We have all heard about spiritual warfare, and putting on the armor of God. But who are we fighting? And what form does our conflict take? Dr. Greg Boyd, in God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict, attempts to answer these questions and more.
Some in our culture, because of the call for Christians to be peacemakers, feel that a warfare mentality is un-Christian. Dr. Boyd feels that a warfare mentality is the only mindset that enables us to truly deal with the very real problem of evil (and a call to be a peacemaker assumes that war is going on). He shows that the writers of the Bible, like the cultures around them, saw existence as a cosmic conflict between good and evil, and how the Bible calls us to join that conflict. This call is to more than just exorcism and the like. It is a call to holiness and a passion for God. All godly actions, including prayer, feeding the poor, charity, etc., can be seen as warfare, as acts which stand against the evil and chaos present in our world.
So join with Dr. Boyd in restoring a warfare mentality to the church. This book will open your eyes to the continuing activity of God in the world. It may also give you a new and greater sense of significance, as humans, through God and choosing God’s way, can work with God in restoring the world to the perfection that God intended it to have.
God at War is a challenging and provocative book, challenging some of our traditional philosophical ideas about God and reality and provoking us to join this cosmic battle on God’s side, the side of good. Dr. Boyd displays a keen understanding of the scriptural passages about conflict, and he quotes extensively from authors who have studied spiritual warfare. The result is a book both conservative and contemporary at the same time, well worth the effort in reading.
So much of spiritual warfare tends to be on the mystical side rather than on the truly Biblical side. Greg’s book God at War is a masterpiece that reveals the way God created the spiritual dimension and why demonic powers and Satan exist. This book is over 400 pages but is you pace yourself it’s well worth the time. Nothing I have ever read compares.
Pastor Dale
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