263 - Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament

Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament
By Walter Wink
Philadelphia, Fortress, 1984. 181 pp. $14.95.

The interpretation of principalities and powers has been very much on the fringe of New Testament scholarship in recent times. Exegetes have tended to mythologize them into purely spiritual beings and political theologians to reduce them to social structures and institutions. Then it seemed that they were banished from meaningful discourse forever by Wesley Carr who, in his Angels and Principalities (1981), managed to interpret all of the passages as referring either to good angels or to mere human individuals. Wink's important study puts them firmly in the center again, in a work that deserves to have an influence in the '80s comparable to Cullmann's Christ and Time in the '50s.

Wink wisely begins not with "Powers" as traditionally conceived, but with all the language of power (arché, exousia, dynamis, etc.) that pervades the entire New Testament and includes "those incumbents, offices, structures, roles, institutions, ideologies, rituals, rules, agents, and spiritual influences by which power is established and exercised." Such powers are simultaneously "heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible" (Col. 1: 16), although one aspect may be more emphasized in any given usage. Spiritual "powers" represent the inner aspect of tangible material manifestations of power, and while power does not exist apart from its concrete manifestation, it is also important to see "the spirituality of materialism." Contrary to what Carr says, some of the powers are evil and some are good. In either case, they are ignorant of God's plan of redemption. But these are generalized conclusions, and

264 - Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament

the heart of the book is Wink's nuanced discussion of some dozen specific texts.

Most helpful for me is the discussion of the angels of the nations, which deserve much more consideration particularly in connection with law and wrath. Least helpful is the section on "the elements of the world." While in general what Wink says about the wide possible meaning of the word "element" is true and a-great improvement over RSV's astral spirits, I find it quite misleading to say that Gal. 4:3, 9 and Col. 2:20 refer to "the basic constituents of religious existence common to Jews and Gentiles alike (rituals, festivals, laws, beliefs)." This is only to say that Wink is quite traditional when it comes to questions of Torah and Jews and Judaizers and is therefore not as creative in such contexts as he is in others.

One important insight emerges from this study that is clearly seen neither by Wink nor, I think, by Paul. We have grown accustomed to speak of sin and death (and in some contexts law and flesh) as "powers" for Paul, but it is clear that they do not fit into Wink's categories. If the powers can be subdued and reconciled (Eph. 1:20-23) and even preached to (Eph. 3:10), this is not the case with sin and death. If the powers can be "neutralized" (Wink's translation of I Cor. 15:24), then surely death, the last enemy, is to be destroyed. If we were to call sin and death something like "the Superpowers," then the relationship between the powers and the Superpowers needs to be explored further.

The preface announces two volumes to follow, Unmasking the Powers, dealing with theology, and Engaging the Powers, dealing with practical issues. But there are already enough theological asides and practical hints in this volume to urge that readers, whatever their interest in the powers, begin with this one. It is surely one of the most exciting books of the year and deserves to be read widely.

Lloyd Gaston
Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver, British Columbia