153 - Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces That Determine Human Existence; The Powers

Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces That Determine Human Existence; The Powers. Volume Two

By Walter Wink

Philadelphia, Fortress, 1986. 227 Pp. $14.95.

Volume I of this trilogy, Naming the Powers (see THEOLOGY TODAY 42, 263f.), contains exegetical insights that give voice to an important aspect of New Testament thought largely muted by modernity. In the present volume, a representative selection of powers are "unmasked," under the following headings: Satan, the demons, the angels of the churches, the angels of the nations, the gods, the elements of the universe, and the angels of nature. Unfortunately, when the powers are unmasked, they turn out to be only aspects of the human psyche, as this is understood principally by C. G. Jung. In a sense not intended by Wink, this work could truly be called The Bible in Human Transformation, in that it transforms the Bible into purely human psychological terms. But if there are grave problems with Wink's demythologizing, he is still a good guide to understanding the myth itself. I continue to recommend volume 1.

Lloyd Gaston, Vancouver School of Theology, Vancouver, B.C.