The Essence of War was a two part article published recently. Feedback on that article suggested two flaws or inadequacies. One asked for a “Battle Plan”. The other, thought the focus should have been more on prayer and weaponry or at least their role should have been highlighted. Taking these comments seriously, I would like to try and give some further explanation.
First, it needs to be understood that The Essence of War was not seeking to paint the whole picture. It was focussed on calling Christians to wake–up to the fact that there is a war raging. This may seem very obvious to some Christians. However, let me assure you that I have run into many who either do not understand that they are in a war or who, having grasped the concept, have little clue about the nature of the battle.
Second, the issue of Christian warfare is a big topic. At best, I hope here to scratch out a useful outline that may give direction and help people to engage in the battle effectively.
Third, please be prepared to sacrifice some sacred cows, jettison long held fallacies, and, most of all, adopt the “Berean Attitude” (Acts 17:11). One of the reasons that the Church is so befuddled today can be summed up in the term “Biblical illiteracy”. In short, as part of our compromise, Christians have stopped reading and, in particular, understanding the Bible. It would seem that they would rather read a book about the Bible, than put the effort into reading and understanding the Bible itself. The remedy can only be to re-immerse ourselves in God’s expired (breathed out), Holy Spirit authored, Christ magnifying Scriptures; accompanied by a simple yet fervent prayer that God would give us understanding and wisdom.
1. Christian Warfare.
A. Spiritual Warfare: The first issue necessary to understanding Christian Warfare is indeed to understand the terms. You will note that I have not, in general, used the more common term “Spiritual Warfare”. I avoid this term because it has become loaded with the terminology of the “other”. By this I mean that there has been an increasing trend in Christian circles to see everything as belonging to another realm or another time. Thus, many Christians, for instance, no longer believe that God reveals His wrath in time and space. They claim that God will only judge at the end of time.1 Now it is true that there is a judgement at the end of time. However, Romans 1:18 clearly tells us that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. Another instance would be the way in which Christ is seen only as love and peace. Yet Scripture posits that Jesus is in fact God’s Judge (Acts 17:30-31). We have, in modern Christianity, seemingly lost the ability to hold two truths together. The ultimate example of this would be in regard to the character of God. We seem unable to hold together the myriad and perfect attributes of God as they are revealed in Scripture. This being the case, it is not a wonder that we have trouble with lesser concepts.
The same can be said in regard to Christian warfare. Through the influence of faulty theologies that see the Old and New Testaments as in some way opposed to each other (discontinuity or radical discontinuity), it has become popular to understand that the Old Testament was filled with fleshy warfare – swords, shields, warhorses – whereas the New Testament is spiritual warfare – prayer and evil spirits.
I would like to posit at the outset that such a delineation is an outright fallacy and a case of wrongly dividing the word of truth (Contra 2 Timothy 2:15). It is errors like these that, over time embedding themselves into Christian doctrine and teaching, have really robbed Christians both of the will and ability to understand and engage in Christian Warfare.
The simple reality is that both Testaments teach exactly the same point. It is, at best, the emphasis that differs.
Footnotes:
1. Of course there are a growing number who deny God’s judgement completely.
Thanks Murray!
I see the points that you are making in using Christian warfare instead of Spiritual warfare, but nonetheless I think that the advantage of using the term ‘Spiritual warfare’ is helpful in that it reminds us that we are primarily ‘spiritual’ beings, and that our battle is primarily spiritual (Eph 6).
Nonetheless, the disadvantage is that it can and does enforce the idea that the spiritual is somehow the opposite of the ‘natural’, which is contrary to Scripture. Physical and Spiritual are two aspects of the same reality.
Perhaps Christian warfare is a better term, as it does not run this risk. Hmmm, I think I agree with you!
God bless,
Isaac
Greetings Isaac. If you read the remaining parts, hopefully more sense can be made of the position taken. In short, I do not care which term is used for they are almost synonymous. The point is that sometimes good language can be tainted by a false or errant concept.
We need only think of the term “gay”. If we are moderns and listen to an early recording of Neil Diamond, we would conclude that he is a homosexual. He says in one song that he was young and gay. For those of us who understand the change, we mourn the loss of a perfectly good term for ‘abundant happiness.’
So here, it seems to me that the term “spiritual warfare” has become wrapped in connotations that distract from the importance of the term.
Thank you for visiting and sharing your insight. However, be warned. It must be scary for you when you begin to agree with me!!
Only scary if what you say does not affirm Scripture!
God bless brother,
Isaac