This week, we come to the end of our study of Unmasking the Powers by Walter Wink. [1] In this analysis, I wish to begin where we began last week—with the vision of the risen Christ in Revelation:

I turned around to identify the voice speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and among them was someone resembling a son of man, dressed in a robe that reached down to his feet, with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice resembled the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars, and a sharp, double-edged sword came out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if dead. Then, he placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Rev. 1:12-18).

This is a vision of the Risen Christ, the Word of God incarnate given to John. What John describes in visionary language, the Apostle Paul describes in theological language:

 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things; in him, all things hold together (Col. 1: 15-17).

In this passage, Paul concurs with John that the Word made flesh is the very image of the invisible God, through whom all things were created. The Word is not something created—a power or element of the universe. The Word is the personal presence of God that existed before our created universe and everything in it, both visible and invisible. In other words, the Word of God is not part of creation. This is important as a foundation for properly understanding what will be discussed in this blog. The basis for a Christian relationship with God’s creation is Christ, the wisdom and love of God.

Elements of the Universe and Angelic Beings

An element of the universe is a fundamental unit of creation. In Greek, the word is “Stocheia tou Cosmos.” The Stocheia (fundamental elements) are not angelic beings. For Wink, spiritual beings fall into two basic categories: those that arise out of the inner life of people and those that arise out of social forms:

Whereas Satan, the demons, and the gods manifest themselves primarily in the human psyche, the angels of churches and nations are encountered in the interiority of corporate systems, and the elements of the world encompass us at every level of existence. They are the ubiquitous building blocks of reality. [2]

For Wink, personal angelic beings are revealed within the depths of the human psyche, while social angelic beings manifest as the inner workings of social systems. The schema, in contrast, represents fundamental principles of the universe.

As the foregoing makes plain, the stocheia do not need to be material. Many are not. For example, Euclid named his book on geometry Stocheia of Mathematics. As the title indicates the stocheia are fundamental axioms or principles that underly rationality in any discipline, scientific, mathematical, artistic, theological musical, etc. [3] In the language of modern physics, tee stocheia are the irreducible invariant laws that govern reality.

In ancient Greece, various explanations existed regarding the fundamental units of creation. “Earth, Fire, Air, and Water” was one explanation. Later, material atoms were considered the basic components of the universe. Plato regarded the noetic forms as the essential elements of the created order. The writers of the New Testament do not venture a guess about what the fundamental elements of the universe might be. They are content to affirm that, whatever they may be, God created them, who brought all things visible and invisible into existence, as stated in the Nicene Creed.

This brings us to the stocheia of the modern and emerging post-modern world. In the contemporary world, the fundamental elements of the universe were understood as material particles and the forces acting upon them. These material particles existed independently of human observers and could be quantified using the principles of mathematics. When translated into social life, this doctrine of force and matter led to our society’s materialistic and power-oriented nature. In contrast, the postmodern world perceives things differently. Today, the fundamental elements of the universe are subatomic entities, such as quarks and muons, which are not considered material at all. [4]

Elements and Worldview

Every age embodies a worldview that impacts how we see and react to the world. In many ways, what we conceive of the fundamental elements of the world impacts that view. In the modern world, the fundamental units of reality were conceived to be atoms that acted on my forces, such as gravity.  (infinitely small particles). As modern physics developed, we became aware of particles smaller than atoms, so-called subatomic particles. While realizing that these subatomic particles were not material, many scientists continued to believe that a more profound understanding would still allow us to see a “material universe.” A material universe can easily be seen as a gigantic machine.

Nevertheless, even the first generation of quantum physicists realized that the picture induced by calling subatomic entities “particles” is deeply misleading. What we call subatomic particles are something like ‘ripples” in a universal quantum field. Even more disturbing to the modern “atomistic” world view, these particles appear to be deeply related to one another. In some way, the universe is deeply related both on a quantum and everyday level.

Wink is well aware of this fact. He is also profoundly impacted by the work of the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead and the so-called “process theologians.” Whitehead, who was a mathematic physicist, among his many accomplishments, tried to express the insights of quantum physics and relativity theory in philosophical terms. For Whitehead, the universe should not be fundamentally conceived as a machine but as an organism, not a material organism. Instead, the universe should be conceived as made up of experienced occasions, some of which have a duration significant enough to be called actual entities.  More importantly, societies of actual occasions make up the material world. These societies can be of many different kinds. Still, like all of reality, they have an exterior observable character and an inner being that can be understood and expressed in natural language or mathematics and the language of the sciences.

I have taken time to render the substratum of Whitehead’s thought to give meaning to Wink’s notion that there are angels of churches, nations, societies, and even creation are the interiority of social phenomenon. A church is a society. A business is a society. A nation is a society. A government is a society—and ultimately, creation is a society that has its own inner spirituality. No society can be reduced to simply its outer, observable nature. All societies, whether simple or complex, have an inner spiritual reality. This has significant ramifications for Wink:

1. Reality cannot be reduced to the functioning of smaller components; in technical terms, reductionism is only one strategy for understanding it.
2. Larger societies cannot be understood or reconstructed by science or technology solely on a “bottom-up” basis.
3. Reality as a whole, and societies in particular, are not granular or atomistic; they are complex and relational. They have their own independent reality. [5]

Christ, Angels, and a Postmodern Worldview

It is at this point that we return to the beginning. In a Christian view of the world, the God of Love and wisdom, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bound together by eternal love is the ultimate reality. The Word of God is the Truth and Love of God by whom and through whom all things were created (John 1:1-14). We cannot understand the world by reducing it to matter and force as the modern world tried to do. We can only understand the world holistically, which means, in some ultimate way, religiously. This Word was with God before the beginning and through whom the world was made (Proverbs 8:22-31; John 1:1). Thus, the ultimate inner meaning of the universe is to be found in Christ. [6]

In this context, what sense can we make of angels of nature? Following Wink’s fundamental analysis, angels of societies, including creation, are their inner spiritual reality. This inner spiritual reality (unlike Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8) is that inner spirituality that can be perfected or impaired by human actions. Thus, the angels of creation are an inner spirituality that human beings can make better or worse.

Angels of Creation and the Environment

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, and National Socialism—all the isms of our day—have in common their fundamentally materialistic view of the world. They hold in common an atomistic view of reality in which autonomous human beings are held in check by the power of economic forces and the power of the state. Interestingly, all allow untrammeled greed, environmental exploitation, and the abuse of creation in the lust for power, pleasure, and position. In some of its forms, it allows completely irrational positions to be adopted under the guise of the will to power.[7]

Amid this, God’s love constantly lures human beings to achieve an appropriate harmony with nature and a sense of its holiness as a creation of a holy God, sustained in constant intimate love and wisdom. [8] When humans achieve sustainable harmony with creation, they also achieve a measure of justice in society and with creation. [9] On the other hand, when we abuse the environment in unsustainable ways, using creation for our selfish purposes, we take creation away from that harmony which God intends. In Wink’s view, we either bring the angel of creation closer to its fulfillment or drive such wholeness (shalom) further away.

Conclusion

The ancient and Medieval worlds saw creation as organic and alive with spiritual and mental meaning. The modern world reconceived this unity as a dualism between matter and force and human minds outside of creation. In so doing, they created an estrangement between human beings and their home—creation. [10] Part of Wink’s project is to re-establish a unified and ultimately spiritual sense of the holiness of creation as a theophany, a physical representation of God’s hidden and invisible nature. A proper understanding of the holiness of that which a holy God created is bound to produce a sense of worship and of the infinite value of our environment. One does not have to agree with all of Wink’s arguments to accept the need to develop a unified worldview in which the value of creation is understood and acted upon. Creation is not god, but it is the work of a holy God. As such, it is to be nurtured, respected, and wisely used.

Copyright, 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved.

[1] Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986).

[2] Id, at 128.

[3] Id, at 131.

[4] Id, 160.

[5] Id, at 142-143.

[6] Id, at 144-146.

[7] Id, at 153, 163.

[8] [8] Id, at 163.

 I have recently published a sustained argument that justice is fundamentally tied to achieving social harmony through an ongoing process of adapting to social changes and perceptions of social injustice. G. Christopher Scruggs, Illumined by Wisdom and Love: Essays on a Constructive Post-Modern Political Philosophy (College Station, TX: Virtual Bookworm, 2025).

[10] Id, at 155.

 

After discussing the angels of the churches, primarily from the early chapters of Revelation, Walter Wink examines the “Angels of the Nations.’ He centers his argument on the appearance of the Archangel Michael in the book of Daniel. In this context, Daniel, nearing the end of his life, serves as a wise counselor who fasts and prays for his nation, the people of Israel, before being visited by a vision of an angel:

I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore, I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. And suddenly, one with the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke to him who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength.  For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me.”

Then again, the one with the likeness of a man touched and strengthened me.  And he said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!” So when he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and he said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; when I have gone forth, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael, your prince (Daniel 10:5-120).

This interesting passage suggests that an angel, Michael, who is the defender of God’s people, has been battling the angel of Persia, who opposes them. Moreover, and most importantly for Christians, the message is delivered to Daniel by “one like a son of man,” whom Christians consistently identify with Christ. Thus, one interpretation of the passage is that it represents a visitation from the word of God to a prophet, providing insights about angelic messengers.

The Context of Daniel

To interpret the passage, one must form an opinion about when it was written, by whom, and for what purpose. Many evangelicals believe that the book was written between 586 and 531 B.C. In contrast, liberal scholars argue that it was composed much later, around the time of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, possibly around 167 B.C. Traditionally-minded scholars view the book as a source of encouragement for the Jewish people from the period of the fall of the Babylonian Empire and the rise of Cyrus of Persia to the time of the Roman Empire. Meanwhile, more liberal scholars consider it the work of a later author. Lastly, there is a perspective that I find appealing: the story of Daniel originates from the time of the Babylonian captivity (605-531 B.C.), but it was later revised and adapted by another writer to address the challenges faced by the Jewish people during the Hellenistic Era.

The most straightforward question raised between the two groups is whether we should understand these angels as genuine angelic beings who revealed themselves to the prophet Daniel or as literary metaphors conveying God’s message to a later time. In Daniel’s case, I lean toward viewing the angelic language as primarily metaphorical, intended to communicate God’s word to the audience the author is addressing. The “vision” language suggests a need to express in human words a divine encounter that was not physical but rather mental or noetic in nature. This should not be interpreted as indicating that the words received by Daniel are not words from God.

Wink’s Analysis

In line with his underlying theory that views angelic beings as the true inner essence of a social entity, Wink aligns himself with the second group of interpreters while adding a unique twist to his interpretation. For Wink, Michael embodies Israel’s spirituality and serves as its “guardian angel.” The same can be said for the angel of Persia or any other nation. As the inner spirituality of a social entity, this angelic being holds the potential for both good and evil. Nevertheless, the concept of angels represents the nation’s brightest future, symbolizing an idealized personal perfection of that nation. This becomes especially evident as he discusses what he believes the angel of the United States might represent and what God might communicate to such an angel. Thus, for Wink, angels embody both the unrealized potential of a society and its current state.

Nevertheless, Winks wants to underscore that the angels are real:

The angels of the nations, who have already exacted upwards of 100 million human sacrifices in less than a single century, are not personifications. They are real. But their reality cannot be grasped as if it is projected onto the sky. They are not “out there” or “up there” but within. They are the invisible spirituality that animates, sustains, and guides a nation. And we reckon with them, whether we acknowledge their reality or not. [1]

The dual nature of angelic representations of nations—created good yet fallen from perfect alignment with God’s purpose—conveys a truth we observe all around us: the institutions that provide meaning and purpose to our lives, along with many of our actions in the world, are imperfect and often operate contrary to what even their supporters consider right. Recognizing the angel of a nation as distinct from the people and institutions that constitute it allows us to understand the complexity of change, the inevitable slowness of improvement, and the limitations of our best efforts. It encourages us to view our social endeavors as reflections of our personal and collective limitations, fostering a sense of fallibility in our social projects (or at least it should).

Wink warns:

The angels of the nations are not static, changeless entities, nor are their vocations irrevocably fixed in their foundations. God’s will, for the nations is continually being modified, in accordance with God’s primary objectives, in order to encompass the nations’ latest infidelities and achievements. [2]

Wink also wants to warn us against trivializing angels or nations. [3]We are all familiar with national characterizations: the Scottish are dour, the French unreliable allies, the British overly concerned with formalities, the Chinese inscrutable, and so on. These are not angelic spiritualities; they are characterizations. Their only utility is in pointing us to a deeper truth: all nations and cultures are not alike. Human beings from different cultures are not the same. To understand the human race and the conflicts of human history, it is necessary to consider the vast differences among people as well as our common humanity. We believe that the language of angels and nations helps us analyze and peacefully reconcile these differences.

Just as the angels of the nation should not be trivialized, they should also not be rendered excessively static. The angel of the social entity, like the social entity itself, evolves over time. A good way to understand this is by considering the United States of America and its beginnings as a small, rural nation. Today, it is a large, powerful, and primarily urban nation. The angel of America today is not the same as the angel of America in 1789. This serves as a warning against overly romanticizing the past or making misguided attempts to reclaim a history that cannot be recreated within human experience. While Americans should remain loyal to the principles and central institutions of our political life, adjustments must be made to adapt to vastly different circumstances.

Vocation of Israel, the Church, and Others

If the angels of the churches have fallen and failed to fulfill their vocation, it shouldn’t be surprising that the institutions they represent also fail. Wink allows Martin Buber to speak for him when discussing Israel’s failure to fulfill its vocation as a light to the nations and a beacon of justice.[4] Similarly, in Wink’s view, the church, and particularly the American church, has failed to fulfill its divine calling.[5]

There is a hint of bitterness in Wink’s analysis as he discusses the church’s failure to fulfill what he believes to be its prophetic destiny, as if it were a form of blasphemy. I’m not sure he should feel disappointed in any tangible manifestation of the church in this regard. It is the nature of human institutions to overvalue themselves and their opinions. Naturally, when any established institution seeks to critique the current state of society, it does so from a particular and inevitably flawed perspective. The failures of the churches, like the failures of Israel, should not surprise us in the least. Instead, they should warn us of the fallibility of our own positions.

If the churches and Israel have failed, Wink believes that secularism has also failed. Secularism has taken the worst position of all:

Secularism has simply insured that, in the absence of any divine constraints whatever, nations are free to behave as if they had complete autonomy, as if the nations were indeed absolute: as if it itself were God, deciding the fate of nations.[6]

Israel and the church have indeed failed, but fundamentally, they recognize the limitations of their own institutions. Ultimately, they are self-correcting. Secularism contains no such self-correcting boundaries. It imagines humans as gods and those in power as entitled to act as they please, driven by a Nietzschean certainty of their right to impose their will on others. Ultimately, to use religious language, secularism inevitably becomes demonic.

Conclusion

At his best, Wink understands that the language of angels ultimately speaks to self-correction and self-judgment. When people use patriotic language, including an idealized concept of their own national righteousness, they are, at their best, reflecting on a goal—a future state the nation seeks to achieve. To assert that the angel of a nation can embody both positive and negative aspects allows for critique of the current state of the nation or its administration, as well as the potential for future restoration. In the language of our Constitution, it is about achieving a “more perfect union.”

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986), 93.

[2] Id, 94.

[3] Id, 93.

[4] Id, 95.

[5] Id, 96.

[6] Id, 100.

I have noticed that several readers of several of my posts on political philosophy have read and downloaded those related to C. S. Peirce and his notion of “agapism.” For those interested, I recently gathered as a group, edited, expanded, and published a series of related essays entitled Illumined by Wisdom and Love: Essays on a Sophio-Agapic Constructive Philosophy. Those who are reading my essays on Peirce may want to purchase the book, which brings my meditations into one organized group of essays covering Peirce, Josiah Royce, Alfred North Whitehead, John Dewey, Herbert Mead, Michael Polanyi, David Bohm, and others. As the named authors reveal, this is not a religious work. It is philosophical.

Illumined by Wisdom and Love is also not an ideological work supporting the views of one of the various parties to political life in our democracies. I have attempted to write a book that those on the political left and right can use to improve their service to justice and the public. Instead, it focuses on the role of community and dialogue in public life. I hope it is helpful to anyone interested or involved in public life and wishes to preserve and make our institutions more effective.

I do not pretend to be a professional philosopher. I wrote these essays to honor my parents, whose lives were devoted to public service out of a deep concern for the quality of our nation’s political life and the stresses one sees on democracy and freedom worldwide. I am sure it will be only one drop in the sea and not a very important drop at that, but it seemed the least I could do.

It is available on Amazon and through other outlets.

One of the most interesting discussions in Unmasking the Powers concerns the angels of churches and the application of this idea in contemporary life.[1] This particular discussion is also one of the most Biblically grounded portions of the book, consisting of an extended commentary on Revelation 2-3. Wink believes that the so-called angels of the churches in Revelation introduce a way of looking at institutional spirituality that has application to governments, businesses, and non-profit organizations, which have certain spiritual characteristics that transcend a particular leader, group of leaders, or other institutional embodiment.

Not long ago, I talked to a friend about an organization I have known for over thirty years. He described it as having an atmosphere like a pirate ship! More than thirty years ago, I would have described the organization similarly under different leadership, with different employees, and even in another business climate. This story has an important lesson: One reason leaders must be careful about their spiritual character is that the spiritual component of their leadership may leave wounds or distortions that take many years to heal—if ever. One reason pastors should understand and deal with the spirituality of their congregations is that it matters more than next week’s sermon. The spirituality a pastor creates will outlive you for better or for worse. One reason businesses of all kinds need to address the spirituality of their organization is that the spirituality will be with the organization long after everyone involved is gone.

The Seven Churches

At the very beginning of the so-called “Letters to the Churches,” John writes: To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands (Rev. 2:1). The formula “To the angel of the church write” appears at the beginning of each letter. Earlier, John introduces the concept by writing:

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day, I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (John 1:9-20).

The vision is of the risen Christ, who was dead but is now alive and has defeated death’s power. He holds seven stars in his hands and walks among seven lampstands. As the ending makes clear, the seven lampstands are the seven churches, and the seven stars are the angels of those churches.

Following his thesis on the nature of angelic beings, Wink sees seven church angels as the inner spiritual reality of the visible, concrete congregation being addressed. [2] It should be more or less evident to the reader that John’s use of the term “angels” in this context may be strictly metaphorical. That is to say, in this particular case, he is, in fact, directly stating that these churches have an inner spiritual reality. There is no separate “angelic person” involved.

One’s opinion about this matter depends upon one’s general feeling about the nature of the book of Revelation and about precisely who is being addressed. Many commentators have noted that the number seven was considered a perfect number to the Hebrews and that the churches mentioned may simply be representative of all of the churches of Asia Minor or, indeed, all the churches of the world. I favor the view that the book demonstrates in its entirety a kind of symbolic representation that leads credence to the view that the seven churches symbolize a larger number of churches. The seven churches represent the whole church of John’s Day and, by extension, speak directly to the church today.

This observation does not cancel Wink’s basic thesis. It is consistent with the notion that organizations have an inner spiritual reality. One reason it is important to understand the idea of an “angel of the churches” is that the concept of a church’s inner spiritual reality applies to other social organizations, including transnational corporations, military establishments, university systems, and government bureaucracies—every kind of social organization. [3]

This inner spirituality (or angel) is not separate from the institution but represents its spiritual totality. Yet, it is also personal. People create organizations, yet organizations reflect a separate, organic, individual nature distinct from those who make them up. This nature can only be described as a personality, i.e., a personal spirit.

 The personal address in Revelation suggests more than mere personification of an organization. [4] It is the actual spirituality of the congregation as an entity. As an organization’s corporate personality, it represents its spiritual totality. This spirituality does not exist separately from the institution but is not identical to any specific concrete expression of such an institution. [5] The angel of an institution, including a church, is connected with the material expression of the church’s life as its interiority.

I belong to a neighborhood association and serve on some of its committees. It was formed in 1973, just about the time I graduated from college. Most of the founders are either quite elderly or gone. Nevertheless, the inner spiritual reality of our neighborhood association is evident in nearly every meeting we have. Deep inside the DNA of our association is the notion that the neighborhood needs to be preserved in its original state as far as possible. There is a great fear of change or accommodation for new developments, such as solar electric units seen from the street. The fear of some people that this change is but the beginning of a series of changes that will compromise our status as one of San Antonio’s premier historic neighborhoods impacts every decision. That inner spiritual commitment affects everything we do. [6]

The Ambivalent Nature of Angels of the Churches

In ordinary language, we often speak of “guardian angels.” We think people have guardian angels. Sometimes, people talk of churches or other institutions having guardian angels. Indeed, the archangel Michael is seen as the guardian of Israel, the people of God, and the Christian church in general. It should be evident that when John talks about the angels of the churches, he is not talking about quite the same phenomenon. [7] Michael is entirely holy and good. Michael is wholly a servant of God. It’s evident from the message to the churches that the angels of the churches do not have this status. John consistently speaks of both aspects of the churches that are good and by God’s will and compromises the churches made that have taken it out of God’s will. In other words, the angels of the churches are a good bit like human beings in general. They have a capacity for good and for evil. [8] This is an aspect of social angels that Wink will discuss not just in Unmasking the Powers but in his final book, Engaging the Powers. His point is that the angels are fundamentally the creation of a good God, but like human beings, they have the capacity for diversion from their created potential.

Discerning the Angelic Spirit

A significant problem implicit in Wink’s analysis is the question, “How does one discern the inner spirit of a congregation or other organization?” We human beings have no direct access to the inner spirituality of any organization. We must rely upon external observation of the organization to understand its inner spirituality. Most helpfully, Wink does try to give some guidance in this area as regards congregations. He suggests the following areas of inquiry:

1. What is the nature of the congregation’s regular physical space for worship, prayer, and study?
2. What is the social status of the congregation? Is it primarily working class? Office workers? Executives? Retirees?
3. Where is power located in the congregation? The pastor? The governing board? The women of the church? The wealthiest member? A particular family?
4. How is power exercised in the congregation? Is it a dictatorship? Is it democratic? Do people compromise to reach decisions?
5. How is conflict handled? Is it submerged? Is it vocalized at the slightest opportunity? Is it healthy, or is it unhealthy?
6. What is the structure of any denomination? Is it connectional or centralized? Is there a bishop, or are the higher courts of the church democratic? How much input is given to local congregations?
7. How does the congregation see itself? Is it growing, helpless, declining, missional, inbred, or outgoing? [9]

Naturally, no simple analysis of one factor to the exclusion of others can give us a complete picture of the inner spirituality of a congregation or any other institution. No simple list can provide us with such insight. One of the problems with consultants is that they come in and gain a very superficial view of a congregation based on interviews, questionnaires, and other analyses. Inevitably, the perception of the current pastor plays a more significant role than any other perception. It takes time and effort to perceive the inner spirit of a congregation. I might add that a wise pastor takes the time to understand this inner spirit, not to criticize it, but to understand how to serve the local congregation best.

Healing the Spirit of a Congregation

As John’s introduction to Revelation and his letters to the churches exemplify, all churches have positive and negative characteristics. The question for leadership is how to maximize the positive elements of the spirit of the congregation and how to minimize the negative aspects. We have John’s letters to the seven churches but do not have John’s personal reflections garnered over time. We can assume that John regularly received reports about the congregations of Asia Minor. He probably also talked to visitors from many places and learned how their churches were doing. Ephesus was a major center of the Christian faith and a seaport. Before his captivity on Patmos, we can be sure he was aware of the condition of the churches. He prayed and reflected on what he ought to say to the churches. This gives us some insight into how faithful leaders can heal the angel of a church.

1. Courage to Speak Wisdom. First, there is the element of courage. John had to decide whether to send his revelation to the churches and how to say what needed to be said. Part of what he had to say was difficult to say without risking hurt feelings. John had to decide what to say and how to say it.
2. Praise for Accomplishments. The revelator found something in every church to praise. The churches in Ephesus had been faithful, long-suffering, patient, and persevered through testing. (Rev 2:1-2). The church in Smyrna had done excellent work despite poverty and oppression (v. 9). The angel of the Church of Pergamon had worked hard despite opposition from pagan deities (v. 13). The church at Thyatira had been hard-working, loving, faithful, service, and patient in tribulation (v. 19). The church at Sardis had a great history and name (.3:1). The church at Philadelphia had been a faithful congregation in every way.
3. Areas for improvement. The church in Ephesus had grown tired and lost its first love. The church of Smyrna tolerated the intolerable out of fear (2:8-11). The church in Pergamon permitted harmful teachings to infiltrate and was experiencing decline (2:12-15). The church in Thyatira allowed itself to be seduced into sexual immorality from which it needed to repent (vv. 20-21). Despite its history, The church at Sardis was a dead church and needed to be renewed (3:2). The church in Philadelphia needed to persevere (vv.10-11).

Those who lead churches or other organizations can learn much about their spirituality by pondering Walter Wink’s analysis of local congregations. It may not be perfect, but it is certainly illuminating. Ultimately, any leader’s most important legacy, for better or worse, is the spirituality they encourage in the church or organization they serve. At the same time, this spirituality profoundly impacts what can be accomplished in any organization. Next week, I will deal with the angels of the nations.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986).

[2] Id, at 70.

[3] Id, at 70.

[4]  Last week,  one reader found some of what I said regarding the personalities of angelic beings (particularly Satan and fallen angels) objectionable. When discussing the “personhood” of heavenly beings, it’s important to note that this concept isn’t easily understood. Human beings have bodies, physical emotions, and similar traits, highlighting that angelic personhood differs from human personhood. The key idea is that persons exist independently of one another and cannot be reduced to, for example, the writer’s or perceiver’s psychological states. I believe this is what Wink is addressing. The nature of angelic personhood is ultimately founded in the personal nature of God, who created a world in which personhood can develop.

[5] Id.

[6] I would not want my neighbors to think I am speaking against historic preservation. Indeed, one reason we purchased in our neighborhood was its historic character.

[7] Unmasking the Powers, 70.

[8] This particular insight is why I believe that the term “angels of the churches” reflects the use of “angel” metaphorically distinct from the use of the term when referring to “the Angel Michael,” who I take to referring to a personal revelation of the being of God in the form of a messenger to the human race.

[9] Unmasking the Powers, 71-78.

Before continuing with this week’s post on the demonic, I want to let those of my readers who follow the philosophical posts know that my newest scholarly effort, Illumined By Wisdom and Love: Essays on a Sophio-Agapic Constructive Postmodern Political Philosophy, is now available from Amazon and on other platforms.

A friend of mine, who is a professional philosopher and theologian, considers the book to be a formulation of a proposal for the importance of a pragmatic as opposed to an ideological approach to political life. It is deeply impacted by Peirce’s pragmaticism and the thoughts of his followers and those modern thinkers most affected by the developments of modern physics. I am not a professional philosopher, but having been challenged by one of my children to undertake the task I did several years ago. Those who read my posts weekly will recognize the rough outline of my thoughts.

Accusations of the Demonic

There is nothing more common than for someone to describe a person, political party, institution, or other group with which they disagree as “demonic.” The word often means little more than “I violently dislike this person, party, institution, or group.” Like the term “Nazi,” the term has almost lost any serious meaning. In a culture in which unstable or prejudiced people, as well as political manipulators, constantly attempt to influence people by using the term demonic, it is essential to gain an understanding of the proper use and meaning of the term. Furthermore, as Wink points out, in a materialistic world where most people have difficulty conceiving of any spiritual reality, it is important to understand the Biblical use of terms like “angel” and “demon.”

Demons

In keeping with his definition of spirit realities as the inner reality of the physical world and his understanding of persons as embedded in a network of relations, Wink sees the demonic as a warped, inner spirit of human beings and their institutions. [1] He doesn’t deny that people have personal shadows, even demonic potential. Yet, this personal shadow or demonic is part of the network of institutions and physical reality in which a person is embedded. This is in keeping with a post-modern, pragmatic view of the human person as constituted in relationships with self, others, society, and the “life-world” they inhabit. This observation is consistent with modern thought about persons and groups developed within many disciplines, secular and sacred.

Once again, Wink is motivated by a desire to resist two opposite errors made by modern thinkers and many modern Christians: a denial of the demonic or an overly concrete, mythological understanding that overestimates and overemphasizes the demonic. The modern materialistic mindset tends to discount the demonic, giving free rein to demonic activity. On the other hand, a fundamentalist approach tends to see demons everywhere and give them more credence than is deserved. Wink does believe in the reality of the demonic as a separate category of existence—albeit as an “inner spirituality.”

Types of Demonic Manifestation

Wink identifies three kinds of demonic manifestation:

1. Outer personal possession,
2. Collective possession, and
3. Interpersonal demonic possession. [2]

Outer Demonic Possession. By outer personal demonic manifestation, Wink means an individual’s inner spiritual captivity to internalized social realities.[3] By collective possession, he means the possession of individuals in social groups. Finally, by interpersonal demonic, Wink means the struggle to integrate a split-off or repressed aspect intrinsic to the human personality that is only made evil by its rejection.[4] In all this, one can see Wink’s attempt to bring his explanation of the demonic into conformity with modern depth psychology and a process of understanding human personhood.

In discussing outer personal possession, Wink focuses on the story of the Gerasene demoniac. In his view, outer personal possession is not merely personal or the personal pole of a collective melody affecting an entire society. In outer personal possession, one person bears the brunt of the collective demonic, which is thus allowed to remain unconscious and undetected in society at large. I find this unconvincing. It would seem to meet a better analysis of personal demonic as a spiritual reality within an individual personal being who is the result of social forces.

Collective Demonic Possession. Collective possession is somewhat easier to understand. Following Kierkegaard, Wink sees that the 20^th century has seen many instances of what might appear to be societies giving themselves up to evil in mass. [5] In such phenomena as Nazi Germany, and perhaps some social phenomena in other societies, one sees a kind of mass possession by a demonic spirit that has an existence in a group impacted by the same spirit. Once again, Wink sees these demonic manifestations as the inner reality of a social dysfunction that is allowed to become collective and highly destructive. I will devote an entire blog to the Angel of the Nations, examining nations’ redemptive and demonic spiritual potential.

This week, there are remembrances of the Holocaust, which is a poignant reminder that societies do have demonic potential. This is not limited to Nazi Germany but can impact any society which loses its moral grounding and compassion for human beings in the quest for power and influence. After the Second World War, there was a lot of discussion in Germany about the collective nature of the German demonic spirit. Karl Barth thought it was only necessary to admit that Germany had been foolish. (It’s hard to look at the death of 6 million Jews as the result of mere national foolishness.) Others felt that Germany had been infiltrated by a demonic spirit that created a mass disaster.[6] Wink would seem correct that there was more than a mere political miscalculation but the idolatrous nature of Hitler’s entire regime.

Inner Demonic Possession. By inner personal demonic possession, Wink means a “split off” or unintegrated aspect of the self. This aspect is not alien to the self but intrinsic to the human personality and needs to be owned, embraced, loved, and transformed as part of the struggle for personal wholeness. [7] Jung’s influence is evident in this definition. On the positive side, this way of conceiving the demonic explains why some people who can be seen as demonic can also be seen and diagnosed as psychotic in some way. The notion that this unintegrated aspect needs to be healed by love and transformed into wholeness is not alien to the descriptions of the healings of Jesus in the New Testament. In Christ, the demonic is confronted with the steadfast love of God in human form.

Exorcism

One benefit of Wink’s analysis is his belief that not all demonic is subject to the tradition of exorcism. In so doing, he sets out some traditional signs of the demonic and guidelines for exorcism:

1. The exorcist can only discern if exorcism is strongly recommended by reason and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every potential explanation, other than demonic possession, needs to be rationally eliminated before an exorcism is performed. This would mean, I think, that to the extent a condition is treatable by psychology, it should be explained and treated as a disease, not a possession.
2. The exorcist must discern an evil presence or personality alien to the person or individual being exorcised. Thus, anyone considering themselves an exorcist must have strong faith, developed wisdom, long-suffering love, and discernment. Inexperienced, immature, or untrained persons can do much damage by ill-advised attempts at exorcism.
3. One common indication of possession can be if the person speaks in a voice distinctly other than their voice or speaks in a foreign language unknown to the victim. However, this is not conclusive since the potential for fakery or psychosis is always present.
4. While blasphemy against God, morality, or everything sacred is an indication of demonic presence, it cannot be said to be conclusive for the reasons set out above. There is often the potential for fakery or psychosis, as I have observed.
5. If the person possessed displays impossible physical contortions or seems to possess unusual power or strength or convulsions, it is an indication that the demonic is present. However, there can be other causes that must be eliminated before an exorcism should occur.
6. If the person believes they are possessed, it may be an indication that exorcism is appropriate, yet it cannot be said to be conclusive for the reasons set out above.
7. While exorcism is sometimes effective, it is not successful in all cases. This is particularly important for contemporary Christians. While the disciples were able to cast out some demons, they were not always successful. If exorcism is not necessary and unsuccessful, it can do more harm than good. This means that exorcism should be a remedy of last resort.

Thus, exorcism is only appropriate in rare cases. In most situations, another approach may be warranted. Although generally speaking, exorcism is not practical or even possible, Wink discusses the potential for such an exorcism to occur when there is a collective possession. A form of social madness or possession can likely be alleviated by the collective prayer of the church and the communal manifestation of the spirit of exorcism within the church. In my opinion, this essentially amounts to answered prayer. This is why prayers for deliverance from social evils and oppression are important and practiced by nearly every Christian group.

The Importance of Love

Near the end of his chapter on the demonic, Wink makes what I believe is his most important observation: “The best exorcism of all is accepting love. It is finally love, love alone, that heals the demonic.” [8] Thirty years of pastoral ministry have convinced me that this is true—and the greatest truth of all. It is to be remembered that when demonic spirits confronted Jesus, they faced the love of God incarnate. They confronted that wise and gentle love that Isaiah tells us would not break a bruised reed (Isaiah 42:3). So often, those who feel attracted to exorcism and confront the demonic forget this great truth. We are not facing the demonic in the name of Jesus unless we confront it with the very same love that Jesus showed towards every human being. As one Jewish friend commented, we must remember the infinite value of every human life. [9]

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986), 42.

[2] Id, at 43

[3] Id, at 43-50. I find Wink’s entire discussion confusing and unpersuasive. He seems determined to locate “outer personal possession” within individuals’ psyches, and while critiquing modern secular analysis, he substantially adopts it. It is hard to see what is being analyzed as “outer” and what is being analyzed as “inner.” It is hard to see as “personal” what is being described as internalized social forces.

[4] Id, at.

[5] Id, at 50.

[6] Id, at 54.

[7] Id, at 53.

[8] Id, at 57.

[9] Doron Avital, “Speech at a Council of Europe Holocaust Remembrance” found at https://youtu.be/PU4znOiICgI (downloaded January 27, 2025). This entire talk is well worth the time. It was given twelve years ago. Its words are even more relevant today.

In Naming the Powers, Walter Wink does a deep dive into the language of the New Testament concerning what we refer to as “the Powers and Principalities.” [1] At the beginning of Unmasking the Powers, Wink restates his thesis from Naming the Powers that the New Testament language referring to “principalities and powers” is best understood as the inner spirituality or interiority of an outer manifestation. The powers must become incarnate, institutionalized, or systematic to be effective. [2] In other words, there are no “invisible little green men” out there acting without some human actor embodying them. By and large, the principalities and powers indwell human actors, who are the outer manifestation of inner realities.

Unmasking the Powers

One might ask the question, “Why do these entities need to be unmasked?” the answer would appear to be too many. First of all, they’re invisible. Their operation must be inferred by things occurring in the physical universe. Second, perhaps more importantly, they must be masked in the modern world because our fundamental worldview inclined us to be blind to their operation. The modern worldview is highly materialistic and hostile to any spiritual realities. This makes it relatively easy for them to operate in the physical universe since, essentially, they are ignored. [3]

Fortunately, recent developments, especially in physics, have undermined the materialistic worldview of the modern world. What appears to us to be physical reality is a disturbance in the universal field. We refer to material objects as events that have reached a certain degree of stability and become subject to description by Newtonian physics. The end of the materialistic worldview opens up the potential for a spiritual and religious interpretation of events, which Wink attempts to do.

Satan the Adversary

There is no question about it: both the Old Testament and New Testament refer to an angelic being called Satan. (See Zechariah 3:1-5 and Matthew 4:1-11. Luke 4:1-13 & 22:31-34, I Corinthians 5:1-5). In its fundamental grammar, the name “Satan” means “the accuser.” Indeed, it is the fundamental role of Satan to accuse and make use of the human guilty conscience. Less, Wink says:

Satan is thus not merely a mythological character invented out of whole cloth; the “adversary” is that actual inner or collective voice of condemnation that any sensitive person hears tirelessly, repeating accusations of guilt or inferiority. [4]

Satan’s role as the tempter is thus the spiritual reality that our fallen guilty conscience leaves humans open to temptation and attachment to secondary or lesser goods and the ability to ignore or even violate the will of God. [5] “Satan is the real interiority of a society that idolatrously pursues its own enhancement as the highest good.” [6]

One of the most challenging aspects of Wink’s analysis is his tendency to reduce Satan and demons to, in the words of Jung, “archetypical reality.” [7] This deprives Satan of independent “personal reality.” In his books, Wink is attempting to overcome simplistic notions of the devil as a horned man with a red tail and a pitchfork. In my view, popular religion has its place, and picturing Satan in an almost comic hook characterization is simplistic but not necessarily without its theological importance. Such pictures emphasize the personal reality of evil, though its reality is not physical and may not appear as a physical reality outside of visions and dreams. I would prefer to think of Satan as the Bible describes him—a fallen angel created in the image of God who misused his freedom. One does not need to consider such a fallen angel as a comic book character with horns and a tail. Like any angel, Satan would be a noetic being but having a personal reality and character.

The second aspect of Wink’s analysis that I suspect is his tendency to locate Satan’s activities and the demonic in “the real interiority of a society.” This theological move tends to remove Satan’s independent reality as a personal force in the universe and replace him with a kind of maladjustment of societies and people within them. The “actual inner or collective voice of condemning” that we all perceive is satanic. The question is, “Does it originate in an inner or collective voice, or is there some personal reality outside of the personal and collective voice through which the deceiver speaks?” I suspect that Wink’s analysis is correct as far as it goes, but reality is more complex and mysterious. What is essential about Wink’s analysis is its insistence that the invisible reality of evil requires broken human institutions and persons to act in the material world.

Marshland

In a novel I wrote under the pen name Alystair West, I explored the phenomena of the demonic and angelic presence. I believe the connection between depth, psychology, and perceiving angelic activity is complex and interesting.  Here’s a part of what is said in the novel:

“There is something I’ve been wanting to ask my father,” I said. “Since we are here, I would like to ask you. Recently, I’ve been having dreams. In my dreams, I see a burning black figure. The black figure is almost exactly my size and shape. I don’t see any features of any kind on the figure. The figure is humanoid but black as night. Surrounding the figure is a kind of deep, blood-red fire that becomes yellow just at the fringes. In my dreams, the figure is filled with hate.”

Father White’s eyes looked intently into mine. I could see that he was thinking hard about the dream. When he finally spoke, he was direct. “Do you know anything about psychology, the psychologist Carl Jung, and something that psychologists call the shadow self?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Very little. Jung is just a name I heard in college.”

“You’ve been having a series of dreams. As a Christian, I believe dreams are revealing. Almost always, dreams are about the inner life of the dreamer. Our dreams reveal things about us that we do not consciously understand or perhaps want to understand. On the other hand, dreams present opportunities to grow as a person. Much of the time, we human beings submerge inner conflicts in the subconscious. In this way, what deeply concerns us does not interfere with our day-to-day lives. When we sleep, however, our capacity to submerge worries and anxieties is lessened, with the result that dreams often reveal something important.

“I don’t think you need to be much of a psychologist to understand that a young man in the prime of life who has a dream about a demonic figure of darkness is worried about something, perhaps about something within himself. From a Christian point of view, I wonder if you are concerned about the wisdom and goodness of the path you have taken in life. I even wonder if perhaps there isn’t a demonic capacity within you that you fear is seeking to be unleashed. From a purely secular point of view, I wonder if you are not worried about your life, character, actions, and ambitions. I cannot answer what the exact interpretation of your dream might be, but I think it is worth your going to see a professional or at least taking time to think this out for yourself.

“The psychologist Carl Jung called the darker aspect of one’s personality one’s shadow. In my experience, facing he dark aspects of our personalities takes courage. All human beings have good and bad sides. There is darkness in all of us. That darkness results from what we Christians call the fall. We are all anxious and self-centered, desire to succeed, gratified by power of all kinds, and seek our own self-interest to the detriment of others. Finally, we are all fearful about the future, especially about the prospect of our own deaths.

“You seem to be a young man who is ambitious and wants to please. These are good qualities with a darker reverse side. In the attempt to get ahead by pleasing your  clients, your employer, your friends, your lovers, and others,  if you deny you fundamental self, it can lead to nothing but suffering.”

We talked for another few moments, as he focused on my need to understand that the dream almost certainly had to do with me.

“It is easy to think of dark powers as outside of us. It is harder to confront the fact that dark powers cannot warp our lives without help—and that help comes when we humans allow our inner darkness to impact others around us: family, friends, colleagues, and the like. In some cases,  that darkness can reach the point where it deserves the description of demonic. When the darkness in us reaches this point, we can cooperate in our own self-destruction and the destruction of the families, communities, and nations we love. Just look at Nazi Germany as one huge example.”

I digested this information as best I could on short notice. I’m not a particularly reflective person. Before Father White’s analysis, I did not perceive any deep conflict within myself. Yet I knew that I was not happy about certain aspects of my life and my lack of any effective response. I wasn’t happy about working with Roger. I wasn’t happy about being involved in the transaction—and a lot less happy after my conversation with Maria. I was happy about Gwynn’s disclosure of our baby, but I wasn’t happy about putting her in that situation. I wasn’t happy about the difficulties we faced in getting married. I could blame others if I wanted to, but any fault was mine.

He asked me to describe my last dream. This involved a bit of a problem. I didn’t want my fiancée involved in this. Nevertheless, I decided that I could admit that I was in a relationship of which neither the church nor my parents would approve.

“Well, I’ve had this dream about five or six times. I was with my fiancée the last time. That time, the black figure was threatening not me but her. I woke up having jumped on top of her to protect her from the imaginary figure. She thought I was crazy and suggested I see someone, which is partly why I’m here talking with you.” I thought about what to say next. “I am always protective of my fiancée, but I’m particularly protective now. We think she’s going to have a baby, and I wouldn’t want anyone or anything to hurt that baby.”

He looked at me quietly, as if biding me to continue.

“On this occasion, the dream had a sequel. I either woke up or had another dream in the middle of the night. I don’t know which. I saw a thin pillar of multicolored light shimmering in the same corner where the dark figure appeared. It was a kind of comforting quality to the light, so I went back to sleep. Of course, when I woke up, there was nothing there.”

The priest now sat up straight in his chair. He looked at me with an intensity I have rarely seen or experienced.

“Arthur,” he said, “different people can look at what you have experienced in different ways. I am not a secular psychologist. I believe either your subconscious is confirming to you that all will be well despite your inner conflicts or  angelic powers are simultaneously challenging and looking after you. [8]

Conclusion

My understanding incorporates much of Wink’s beliefs, though I approach the issue slightly differently. I share with Wink concerns about people who give too much credit and focus too much on Satan and the demonic. Our former pastor in Houston used to urge the congregation not to give too much credit to Satan—and I think this is good advice. The key is to develop a balanced approach. It is also important not to “over humanize” Satan, as if he were a potent, supremely powerful person we cannot resist. We can indeed resist the evil.

In Unmasking the Powers, Wink restricts his analysis to Satan, Demons, the Angels of Churches, the Angels of Nations, Gods (little ‘g’ gods), the elements of the universe, and a new category He proposes: “Angels of Nature.” This week, I restricted myself to the fallen angel, Satan, because next week, I want to discuss the demonic more generally and exorcism in particular. In response to a question from one of the readers last week, I am going to talk about one specific instance where some Christians sense the presence of the demonic. In the following weeks, I intend to deal with the Angels of the Churches, the Angels of Nations, and the Angels of Nature before moving on to Engaging the Powers.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1984),

[2] Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986), 4.

[3] Id, 5.

[4] Id, 12.

[5] Id, 19.

[6] Id, at 25. Italics in the original.

[7] Id, 25.

[8] Alystair Wes, Marshland (Bloomington, IN: Westbow, 2023), 157-161.

This week, I begin a new blog series on the work of theologian Walter Wink1935-2012). Wink is best known for his “Powers trilogy: Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament (1984), Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (1992), and Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination (1982). [1]Wink attempted to bring his insights to a broader audience in a series of smaller works.

The Basic Thesis

Naming the Powers introduces this basic thesis: The language of “Principalities and Powers” in the New Testament refers to the inner pole of human social dynamics—institutions, belief systems, traditions, and the like. Presidents, legislatures, judicial systems, and the like are the outer dynamics that political science and other disciplines study. These institutions, actors, and “manifestations” possess an inner and an outer aspect. Thus, Wink states:

Every Power tends to have a visible pole, an outer form—be it a church, a nation, an economy—and an invisible pole, an inner spirit or driving force that animates, legitimates, and regulates its physical manifestation in the world. Neither pole is the cause of the other. Both come into existence together and cease to exist together.[2]

The outer dimensions of the powers and principalities cannot dominate our understanding, or we will inevitably misunderstand them. Science can study the outer dimensions of powers, but religion can examine the inner and spiritual dimensions and gain profitable insights.

What are The Powers?

In Naming the Powers, Wink conducts a deep biblical, grammatical, historical, and theological examination of the powers and principalities, which forms the basis of his deeper study and conclusions. When I first read Wink more than thirty years ago, I did not fully appreciate the necessity and importance of this first step. Relying on biblical and other sources, Wink details the basic words used to describe powers and principalities in the New Testament. The following is a brief personal summary:

• Angelos: In the New Testament, Aggelos primarily refers to a supernatural being sent by God to deliver messages, execute His will, or provide guidance and protection to humans. Angels are powerful, holy beings who carry out God’s commands and assist His people. However, the term can also refer to human messengers in specific contexts. It emphasizes the role of the messenger rather than the nature of the being.
• Angels of the Nations: In Middle Eastern thought, nations are assigned angels. For example, Michael, the only angel mentioned on my list, protects God’s people.
• Arche: beginning, origin, first; ruler, power, authority; position of authority, domain. This is usually a more abstract and general term than Archon, a specific ruler.
• Archon: An Archon is a “ruler,” often referring to a specific human public office title. Arthur is an Archon, and a grand archon is a prince. It can also mean someone who holds a form of status or power.
• Dunamis: Dunamis refers to power, strength, or ability. It is often used to describe God’s miraculous power available to believers.
• Exousia: Exousia (“from being”) is often translated as authority or power. It mainly refers to legal, moral, or spiritual influence and jurisdiction or dominion over a specific realm, right, privilege, or ability.
• Kyriotes: Kyriotes derives from Kurios or Lord. It refers to human, divine, or angelic lordship, domination, and dignity, sometimes concerning a celestial hierarchy.
• Arch-Angel Michael. Michael, or “Holy Michael, the Archangel” or “Saint Michael.” the first role is the leader of the Army of God and heaven’s forces in their triumph over the powers of hell. He is viewed as the angelic model for the virtues of the “spiritual warrior,” his conflict with evil is taken as “the battle within,” which is why he is included in preparation for this novel. Michael would be Arthur’s natural angelic protector. The second and third roles of Michael in Catholic teachings deal with death. In his second role, he is the angel of death, responsible for carrying Christians to heaven. In his third role, he weighs souls on his perfectly balanced scales. For this reason, he is often depicted holding scales.
• Onoma: Onoma means “name.” In Greek, it can refer to a person or place or signify authority, character, reputation, or identity. It is often used to express the essence or nature of a person, especially about God or Jesus Christ. The term can also imply the power or authority associated with a name, as seen in phrases like “in the name of Jesus. As a term of power, it means that the name mentioned embodies a power or authority that the speaker claims as their own under the circumstances.
• Thronos: A throne is a chair of the state with a footstool from which a ruler exercises power. The New Testament “Chronos” metaphorically refers to those with governing powers, including God and Christ. However, it can also be used abstractly to refer to an actual ruler’s power of judgment and action.

As these examples show, the inner or spiritual Powers are not separate heavenly or ethereal realities but rather the inner aspects of material or tangible manifestations of power in relation to nature—as well, we may note, in relation to prisons, the police, racial and sexual violence, debates over gun control, militarism and the ‘War on Terror.’ As Wink writes in Naming the Powers:

I will argue that the “principalities and powers” are the inner and outer aspects of any given manifestation of power. As the inner aspect, they are the spirituality of institutions, the “within” of corporate structures and systems, and the inner essence of outer organizations of power. As the outer aspect, they are political systems, appointed officials, the “chair of an organization, laws—in short, all the tangible manifestations which power takes. Every power tends to have a visible pole, an outer form, be it at a church, a nation, or an economy—and an invisible pole, the inner spirit or driving force that animates, legitimates, and regulates the physical manifestations in the world. Neither pole is the cause of the other. Both come into existence together and cease to exist together. [3]

In Wink’s view, the biblical worldview allowed its writers to comprehend the spiritual nature of human structures. The language of demons, spirits, principalities, and other such entities helped these writers recognize that social life has both seen and unseen elements and that both need to be considered to understand the dynamics that shape our lives.

Process Roots

As I explained in other writings, the biblical worldview has been supplanted in the minds of many people who struggle to grasp spiritual realities. One way of reincorporating the ability to grasp spiritual realities and yet continue to appreciate the advancements of modern science is to embrace a new way of looking at reality. One option, an option that Wink takes, is to incorporate the insights of what professionals call “Process Theology.”

This is not the place to examine process thought. Moreover, it is unnecessary to adopt all of its implications to appreciate Wink’s point. It’s enough to point out that Alfred North Whitehead and the process thinkers are trying to create a philosophical and theological worldview that incorporates the insights of modern physics. Fundamentally, this is a change from seeing the world as a material entity built of material entities bound together by forces. The new worldview sees reality as fundamentally a process.

This new worldview posits that the fundamental realities are actual occasions. Wink believes that social institutions have both a material pole (or, for example, an institution) and a spiritual pole, that spirit that empowers the institution. Material objects or actual entities are simply occasions that have reached a period of stability. According to Whitehead, actual occasions and entities possess a material and a mental pole. In the same way, Wink believes that human social institutions have a material pole (or, for example, an institution) and a spiritual pole, the spirit that empowers the institution.

This is to say that experience and intelligibility are present in everything from subatomic particles to human beings. In Whitehead’s view, every level of existence possesses mental and physical poles, including quanta, atoms, cells, organisms, the Earth, the solar system, our galaxy, the universe, all the way up to God.  For God, the whole physical universe is the physical pole, and all ideas and forms are the mental pole. [4] In other words, there is no ultimate distinction between mind and matter. Mind and matter are two aspects of a single reality. The potential for the kind of consciousness that human beings possess is, thus, an evolutionary possibility within the structure of the type of universe we inhabit.

Wink extends this distinction, positing that social institutions, such as governments, agencies, and other entities, have both a material and spiritual pole. These two poles are organically related and cannot exist without one another. Nevertheless, they cannot be understood except by understanding both the physical and spiritual poles. Thus, for example, one could say that Europe in the 19^th Century and the United States in the 20^th century were possessed by a spirit of colonialism that existed separately from their actual colonial empires. The United States, not a colonial nation in 1960, had become one by 1960 and possessed by that same spirit. (I do not mean to use the term “possessed” with the connotation of demonic possession. It merely refers to the presence of the power in its decision-making.)

This understanding is crucial because it seems that Europe and the United States often engage in foreign policy ventures controlled by the remnants of that colonial spirit—for example, the notion that they can and should impose a two-state solution in Israel and the West Bank or ensure the continuation of Syria’s current boundaries. The colonialist assumption that we know what is best in the region may blind actors to more productive solutions.

Next week, I move on to Unmasking the Powers.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Walter Wink, Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1984), Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1986), Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992)

[2] Naming the Powers, 5.

[3] Id.

[4] Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (New York, NY: Free Press, 1929, 1957), 128.

This week I am once again publishing a bit early. January 6 is Epiphany, which is traditionally the celebration of the coming of the Wise Men to see Jesus. As the notes at the bottom of the poem note, I’ve been working for on this poem for some time. I’ve even published it before. Nevertheless, I think it has a message given through the voice of Quirinius. It gives voice to the fatalism of an older, cynical, and world weary public servant of an empire faced with inevitable decline.

When Quirinius Was Governor of Syria

A bright day for traveling, but foreboding warns—
The transit of Magi may be a vile omen.
I sent them on to Herod, confident his fear and paranoia
Will unravel the mystery of a messianic child-king.

Octavian: Friendship did not send me here
To oversee an unpopular tax at your empire’s edge,
With Varus barely competent and Herod “the Great,”
Your lap dog perched upon his throne by a razor’s edge.

With no legitimate claim to rule, only convenient friendship,
Force of arms and a conniving mind, devious and twisted,
A man lacking any genuine principles or honor,
Herod rules because he flatters Rome and enlists our aid.

We can trust Herod no further than our leash extends:
The Arabian revolt and his actions then shows
He will honor us, then another, then us again
If it serves some dark purpose or strategy.

Nicholas of Alexandria defended his most recent
Scheme—and if death does not interfere,
There will be another duplicity, another scheme,
Intrigue upon intrigue until he lives no more.

Worse, his “people” loath and hate him for his blood
Is only half Jewish, and that half open to question.
Therefore, this visit of Wise Men sparks my fear
That to overthrow this usurper may be Heaven’s plan.

(Not that this would be too cruel a fate—
That this Idumean upstart, a vassal king
Who treats his pigs better than wives or children
Should be replaced is not too terrible a thing.)

I warned our “friend” and “king” by a secret message,
Sent with the Star Followers from Chaldea far to the east,
Knowing full well Herod’s madness and cruelty
Will cause the death of at least one small and helpless child.

These Median wanderers and their speculation
Concerning a Jewish King born in Palestine,
home to Rome’s most stiff-necked subjects,
Assures death when Herod hears their reading of the stars.

Someday, I fear, Herod’s “friendship” notwithstanding,
We will raze their temple, disbursing Jews as an example
Of our powers of domination and willingness to us  it
(These Jews, with their One God and disdain for other Gods)

Octavian: I watch these Wise Men fade into the autumn sun
As I watch my life fade into that autumn that leads
All men to another world, deep below where Hades
Rules. We are but slaves and shadows of the night.

My heart is desperate within me and wishes it were not so,
But I see no light beyond this darkness we inhabit.
How could any Olympian light follow this life of maintaining
A violent empire doomed to fall  (when we cannot know).

My career, our friendship, this empire Rome created
And I serve, is founded on power, deceit, and force of arms.
I am honored for my defeat of the Homonadenses—
A victory no one will recall within a generation of my death.

I have served as commander, governor, tutor, counselor,
Friend of Augustus Caesar and loyal servant of Rome,
All this is but a spider’s web of violence and shrewdness
My glory and honor will last no longer than my life.

All this for you, Octavian, Augustus, “Son of Caesar” (that
Child of ambition that broke our Republic and left
Us with this “empire,” vast, unstable, and expensive–
It dooms our ancient character through riches and war.

Old friend, we are not the powers we think we are,
Only servants of silent powers and principalities of the air,
Powers we believe we control but which, in fact,
Control us and our destinies, and wish us death in the end.

No, I cannot deliver this to you, old friend;
It would be my certain death now and not tomorrow.
Yet, how I wish I might write to you this word of my heart
That together we might find our way out of history’s trap.

Now, they are gone, these pilgrims, gone to seek a God/Man,
This anointed Messiah for which the Jews so anxiously wait.
Would it be, I wonder, such a bad thing if this King of Kings
Did arrive and we all gave up our pride and bowed down?

Gone our wars, gone intrigue, gone the lies of diplomacy—
All that I have spent my life doing and achieving
Swallowed up in a victory of a Prince of Peace:
Foolishness, of course, but if true, then what?

(Written by Chris Scruggs)

Note: I suppose this poem may have been inspired by some memory of T. S. Eliot’s poem, “Journey of the Magi.” It began in a November day of 1991 as I sat in the Union Theological Seminary library studying for final exams. It was cold and the leaves were swirling outside. Suddenly, I was overcome with the transience of empires. The first lines were written that day. Years later, I worked on it again in Brownsville, Tennessee, recognizing that it needed much work. Recently, inspired by a friend, I began again. That day in Richmond, I researched the figure Quirinius, who Luke says was governor of Syria, when Jesus was born (Luke 2:1). Now, I work on it from time to time in San Antonio.

Pubilius Sulpicius Quirinius (51 B.C.- 21 A.D.) was a friend of Caesar Augustus. Born of an aristocratic family, he was a good administrator and daring military leader. Luke has been questioned as to the veracity of his account because Quirinius did not actually become governor until 6 A.D. However, he held official posts in the region from 10 B.C. until about 7 B.C., which puts him in the region at or about the time of Jesus’ birth. He was an excellent soldier, capable administrator, and friend of Caesar. Census’ were taken about every fourteen years, and scholars believe that one might have been taken in the year 8 B.C.—a time when Quirinius was present. His role during this period was probably that of an extraordinary legetate with Quinctilius Varus as the Governor, who was not as capable as Quirinius. Varus appears in the poem as a figure Quirinius does not think capable. Quirinius ended his political career during the reign of Tiberius and died a trusted advisor and friend to Caesar. I have completely made up the notion that the Wise Men met him in Syria, though the trade routes might have taken them in that way. I have also made up the notion that by this time, Quirinius was a world-weary servant who knows only too well the vagaries of history.

Herod the Great (74 B.C.-4 B.C.) was a friend of Octavian and the Roman government, to whom he owed his power. He was capable, brilliant, ambitious, and over time, cruel and mad. The title “Great” comes from his great building projects, which included the Second Temple, Caesarea Maritima, Masada, and Herodium, where he died. Herod was of both Jewish and Idumean descent. Because of this, he had no real claim to the Jewish throne and was hated by the Jews. He was viewed as a half-breed. His cruelty and murder of his wife, mother-in-law, and three sons caused Augustus to famously say, “It is better to be a pig in Herod’s household than a son.” Although Herod was a client king of Rome and generally loyal, he was not above minor challenges to Rome’s authority. One of these minor disloyalties is referenced in the poem.

The Magi were probably historically of Median origin. Babylon and the region of Chaldea were famous for its wise men. The Medes were a warlike people, but after their conquest by the Persians, the ceased to have military power, they turned to scholarship and wisdom. Thus, the term “Wise Men” is not entirely without foundation. These Magi studied the stars and believed in the powers of their astrology. They were sought after as advisors.

As Rome grew, it became increasingly unstable militarily and economically. The empire founded by Julius Caesar and solidified by Augustus Caesar ended the Roman Republic and the virtues of the early Roman State. It’s stable years did not last for long, and by 64 A.D. when Nero allowed the burning of Rome, it was on a long slide towards is fall, which is ordinarily placed around 410 A.D.

All this has been on my mind because Christmas and Epiphany are my favorite times of the year, and the American Empire resembles the Roman Empire in many ways —a republic founded on simple virtues corrupted by wealth and power.

Beginning next week, I will write a series of blogs on the Powers and Principalities, which have a purpose for both the last of the Arthur Stone novels and my work on political theology. In the next few weeks, I will publish Illumined  by WIsdom and Love, a philosophical work.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

This posting is a rework of a prior blog and sermon. It seemed appropriate for the time we were in. I am posting it on New Year’s Eve as we say goodbye to 2024 and look forward in hope to 2025.

My favorite carol is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” written during the American Civil War, a time in some ways resembling our own. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the lyrics, which were later put to music. By Christmas 1863, Wadsworth’s wife had tragically died, and his son had been seriously injured in the American Civil War. On Christmas Day, he wrote a poem capturing the conflict in his own heart and the world he observed around him that Christmas Day.  Here are the lyrics:

I heard the bells on Christmas day, /Their old familiar carols play; In music sweet, the tones repeat, / There’s peace on earth, good will to men.”

I thought how, as the day had come, /The belfries of all Christendom. Had rolled along the unbroken song/ Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And in despair, I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “For hate is strong, and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.” [1]

The poem and Christmas Carol point out the divergence between the peaceful world for which Christians and others long and the violent reality of human history.

Our War-Torn World

Jesus warned his followers that wars and rumors of wars would mark the time between his first and second coming (Matthew 28:6). This Christmas Season, for the second Christmas, there are wars in the Ukraine and Israel and Gaza that threaten to engulf the entire Middle East. The parties engage in physical, psychological, and emotional warfare. Around the world, nations and international bodies have interceded themselves into the conflicts. Peace seems often on the horizon but then recedes to a far horizon. Maybe next year will be different, but this year, we can say with the poet, “There is no peace on earth—for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men.”

The World We Long For.

On Christmas Eve, we traditionally light the Christ Candle, a symbol that the One foretold by the prophets, the true Son of David, Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Wisdom and Love of God in human form, has come. His reign is not complete, but it has begun. It is represented imperfectly and sometimes unrecognizably in his Church, the gathering of his children by faith.

 In the Narnia books, the true King of Narnia, Aslan—a Christ figure—is coming. One indication that Aslan is coming is that the long Narnia winter is ending, and Spring is finally coming. Even Santa Claus appears to give the children gifts before Spring arrives. In Isaiah, the prophet also uses an image of nature being changed because of what the Messiah will do when he comes as a symbol of the spiritual healing of the land of his people. In Isaiah 11, after speaking of the supernatural justice of the expected Anointed One, the prophet has the following vision:

Righteousness will be his belt, and faithfulness will be the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together,and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11: 5-9).

The idea is that justice and injustice impact nature. When we seek justice and to live peacefully with others, humans and lives are changed for the better. [2] It is also a reminder that the hope for an entirely peaceful and just world is eschatological. In this world, wolves and lambs will never lie down together—and it is the foolish lamb that believes otherwise. This a lesson many in our culture need to learn.

Whether or not we visualize the future in poetic terms, we all long for a just world and believe that a just and harmonious world would be happier than the world we live in. Unfortunately, almost all of us also desire our favorite injustices to remain part of that world. We want the injustice that impacts us removed, but we do not feel so strongly about the injustice we inflict on others. God will not have it this way. God wants to get rid of all injustice, the injustice of the rich and the poor, of the powerful and the powerless, of the insiders and the outsiders. God desires a perfectly just world. There will not be peace until there is justice for all—and that goal escapes accomplishment by selfish, self-centered, and often immoral humans.

The One Hope We Have.

The cross reminds us that God suffers injustice with everyone who suffers injustice. Christ was arrested unjustly, tried unjustly, and crucified unjustly. God knows and understands the reality and power of injustice. The cross is where the mercy and justice of God meet—and it reminds us that God is with us when we suffer injustice. The resurrection is our reminder that God will ultimately win over injustice. Christmas is our reminder that the King has come. Winter may not be over, and it may get colder before spring, but spring is coming.

I heard the Bells on Christmas Day ends on this word of Hope:

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:/ “God is not dead, nor does He sleep, / For Christ is here; His Spirit near/ Brings peace on earth, goodwill to men.” [3]

Our hope is not in a political party or an army. It is in the one who is the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords–one who is not just a better human king, but the kind of ruler we humans can only wish to be.

I wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas this warm and rainy Texas Christmas Day (the day it was written) and this New Year’s Eve (the day it was published.

Copyright 2024, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (I864).

[2] I have noted more than once that we modern people too often discount and fail to recognize the impact of sin on the world we inhabit and its consequences, even upon those with whom we have no direct impact. Just as in the physical world, there can be “spooky action at a distance” in the subatomic world, in the macro world, I am convinced that spiritual realities “act at a distance.” I have seen the phenomena with my own eyes.

[3] “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” previously cited.

When I was a child, our family always attended the midnight Christmas Eve service at our church in Missouri. Our duty was to arrive around 10:30, light the luminarias, and help prepare the sanctuary for the service. The service was scheduled to end at midnight, with the final song being “Joy to the World.” As a pastor for 25 years, I led midnight communion services on Christmas Eve, once again, always timed so that shortly after midnight, we sang “Joy to the World” as a congregation. This week, our mediation is on Joy.

Christian Joy

Several years ago, I began underlining “joy “ in my Bible in orange. How often the word appears in the Old and New Testaments is incredible. In secular life, joy can be defined as an emotion evoked by well-being, success, good fortune, or the prospect of possessing what one desires. From a biblical perspective, the meaning is more profound. In the Bible, joy is always connected with God’s presence and favor.

Joy involves the presence of God. Jesus is “God with us,” and the Spirit of Christ today is God with us. This is why in Galatians we read, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Christian joy is not a human feeling; it is a divine gift.

Joy in the Old Testament

The prophets often compare the current situation of Israel with the joy it will experience when God sends his salvation on the land. In Isaiah, especially, the theme of divine joy is explored. For example, when God sends his salvation,

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom, rejoice greatly, and shout for joy.

…
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution, he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert (Isaiah 34:1-6).

The coming of the savior of God’s people is a cause for joy—a divine, not human, joy. This is a joy in which the oppressed, the sick, the emotionally wounded, the elderly, and all those denied justice and peace will find a joy frequently missing in our fallen and broken world.

Joy in the New Testament

If in the Old Testament, joy is a gift of God showing his favor to his people, in the New Testament, another feature is added: it is a joy that withstands difficult circumstances. The author of Hebrews puts it this way:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2).

The joy Christ gives is a joy that overcomes suffering and trouble—even enduring a cross and defeating its suffering and shame.

On the night before he was crucified, Jesus promised his disciples a wholeness that was utterly different from what the world could give (John 14:27). In James, the author puts it this way:

Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet all kinds of trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full impact so that you may be perfect, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

In other words, the trials and testings of this life can and will be overcome in Christ—and are a source of a more profound joy than mere physical, emotional, or mental well-being.

Conclusion

This Christmas Eve, I will not be leading a worship service. I am now retired. Likely, I will not even attend a service at midnight because of circumstances beyond our control. Nevertheless, we will sing or remember the words of Isaac Watt’s carol:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let Earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders, of His love.

Amen

The early Jews might be forgiven for doubting the “steadfast love” of God. For centuries, they were a conquered, defeated, and enslaved people. Their hopes and dreams of restoring the worldly kingdom of David was a constant dream that seemed more like an illusion, which in part it was. If Israel had been restored as simply one earthly kingdom among many earthly kingdoms, they could not possibly have fulfilled their calling to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Even today, this misunderstanding is a constant danger for the Christian church. We presume that we can somehow be a blessing to a broken, violent, and unstable world by being one among the many players for position, power, and influence.

The Steadfast Love of God

For all the centuries of their captivity, enslavement, and domination by foreign powers, the prophets and wise men continued to proclaim the steadfast love of their God. The utter faithfulness of God is repeated over and over again to the Jewish people as an encouragement for faithfulness and righteous living. Even today, when we baptize children, one of the most familiar verses to recite, verses that were recited at each of our children’s baptisms and at nearly every baptism I ever performed, comes from Psalms:

For the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments (Psalm 103:17).

The steadfast love of the LORD God is eternal—it never ends. However, our experience of that love requires that we respect God, keep his covenant of love, which has implications for our behavior, and remember and obey his commandments in times of temptation. The Jewish people recognized these requirements, which is why the prophets continually reminded them that they had failed in faithfulness, in keeping God’s commands, and in remembering them in times of forgetfulness. The same is true for us.

What Steadfast Love is and is Not

We live in a romantic society filled with silly and impossible ideas for human happiness and fulfillment. In such a society, it is easy to think of love as a feeling. Steadfast Love is not an emotion; it is an action. For example, no marriage can endure without some degree of temptation, forgetfulness, and weariness. What characterizes successful marriages is not a lack of temptation, a perfect memory of first love, or a constant feeling of passion. What characterizes successful marriages is faithfulness and endurance through the difficulties of life. What characterizes a successful marriage is a commitment to the other, which the Jews called steadfast love.

In addition to being a romantic society, contemporary America is also pathologically individualistic, which makes any kind of relationship unstable. This leads to another observation about the steadfast love of God:  while it is true that the Bible contains personal references to the steadfast love of God, particularly respecting God’s love for individuals, such as David in the Psalms, the vast majority of all of the references to steadfast love involves the promises of God, not individuals, but to the people of Israel. In other words, steadfast love is not just a personal virtue. It is a political and social virtue without which a stable society cannot exist. [1] The steadfast love of God for Israel must be mirrored in our steadfast love for the institutions that make for a stable, prosperous, and just life.

Steadfast Love on a Cross

Christ defines a Christian understanding of the nature of Steadfast Love. As a friend put it, Christ’s revelation discloses that “Love is the most rational act of all.” [2] Christians believe that in Jesus, God’s Light (wisdom) and Love (self-sacrificing relationality) were joined in indissoluble unity. God’s steadfast love is visibly seen and experienced in Jesus Christ.

As the Apostles, New Testament writers, and early Christians meditated on Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, they understood Jesus as the Christ and God’s image in human form—the form of Divine Love. The first name for Christians was “People of the Way” (Acts 9:2). Jesus showed his disciples both a way to fellowship with God and a way of life. This Way of Jesus involves serving and leading others with a gentle, other-centered, steadfast, sacrificial love.

There is a technical word theologians use for the willingness of God to serve his creation at its deepest point of need. The word is “kenosis,” which means “to empty.” It comes from the words of Paul in Philippians:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8).

In the older translations, the phrase “made himself nothing” (ekenosen) is translated as “emptied himself.” This is the classic testimony to God’s self-giving nature shown in Christ.

The God Christ reveals serves the greatest need of his creation and his people by emptying himself of overt power so that the human race might see and experience the deep, unfathomable power of God’s loving nature. Christ reveals the limitless, vulnerable, self-giving love of God. The message of the Cross is that God is the One who gives himself without limit, without restriction, and without any holding back for the sake of his creation and his people. [3] This is what we mean when we say, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

God’s steadfast love patiently bears with us, even as we presume upon his mercy. God’s love endures our sins, shortcomings, and brokenness as the Spirit works patiently and in love to redeem and restore us. The Way of Christ begins in trusting this revelation, as Christians follow Christ’s example daily.

Steadfast Love at Christmas

This week, we celebrate the love of God shown to us by the birth of a child in a small and insignificant city at the edge of the Roman Empire. His parents were ordinary people. Although through the eyes of faith, some recognized that this birth was unique, the birth was ignored by the wealthy, the powerful, the crowd, the influencers, the media, the elite, academics, and anyone else of importance. Nevertheless, this birth was the beginning of revealing what steadfast love really is.

Copyright 2024, Gl Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See G. Christopher Scruggs, Illumined by Wisdom and Love: Essays on a Sophio-Agapic Constructive  Postmodern Political Philosophy(Forthcoming late this year or early next year).

[2] Rev. Dr. Warner Davis, pastor of the Collierville Presbyterian Church in Collierville, Tennessee, in a private conversation, May 24, 2007. This meditation section comes from Centered Living/Centered Leading: The Way of Life for Christ-Followers Rev. Ed. (Cordova, TN: Permisio Por Favor, 2017).

[3] W. H. Vanstone, Love’s Endeavor, Love’s Expense: the Response of Being to the Love of God (London, UK: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1977). See also John Polkinghorne, ed, The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2001) for a deep analysis of how creation reflects the One who is love and became love incarnate to redeem and restore his handiwork.

We have family and friends in Israel. For most of the past year, I have checked the news daily following the conflicts in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon. One of the more frightening graphics I followed showed the air attack siren locations, many of which covered areas where we know people. We were, of course, happy for the people of Israel and Lebanon when a cease-fire was announced in the north, and we look forward to the day when there is a cease-fire in Gaza. Then, this weekend, we saw hopeful and frightening events in Syria. One of the sources I use for information also publishes a daily review of the war in Ukraine and the suffering there. We live in a conflicted world.

Watching for a Prince of Peace

One of the most familiar Christmas passages is from Isaiah:

For to us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore (Isaiah 9:6-7)

At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of that Prince of Peace and anticipate the final victory of that peace over the forces that limit and destroy human flourishing. As we can see, the arrival of the Prince of Peace did not bring the kind of “power-peace” we humans often desire.

The Peace We Seek

Old Testament scholars helpfully remind us that the passage from Isaiah was not written in a time of peace but in a time of war. Isaiah probably thought that the new-born child of the current Israeli king was to be the anticipated Messiah/Savior. One meaning of peace in the Old Testament (and today) is the absence of conflict based on the victory of one side.

Scholars also helpfully remind us that the meaning of “shalom,” the Hebrew word for peace, ultimately connotes much more than a mere absence of conflict. It connotes “wholeness and completeness,” a situation where all the aspects of human flourishing, physical, mental, moral, spiritual, and social are in balance. In ancient Hebrew, if a person asked, “Is your family Shalom?’ (a phrase we would translate as, “Is your family well?”) they meant to say, “Is your family doing OK?” Just as today, they would not mean, “Has your family stopped fighting?” They would mean, “Is your family doing well?” Thus, shalom includes well-being in every area of life. [1]

Personal and Social Shalom

We need the Shalom (Peace) more than the absence of conflict. It is a sense of personal wholeness and well-being. Social scientists tell us that human flourishing has several components, such as:

• A feeling of well-being
• A sense of meaning and purpose in life
• Economic security
• Mental and physical health
• A sense of integrity and virtue
• Close and meaningful social relationships
• An absence of personal and social conflict. [2]

This list reminds us that there is much more to shalom than an end to fighting. We human beings are social animals. We need close, healthy, non-conflicted social relationships; without them, we wither on the vine of life. As a parent, I have observed that healthy relationships characterize happy families. On the other hand, dysfunctional families are often characterized by unhealthy relationships.  People who grow up in unhealthy families are wounded by the dysfunction they experience as children. These wounds can take decades to cure—and sometimes, they are never cured. Where there are not such healthy relationships, children often grow up wounded. [3]

As a pastor, I have often noted that healthy relationships among and between members characterize happy, growing churches. The same phenomenon is true in business and other organizations. When human relationships among people are or become dysfunctional, there is a lack of health and wholeness, and everyone suffers. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit can work within our spirit to restore the wholeness for which we were intended—which is one of the primary roles of the Christian church.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Shalom-makers), he means a lot more than “Blessed are those who engage in. transnational peacemaking.” He means, “Blessed are all those who enter any situation, personal or social, in which human beings are not experiencing the wholeness for which they were created and work to restore health and wholeness.” This blessedness of true shalom is one of the primary fruits of faith in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the healing and restoring power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus as our Peace

Near the end of John, Jesus warns his disciples about the peace or shalom he came to provide. “Peace I give you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your hearts not be troubled nor be afraid” (John 14:27). Jesus warns his disciples that the peace, shalom, wholeness and flourishing that he will provide is not the “personal peace, pleasure, and affluence” that the secular world seeks and its apostles promise. It is a more profound, richer, and more lasting peace that sickness, age, disease, and death cannot take away. It is finally faith in God, forgiveness of past misdeeds, peace with God, and a sense that one is within the will of God. This is the Shalom we celebrate on Christmas Eve when we hear the voice of angels singing, “Peace on earth, Goodwill to men.”

Copyright 2024, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Donald E. Gowan, Shalom: A Study of the Biblical Concept of Peace (Pittsburg, PA: Creative Edge, 1984). This helpful study was a part of the Kerygma Bible study program sponsored by the Presbyterian church some years ago. This study was central in preparing this blog.

[2] This particular section of the blog is dependent upon research done by the so-called “flourishing initiative” being led by researchers out of Harvard. The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) seeks to carry out research and teaching to bridge the empirical social sciences with the humanities on topics related to human flourishing. See, for example, the Flourish Initiative at https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/.

[3] I do not want to indicate at all that every emotional scar indicates a dysfunctional family, as all families have some dysfunction. Nor do I want to suggest that these emotional scars from childhood cannot be cured. They can. See, Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality updated ed (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). Today, the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationship Courses are available as the “Emotionally Healthy Disciples Course,” which includes books, study guides, teaching videos, devotional guides, and teaching helps. Finally, for leaders, the following can be helpful. Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform your Church, Team, and World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).

 

This weekend, we celebrated Thanksgiving with four of our five grandchildren. It was a wonderful family time together. We were in the hotel where one of our children was staying on Friday evening. It was the day that this particular hotel lit its Christmas tree and had Santa Claus attend the lighting. All four grandchildren raced from where we were sitting to the Christmas tree. I held the three-year-old on my shoulder so that he could see over other people. On each one of their faces was the biggest smile you can imagine. Thanksgiving was over, and now they were anticipating Christmas!

There’s no question that Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I have long memories of Christmases past. Perhaps, unfortunately, it’s been many years since I felt the supreme joy of anticipation that my grandchildren experienced last Friday. Christmas should be a time of anticipation, but for too many of us, it’s a time of running around purchasing gifts (many entirely unneeded) and getting ready for the big day. At this stage of life, my job is not so much to enjoy Christmas as to help other people enjoy Christmas and build the memories my parents gave to my brother and me. Frankly, that’s fine with me.

Anticipating Christ

The Babylonians conquered Israel sometime between 587 and 6 BC. Four hundred years passed before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea—four hundred years of waiting. To put this into perspective, the United States of America is only about 250 years old. Imagine if we had been dreaming and anticipating freedom from the British Empire for 400 years. How many of us would remain hopeful that God would enable our nation to regain its independence?

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is quoted by Peter in the New Testament: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). Last Sunday, the preacher in the worship service we attended decided to preach on the Second Coming of Christ. I thought it was an odd choice, mainly since he spent his time defending a dispensational interpretation of the New Testament text from Thessalonians. It seemed to me that the first Sunday of Advent ought to be about anticipating the First Coming of Christ. Nevertheless, the sermon made a point: Just as the Jews had to anticipate the coming of Christ for a long time, and just as children have to anticipate Christmas, sometimes we have to wait and anticipate the coming of Christ into our own lives.

I’ve mentioned before that I wouldn’t say I like waiting. I rarely go to any restaurant where I must wait in line. It takes a family member insisting we go there to make me stand in line. I wouldn’t say I like standing in checkout lines at the supermarket, which I often do. I wouldn’t say I like standing in lines buying Christmas presents, something I’ve had to do recently. I haven’t had to wait 400 years for anything, but I’m sure I would find it stressful!

No matter how little we enjoy it, we all must wait for God from time to time. There are prayer requests that need to be answered, opportunities that never seem to arise, conflicts that seem never resolved, and problems that never seem to be solved. When this happens, and we have to wait, often we lose hope and the joy of anticipation. We lose the faithful anticipation that God will act on our behalf.

Christmas and Waiting

Christmas reminds us that this is a short-sighted mistake. It is part of our fallen human nature and our inevitable human anxiety about our future. We can’t know when God will solve the problems we are concerned about. We suspect that it may not even be in our lifetime. And, our fears are justified. Nevertheless, scripture reminds us that God hears our prayers and is in the business of answering all our prayers sooner or later.

When you get to be 70 or older, many of your worries are about your family and its future. I know most of mine are. No one can look at the condition of our world and not suspect that difficult times lie ahead. On the other hand, there’s no point in human history in which this was not true. There have always been wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6-7). There have always been times of economic dislocation, bad government, oppression, and other human suffering. Most nations, unlike the United States, have suffered times in which they were invaded and held hostage.

As a college student many years ago, I was on a train from Luxemburg to Switzerland. Sitting beside me was an elderly gentleman, a French schoolteacher. Twice in his lifetime, the German army crossed the border and entered into his country. As we talked, he reminded me that we Americans often cannot understand our world because we have not had to suffer some of the problems other nations have suffered. Before recent years, the vast expanse of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans protected our country from invasion or war. The nuclear age has ended our geographic safety, but we have not yet suffered an attack, conquest, and servitude. Those nations who have, and those people who have suffered as the ancient Jews suffered, look at the world differently. They look at the world much more the way the ancient Jews looked at the world.

Waiting Like the Ancients

Perhaps this Christmas, as we wait for our annual celebration of the coming of the Messiah, it would be a good idea for us to practice Holy Anticipation. Holy Anticipation is not a naïve anticipation. It is not the anticipation of a child that believes their parent will solve all their problems. It is not the anticipation of an immature person who believes things will be OK without me doing anything. Holy Anticipation is that anticipation that allows us to go about the business of living wisely and loving others, in the name of Christ, not knowing exactly what the future will bring, but anticipating that in the end, everything will turn out as God wishes to turn out, and therefore for good.

It is that anticipation that Paul speaks about in Romans:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified(Romans 8:18-30).

There are just a few weeks until Christmas. Let us begin by anticipating Christ’s special entrance into our lives.

Copyright 2024, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

Like many Americans, I have many fond memories of Thanksgiving. These memories stretch from warmer California holidays when my own grandparents and great-grandparents were still alive to colder Springfield, Missouri, punctuated by an occasional snowball fight in the early snow, to almost hot Houston Thanksgivings with our own family and the parents and now grandparents, to the current Thanksgivings with our children and grandchildren.

For most of my life the day involved a late breakfast, a very large lunch with Turkey and dressing, and a late evening snack of turkey sandwiches or soup made from the leftovers. Much of the time there was a football game watched by my Kathy’s or my father. On one memorable occasion, Kathy had the children do a complete Thanksgiving pageant, with each child playing some part from the partially legendary first Thanksgiving.

Since I began these blogs, it has been my custom to write a shorter Thanksgiving-themed entry for the week, usually focused on some particular incident of Thanksgiving history. Texans might want to know that a Thanksgiving Day may have been held as early as 1598 in El Paso, Texas!  A similar early Thanksgiving was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. The history of modern Thanksgiving Day often highlights a harvest celebration of the Pilgrims, which was held in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. As recorded in this blog, the first actual Pilgrim Thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings usually involved a special church service rather than a feast. In my childhood, we often attended  a early Church service on Thanksgiving Day.

William Bradford described the early Plymouth Thanksgiving feast in Of Plymouth Plantation:

They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they can be used (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl, there was a great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterward write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports. [1]

For nearly five years, our family lived in a small Tennessee farming town, Brownsville. In Brownsville, Thanksgiving was always special because by then the harvest would normally be nearly done. There was a special festive feeling in the air as the final cotton trailers came into town with their loads of the primary crop. Early America was a farming nation, and after the first Thanksgivings additional harvest thanksgivings became common annual events. However, they were celebrated on different days in different local communities. In 1789, after the American revolution, George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day.

Our periodic wars have also occasioned Thanksgiving proclamations. Our current national holiday dates to the Civil War; when in 1863, after victories at Gettysburg in the east and Vicksburg in the West, Abraham Lincoln declared a holiday in thanks for the blessings of the past year with the following proclamation:

The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, the order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. The population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Highest God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In all these holidays, there was a feature often missing from our current holiday of food, football, and family: actual time spent thanking God for the blessings of life that we do not necessarily deserve. If we are honest, we don’t deserve the freedoms, the affluence, and the blessings of life we now possess. They are gifts—and like all gifts, it is only appropriate to thank the giver. The Psalmist put it this way, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,  for his steadfast love endures for ever” (Psalm 136:1).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chris

[1] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Carlisle MA: Applewood Books, 1898)

As indicated in prior blogs, each of the Arthur Stone novels (Marshland [1]and Peace at Battle Mountain[2]) involves an economic and legal problem, murder, and engagement with spiritual realities. In Peace at Battle Mountain, the spiritual reality is our human problem with what St. Augustine called “disordered love.” We love as primary things that are secondary and as secondary things that are primary. A good deal of the suffering and distortion of human flourishing we encounter in our lives and the lives of others involves just this problem.

In Peace at Battle Mountain, the aging and now retired managing partner of Winchester & Wells talks to the now middle-aged Arthur Stone about this problem:

Patrick decided to get to the point.

            “Arthur, you know that, for years and years, I was all in at the firm. I thought we were building something meaningful. I also felt I was doing something important and building an important reputation. I rarely worked less than seventy hours a week. For many years, I never even took a vacation. The law was my life.

            “I realized I was mistaken when Jeanie got sick so soon after I retired. The firm was important, but Jeanie and the children were more important. She rarely complained, but everything we planned to do in retirement never happened. I had my priorities mixed up.

            “You have been far more successful than I ever was. You are known throughout the nation. Most people think you are Texas’s best litigator and corporate attorney. It makes me proud every time I hear your name. But you are fifty now. Soon, your children will be grown. As you have said, the law is changing, and there is every possibility that what we know as Winchester & Wells might not survive the changes. I would hate to see you at seventy alone and thinking, It was not worth it.

            “I am an Irish Catholic. I still go to mass once a week. Our priest uses a message from St. Augustine in sermons at least once a year. It is about disordered love. Augustine felt that human beings love as primary, what are secondary things like power, success, possessions, and pleasure. In the process, we make love for God and other people secondary. Most of the world’s problems come from loving the wrong things too much or the right things too little

            “I would hate for you to chase crown of victory after crown of victory for another twenty years or so, only to end up alone and empty. Plenty of men and women do. I did. Your family is more important than winning another case or even 100 other cases. You are a wealthy man and do not need to show how good you are to anyone ever again. Right now, your family needs you. [3]

In his great work, “On Christian Doctrine,” St. Augustine puts it this way:

Living a just and holy life requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things: to love things in the right order so that you do not love what is not to be loved or fail to love what is to be loved or have a greater love for what should be loved less, or an equal love for things that should be loved less or more, or a lesser or greater love for things that should be loved equally. [4]

In On Christian Doctrine, Augustine bases his entire ethical theory on the Great Commandment, “You shall love the Lord that God with all your heart, and all the soul, and all your mind and your neighbor as your self (Matthew 22: 35-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10: 25-28).In other words, a Christian is to order his or her affections toward God first and others second. Our love toward our neighbor is just a part of our love for God, now shown to God’s creation and all his creatures. Other human beings are part of that creation and art to be loved in the same way that God loved them and in Christ gave his life for them.

The duty to love others cannot be divorced entirely from our responsibility to communicate the gospel. Part of loving another person is to bring them into a vital connection with that God who is love and who loves his creation and every creature. This part of love is captured in the Great Commission. God does not ask Christians to share their faith out of ego, narcissism, or a desire for power. God desires Christians to share their faith because God is love and desires his creation and creatures to live with love for God and others.

One way we can distort our lives is by loving human beings, who ought to be loved for their own sake, as objects of our desire. This is one of the problems in Peace Battle Mountain. In particular, Lance DuFort is incapable of loving others except as vehicles for his own ambitions and desires. Others in the book suffer the same fate.

In the passage quoted above, Arthur Stone meets with his mentor, Patrick Armbruster, who gives him advice about organizing his love for his wife and family. Patrick is aware that human beings can worship their own work and accomplishments. He is fearful that Arthur is falling into this trap of distorted love.

Building a business, a church, or a nonprofit organization can be demanding. Those who undertake such an effort must love the organization that they are creating. As anyone who has had a career knows, it is easy to give a job or organization a kind of love that one should reserve for God and others. In particular, one’s family. I would say that I was guilty of this during my professional career. It is easy to love ourselves in our own ambitions to the exclusion of our love for others and God.

Peace at Battle Mountain is primarily about love. It is about distorted lives and the struggle we humans must engage in to re-order our loves properly. As pointed out, we find it easy to love ourselves. We find it harder to love God and others. We humans are naturally selfish, and the result of our natural selfishness is that we need to have these loves re-ordered by grace. It is a slow process. It doesn’t happen in an hour or a day. There may be a moment in which we sense that we are committed to re-ordering our loves and even making some progress and re-ordering our loves—but that reordering will take the rest of our lives.

Copyright 2024, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Alystair West, Marshland (Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, 2023). The book is available on Amazon.

[2] Alystair West, Peace at Battle Mountain (Hunt, TX: Quansus, 2024). The book is available on Amazon.

[3] Peace at Battle Mountain, 171-172.

[4] St. Augustine, “On Christian Doctrine” Chapter 27 in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1st Series Vol, 2 (Grand Rapids MI: Hendrickson, 1994).