Hans Deventer
January 22nd, 2011, 02:10 AM
Since Scott Daniels referred to this book in his Seven Deadly Spirits, the message of Revelation for today's church, I figured I would try to get my hands on it. And I did manage to get the 1952 Dutch original, looking old but in good shape. It was good to read theology in Dutch again, for a change.
The book is short (65 pages) and yet, the subject is very interesting. We're probably all aware of the famous verse from Ephesians 6:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
but prof. Berkhof addresses the question here, who or what exactly are these powers, these rulers, these authorities, these spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms? Are they all the same? Is there a difference?
He argues that these are the systems that bind us together, that originally were good, for these too were created by God (Col 1:16) but they have abandoned their beneficial role as instruments of God and have come to separate people from God, often demanding worship for themselves. A prime example would of course be how the Pax Romana became personalized in the emperor, who then demanded worship (though we should note that is it the people who initiated this!) This puts it all in line with what Paul describes in the second part of Romans 1.
The good news of course is that it is written of Christ, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Col 2:15) and that the powers that tried to separate us from God, are no longer able to do so
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38)
This little book is quite thought provoking and worth a read.
The book is short (65 pages) and yet, the subject is very interesting. We're probably all aware of the famous verse from Ephesians 6:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
but prof. Berkhof addresses the question here, who or what exactly are these powers, these rulers, these authorities, these spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms? Are they all the same? Is there a difference?
He argues that these are the systems that bind us together, that originally were good, for these too were created by God (Col 1:16) but they have abandoned their beneficial role as instruments of God and have come to separate people from God, often demanding worship for themselves. A prime example would of course be how the Pax Romana became personalized in the emperor, who then demanded worship (though we should note that is it the people who initiated this!) This puts it all in line with what Paul describes in the second part of Romans 1.
The good news of course is that it is written of Christ, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Col 2:15) and that the powers that tried to separate us from God, are no longer able to do so
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38)
This little book is quite thought provoking and worth a read.