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"Modern people tend to assume that ancient people "conceived of the principalities and powers "and believed in them in the same way that we conceive of "and believe or disbelieve in them.
"We think they thought of the powers quite literally "as a variety of invisible demonic beings flapping about "in the sky, occasionally targeting some luckless mortal "with their malignant payload of disease, "lust, possession, or death."
"This view of their view finds its way into even "the best modern translations of the Bible, where words "like spiritual or spirits are taken to mean "that non-material entities are involved."
"Therefore, when we read ancient accounts here "of encounters with these powers, "some can only regard them as hallucinations."
"Some regard them only as hallucinations "since they have no real physical referent. "In short, our eyes and minds are captive to a way "of seeing and thinking that can only regard demons "or angelic powers as either invisible versions of persons "like ourselves or as fantasies akin to dragons and elves.
"A gulf is fixed between us and the biblical writers.
"We use the same words, but project them "into a wholly different world of meanings.
"If our goal is to understand the New Testament's conception "of the powers, we must attend carefully "to the unique vocabulary and concepts of the first century "to grasp what they meant by the language and vocabulary "of power within their own language and worldview. It's a virtue to disbelieve in something "that doesn't exist.
It is dangerous and arrogant to disbelieve in something "simply because it exists outside "of our current limited categories." Just because something is ancient doesn't mean it's primitive."
Walter Wink
Tim Mackie comments:
And this isn't just true in secular irreligious audiences. This is totally a mindset often in religious communities too.
And it is totally a product of living in the advanced technological age, where we assume that progress and technology means a progress and understanding, or progress and wisdom, or insight into the meaning of life and how things really operate. And Paul would actually probably say that's the powers at work. It's the ultimate deception, is to think that the rest of human history is just yesterday's news.
https://bibleproject.com/classroom/ephesians/sessions/15
"We think they thought of the powers quite literally "as a variety of invisible demonic beings flapping about "in the sky, occasionally targeting some luckless mortal "with their malignant payload of disease, "lust, possession, or death."
"This view of their view finds its way into even "the best modern translations of the Bible, where words "like spiritual or spirits are taken to mean "that non-material entities are involved."
"Therefore, when we read ancient accounts here "of encounters with these powers, "some can only regard them as hallucinations."
"Some regard them only as hallucinations "since they have no real physical referent. "In short, our eyes and minds are captive to a way "of seeing and thinking that can only regard demons "or angelic powers as either invisible versions of persons "like ourselves or as fantasies akin to dragons and elves.
"A gulf is fixed between us and the biblical writers.
"We use the same words, but project them "into a wholly different world of meanings.
"If our goal is to understand the New Testament's conception "of the powers, we must attend carefully "to the unique vocabulary and concepts of the first century "to grasp what they meant by the language and vocabulary "of power within their own language and worldview. It's a virtue to disbelieve in something "that doesn't exist.
It is dangerous and arrogant to disbelieve in something "simply because it exists outside "of our current limited categories." Just because something is ancient doesn't mean it's primitive."
Walter Wink
Tim Mackie comments:
And this isn't just true in secular irreligious audiences. This is totally a mindset often in religious communities too.
And it is totally a product of living in the advanced technological age, where we assume that progress and technology means a progress and understanding, or progress and wisdom, or insight into the meaning of life and how things really operate. And Paul would actually probably say that's the powers at work. It's the ultimate deception, is to think that the rest of human history is just yesterday's news.
https://bibleproject.com/classroom/ephesians/sessions/15