Rethinking Evil
I just read a fascinating and thought-provoking book:
Janet Warren, Cleansing the Cosmos: A Biblical Model for Conceptualizing and Counteracting Evil. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2012 (forthcoming).
In a nutshell she offers a biblical alternative to the predominant metaphor of evil as an army (of Satan and his demonic hordes) against which Christians engage in "spiritual warfare". She argues that while such metaphors are used in the Bible they are far more marginal than we think and that Scripture offers a range of alternative metaphors to conceptualize evil and how the church engages it.
In particular she makes use of spatial metaphors — sacred space with holiness at the centre and chaos/evil at the periphery — to reimagine evil. Tracing the biblical theme of evil from creation texts, through cultic texts, to the Four Gospels, then on to ecclesiological and eschatological texts she makes a very thorough biblical case for her views.
I did not agree with everything but I found it one of the most thought-provoking books on the demonic that I have read in many years (indeed, one of the most thought-provoking books in biblical theology that I have read for some while.)
Highly recommended.
Here is the cover copy:
Janet Warren, Cleansing the Cosmos: A Biblical Model for Conceptualizing and Counteracting Evil. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2012 (forthcoming).
In a nutshell she offers a biblical alternative to the predominant metaphor of evil as an army (of Satan and his demonic hordes) against which Christians engage in "spiritual warfare". She argues that while such metaphors are used in the Bible they are far more marginal than we think and that Scripture offers a range of alternative metaphors to conceptualize evil and how the church engages it.
In particular she makes use of spatial metaphors — sacred space with holiness at the centre and chaos/evil at the periphery — to reimagine evil. Tracing the biblical theme of evil from creation texts, through cultic texts, to the Four Gospels, then on to ecclesiological and eschatological texts she makes a very thorough biblical case for her views.
I did not agree with everything but I found it one of the most thought-provoking books on the demonic that I have read in many years (indeed, one of the most thought-provoking books in biblical theology that I have read for some while.)
Highly recommended.
Here is the cover copy:
Understanding evil spiritual forces is essential for Christian theology, yet discussion is almost always phrased in terms of “spiritual warfare.” Warfare language is problematic, being dualistic, assigning a high degree of ontology to evil, associated with violence, and poorly applicable to ministry. This original and unique study proposes a biblically-based model as the first alternative to a “spiritual warfare” framework for dealing with the demonic, thus providing insights for preaching, counseling, and missiology. Warren develops this model using metaphor theory and examining four biblical themes: creation, cult, Christ, and church. Metaphors of cleansing, ordering, and boundary-setting are developed in contrast to battle imagery, and relevant theological issues are engaged (Boyd’s warfare imagery, Barth’s ideas of evil as “nothingness,” and Eliade’s notion of the sacred and the profane). The role of the Holy Spirit is emphasized, and the ontology of evil minimized. This model incorporates concentric circles, evil being considered peripheral to divine reality. Warren’s well-constructed model provides a refreshing alternative to current “spiritual warfare” models.
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