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.