In a Warfare Theology, we see God against the Devil, Cain against Abel, Noah against the wicked, Moses against Pharaoh, Israel against the nations, Judah against Babylon, Jesus against Satan, the Church as the City of God against the City of the World, according to Augustine, individual committed Christians against evil spirits, and intercessors against the powers of Darkness. Such are primary themes or tropes of this way of understanding spiritual realities and of interpeting Scripture.
In a Blessing Theology, we see God creating a "very good" Creation, God promising Abraham that through him all peoples will be blessed, God blessing unworthy Jacob, the Mosaic Law as a blessing to Israel, Israel and Judah as a light to the nations, prophets calling Israel and Judah, Jesus teaching, healing and releasing from demons, Jesus blessing the disciples as He left them, the Holy Spirit changing the disciples, the Jewish people, the Samaritans and even the Gentiles, followers of Jesus as salt and light among the peoples. Such are primary themes or tropes of this way of understanding spiritual realities and of interpeting Scripture.
I do believe there is spiritual warfare, and the Devil and evil powers are real but, in my Blessing Theology, they are secondary not primary. I will explain later. A Warfare Theology is undergirded by the power of God, a Blessing Theology, by the love of God. Of course, the power and love of God cannot be separated, but which theology we hold depends on which, to our puerile human ways of seeing things, is taken as primary.
My Blessing Theology might emerge from my New View in Theology and Practice but even if not it is at least commensurate with it, resonating with it.
More to come ...
The Gospel of Christ brought blessing of many kinds to those societies where a large range of people accepted it.
When I say "was freed" I don't mean fully freed, but rather that in many people some of these freeings occurred, and this had a knock-on effect.
The knock-on effect was like this: In those who truly follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit grows the heart attitude of love, joy, peace, patience ... self-control [Galatians 5:22-23]. Such an attitude governs the life of the person, and others feel the difference. They are, as Jesus said, 'salt,' which helps preserve the world and makes living here 'tasty' again even in our daily lives, and 'light,' which reveals truth (the way things are) to others around and attracts others. Others around such salt-and-light people are likely to find changes in their own lifestyles.
Such blessing, begun by the Spirit of God in those who genuinely follow Jesus, ripples out over time, and eventually influence entire cultures. Historian Tom Holland has traced this happening in pagan Europe, over centuries, for blessing and good.
This page, "http://abxn.org/blessing.html" is part of Andrew Basden's abxn.org pages - pages that open up discussion and exploration from a Christian ('xn') perspective. Written on the Amiga with Protext, in the style of classic HTML.
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Created: 26 November 2022 Last updated: