for what is written about in the other two books. Some readers might find such content dry and difficult to wade through. However, since it deals with some of the primary Scriptures about Satan, angels, and demons, this book is the foundation for the other two. If you do not read this book, you may not understand where Wink is coming from in the other two.<\/p>\n

So the book is hard to read, but is necessary if you fully want to grasp the argument that Wink makes.<\/p>\n

And what is that argument? It is this: The Powers, which are referred to in many different ways throughout the Scriptures, are the spirituality of institutions, the \u201cwithin\u201d of corporate structures and systems, the inner essence of outer organizations of power<\/strong> (p. 5, 107).<\/p>\n

Eh\u2026What?<\/p>\n

Exactly.<\/p>\n

The idea requires much unpacking and explanation, but once understood, I think his definition fits quite well with our experience in life and with what we read in Scripture.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that every organization and institution\u2014whether political, economic, or religious, from large corporations and entire nations to small country churches and individual households\u2014have a \u201ctenor\u201d or a \u201cway of doing things\u201d that define, characterize, guide, and even justify the actions and attitudes of that particular structure. This spiritual dimension of a physical entity is \u201cThe Power\u201d of that organization.<\/p>\n

We cannot encounter these \u201cspirits\u201d apart from the physical entities in which they exist.<\/p>\n

Think of it as the \u201cmob spirit\u201d or the \u201cteam spirit\u201d or the \u201ccorporate spirit.\u201d All three of these organizations have very different \u201cspirits,\u201d but none of them can be experienced apart from the group in which they exist.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that these spirits do not exist. They do. They are very real. More real, in fact, than the disembodied, invisible, and undetectable spirits of much modern theology. To the contrary, these spirits are so real, they are incarnated within the organizations and institutions of everyday life. \u201cThe satanic is not an abstract force distributed equally throughout the cosmos like a gas. It is the concentrated inner spirituality of idolatrous human structures. And it is as real as they are\u201d (p. 139).<\/p>\n

There is great danger in this for the church.<\/strong> While we pride ourselves in being guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit, it may be another spirit which provides greater direction and control. Too often, in order to fight against the power-hungry and destructive spirit of oppression that governs many nations and corporations, the church has adopted the very same ideologies and methods that are used by the organization we fight against. When this occurs, whether we win or lose in the power struggle that follows, the end result is that we become just as evil as that which we fought against (p. 130). We have seen this time and time again in history. The victors become the oppressors, even when the victors are Christians.<\/p>\n

So what is the way forward? How can we struggle against the principalities and powers without adopting their methods and goals? Well, that is the subject of the next two books, which I will review later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[13,1185],"class_list":{"0":"post-5099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-books-im-reading","8":"tag-theology-angels","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nNaming the Powers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Naming the Powers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"185\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"278\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Naming the Powers\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\"},\"wordCount\":673,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Books I'm Reading\",\"Theology of Angels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\",\"name\":\"Naming the Powers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg\",\"width\":\"185\",\"height\":\"278\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Naming the Powers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Naming the Powers","description":"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Naming the Powers","og_description":"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":185,"height":278,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Naming the Powers","datePublished":"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/"},"wordCount":673,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg","keywords":["Books I'm Reading","Theology of Angels"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/","name":"Naming the Powers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-21T12:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-20T22:12:20+00:00","description":"Naming the Powers by Walter Wink contains the Scriptural backgrounds and exegetical research for a new paradigm of thinking about angels, demons, and Satan.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Naming-the-Powers.jpg","width":"185","height":"278"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/naming-the-powers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Naming the Powers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}