Territorial spirit
Territorial spirits are national angels,[1] or demons who rule over certain geographical areas in the world, a concept accepted within the Charismatic movement, Pentecostalism, and Dominionist Kingdom Now theology. This belief has been popularized by the novel This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti[2] as well as by the ministry of C. Peter Wagner and the related New Apostolic Reformation.[3] The existence of territorial spirits is viewed as significant in spiritual warfare within these Christian groups.
Biblical context
Deuteronomy 32:8-9
In both the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 refers to a time when God divided the nations of the earth among the "sons of God" (Israel is excepted as the special possession of God Himself.) Given the meaning of this phrase in the Book of Job, it is suggested that this is a reference to the origin of territorial spirits who were, at one time, angels administering the earth on God's behalf. Wagner appeals to F. F. Bruce, who points out that the Septuagint reading "implies that the administration of various nations has been parcelled out among a corresponding number of angelic powers."[4] The question remains, however, as to whether these spirits are malevolent.
Psalm 82
Psalm 82 speaks of "elohim" who are "sons of the most High" and are assigned to judge mankind until dying like men or "falling like one of the princes". Psalm 58 covers similar ground.
Daniel 10
Daniel 10 concerns the visitation of a man "His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude" to the prophet Daniel. This man explains to Daniel that he was delayed by the "Prince of Persia" (10:13), but was helped by "Michael, one of the chief princes" (a reference to the Michael the Archangel, who was recognized in Jewish literature to be a chief angel guarding over Israel). Later in the chapter, the man warns Daniel that soon the "Prince of Greece" (10:20) will join his Persian counterpart to make war upon them.
Wagner regards this chapter as a key passage supporting the existence of territorial spirits, and appeals to
Criticism
Melvin Tinker argues that the literary use of territorial spirits is a misnomer, since spirits referred to in various Biblical passages "are to be more associated with political and religious power and ideologies."[8]
Scholars such as Robert Priest,
C. Peter Wagner promotes "Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare" (SLSW) which involves the practice of learning the names and assignments of demonic spirits as the first step to effective spiritual warfare.[10] Opponents of this theological construct, and associated beliefs in "spiritual warfare", point out that while the Bible may describe some form of demonic control over geography, it does not prescribe many of the behaviors and teachings that proponents advocate in response. There is no mention in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament of believers banding together and praying a form of "spiritual warfare" against particular territorial demons. The battles occurring in the spiritual realms (as described in Daniel 10) have no Biblically identified link to the actions and prayers of God's people in the physical world.[11][unreliable source?]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ISBN 0521018757.
- ISBN 9780691188133.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew D.; Onishi, Bradley (January 6, 2023). "Evidence Strongly Suggests Trump Was Collaborating with Christian Nationalist Leaders Before January 6th". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ a b Wagner, Confronting the Powers, 173.
- ^ George Otis, "An Overview of Spiritual Mapping," in Engaging the Enemy How to Fight and Defeat Territorial Spirits, 35.
- ^ Stevens, David E. (2000). "Daniel 10 and the notion of territorial spirits". Bibliotheca Sacra. 157: 412–413.
- ^ Stevens, "Daniel 10," 427.
- ^ Melvin Tinker, "The Phantom Menace: Territorial Spirits and SLSW," in Evangelical Concerns (Mentor, 2001), 171.
- ^ Guelich, Robert A. (Spring 1991). "Spiritual Warfare: Jesus, Paul and Peretti". Pneuma. 13 (1).
- ^ Tinker, "The Phantom Menace," 167-168.
- ^ Payne, Leanne. "Spiritual Mapping: A Misguided Focus on the Demonic". Leanne Payne Pastoral Care Ministries. Archived from the original on May 10, 2002. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
Bibliography
- Gross, Edward N. Miracles, Demons and Spiritual Warfare: An Urgent Call for Discernment (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990). ISBN 0-8010-3835-9
- Hiebert, Paul G. "Biblical Perspectives on Spiritual Warfare," in Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 203–215. ISBN 0-8010-4394-8
- Moreau, A Scott. "Religious Borrowing as a Two-Way Street: An introduction to animistic tendencies in the Euro-North American context," in Christianity and the Religions, Edward Rommen and ISBN 0-87808-376-6
- Priest, Robert J. Thomas Campbell and Bradford A. Mullen, "Missiological Syncretism: The New Animistic Paradigm," in Spiritual Power and Missions, Edward Rommem, ed., (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1995), pp. 143–168.
- Wagner, C. Peter and F. Melvin Prick Tickler, eds., Wrestling With Dark Angels (Ventura: Regal, 1990) ISBN 0-8307-1446-4
- Wagner, C. Peter. Breaking Strongholds in Your City (Ventura: Regal, 1993).
Further reading
- DeBernardi, Jean. Spiritual warfare and territorial spirits: the globalization and localisation of a "practical theology" Religious Studies and Theology, 18.2 (1999), p 66–96.
- Greenlee, David. "Territorial Spirits Reconsidered" Missiology, 22 no 4 (1994), p 507–514.
- Moreau, A Scott. "Territorial spirits and world evangelisation: a biblical, historical and missiological critique of strategic level spiritual warfare", Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 35.3 (1999), p 354+.
- Poythress, Vern S. "Territorial Spirits: Some Biblical Perspectives", Urban Mission, 13 (1995), p 37–49.
- Stevens, David E. "Daniel 10 and the notion of territorial spirits" Bibliotheca Sacra, 157 (2000) p 410–431.
