The Church & the Powers
http://timgombis.com/2012/11/25/the-church-the-powers/ By timgombis I’m reading Walter Wink’s Naming the Powers again, in preparation for an upcoming project. I’m going to quibble with his identification of the powers, but I find his articulation of the social and institutional manifestations of the powers at times simply masterful. On the need of the church to resist adopting the power strategies of the culture: When the Roman archons (magistrates) ordered the early Christians to worship the imperial spirit or genius , they refused, kneeling instead and offering prayers on the emperor’s behalf to God. This seemingly innocuous act was far more exasperating and revolutionary than outright rebellion would have been. Rebellion simply acknowledges the absoluteness and ultimacy of the emperor’s power, and attempts to seize it. Prayer denies that ultimacy altogether by acknowledging a higher power. Rebellion would have focused solely ...