Naming the Powers

by Walter Wink

Book Overview

The reader of this work will search in vain for a definition of power. It is one of those words that everyone understands perfectly well until asked to define it. Our use of the term 'power' is laden with assumptions drawn from the contemporary materialistic worldview. Whereas the ancients always understood power as the confluence of both spiritual and material factors, we tend to see it as primarily material. We do not think in terms of spirits,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080061786X
• ISBN13: 9780800617868
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This is a volume one

It lays the foundations for the series. This it does well. It could be observed that the book is overly technical, and if it were the whole enchilada that would be so. I makes you want to read the rest of the series, and that is what a volume one should do. For a digested version of this series "The Powers That Be" by this author is a great book. For an in depth treatment, the trilogy is excellent. I would suggest both.

Buy this book for the third section

When I started this book I was disappointed, but I wasn't when I finished. The first section is a series of word studies on Greek words associated with the powers. The second section consists of expositions of troublesome passages dealing with spiritual powers. I found these sections useful, but rather dry. The third section was a surprise, which caused me to think more highly of the book. Wink takes the language of power in the New Testament and casts it in contemporary language. Now power is not seen as something that is out there in the heavens. It is not something that is primarily refering to disembodied ghouls that ought to give Christians nightmares. Instead, it is found in the material reality of bodies interacting in complex systems that can influence and control others. Wink sees that the language of the New Testament is profoundly true, yet at the same time myth. It is myth that represents an all too real situation. The great value I have found in the book is that it gives us a way to speak about power that makes it more than simply the sum of our social systems, yet is not "spiritual" in a way that gives postmodern thinkers fits. Wink makes it clear that evil is real and even gives some ways to confront it in our world.

Meticulous scholarship and inspirational interpretation

This book lists the various words that are used for power in the New Testament and evokes their meaning in the wide variety of contexts in which they are used. It really makes the language of the New Testament come alive. Throughout the book, Wink's warmth and humanity shine through. Speaking of conflict, he says 'I resolved never to embark on a conflict which would not end in my sitting down to a meal with my adversary.' Inspirational - strongly recommended.