DESCRIPTION

The topic of spiritual warfare is an issue of ongoing interest in a number of sectors of the contemporary church. In most non-Western ecclesiastical contexts, the reality and importance of spiritual warfare is a given. Yet in the contemporary Western church, it remains a topic of curiosity and discussion.

Recognizing the significance of spiritual warfare for today's church, this multi-view work brings together leading theologians and ministry leaders to present major positions on the subject in dialogical fashion--all authors present their views and then respond to each of the other views. Each contributor interacts with five questions:

(1) What is the nature of Satan and the demonic?
(2) What role does spiritual warfare serve in the Bible and how central is it to the biblical narrative?
(3) How should Christians conceive of and practice spiritual warfare?
(4) Can individual human beings be "demonized"? If so, how does this happen and how is it to be dealt with? Can a Christian be demonized?
(5) Do "territorial spirits" exist? If so, are we called directly to engage them in "strategic level" spiritual warfare?

Understanding Spiritual Warfare provides a balanced, irenic approach to a much-discussed and often controversial topic. Offering a model of critical thinking and respectful dialogue, it highlights the differences between contributors, discusses a full range of important topics on the subject, and deploys biblical as well as theological arguments. The book will serve as a text in courses relating to theology, missions, practical theology, and spiritual warfare and will be of interest to pastors and church leaders.