Naming the Powers

1. Understanding Power Requires a Mythological Context

Whereas the ancients always understood power as the confluence of both spiritual and material factors, we tend to see it as primarily material.

Modern bias. Our contemporary materialistic worldview limits our understanding of power, causing us to dismiss ancient concepts like "principalities and powers" as mere superstition or personification of material forces. This prevents us from grasping the biblical authors' perspective.

Ancient worldview. For the ancients, heaven and earth were a single, interacting continuum where spiritual beings were as real as humans. Power was inherently understood as having both visible (material, institutional) and invisible (spiritual, immaterial) dimensions.

Bridging the gulf. To understand the New Testament, we must enter its linguistic and mythic world, recognizing that its terms for power encompass a reality that includes both the physical and the spiritual, often simultaneously, without clear separation.

2. The Language of Power is Fluid but Reveals Patterns

The language of power in the New Testament is imprecise, liquid, interchangeable, and unsystematic.

Varied terminology. The New Testament uses numerous terms for power (archai, archontes, exousiai, dynameis, thronoi, kyriotetes, onomata, angels, demons), often pairing them or listing them in series, reflecting the diffuse and complex nature of power.

Flexible usage. The same term can refer to human agents, social structures, or spiritual entities depending on the context, and different terms can be used for the same idea. This fluidity is characteristic of the era's worldview, not a lack of precision.

Emerging patterns. Despite the imprecision, clear patterns exist: archon usually denotes an incumbent, arche can be the office or incumbent, exousia is often legitimation/authority, dynamis is force/might, thronos is the seat of power, kyriotes is dominion, and onoma signifies rank/essence.

3. The Powers Are Both Heavenly and Earthly, Visible and Invisible

For in him [the Son] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones (thronoi) or dominions (kyriotites) or principalities (archai) or authorities (exousiai)—all things were created through him and for him.

Comprehensive scope. Colossians 1:16 is the key text, explicitly stating that the Powers encompass everything created, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. This means they include human agents, social structures, and spiritual forces.

Dual aspect. The Powers are the inner (spiritual, invisible) and outer (material, visible) aspects of any given manifestation of power. They are encountered as corporealized in some form, but their spirituality is a real, inseparable dimension.

Beyond reductionism. Understanding this dual nature moves beyond debates that reduce Powers solely to evil spirits or social institutions. It recognizes power as a single phenomenon with distinguishable, yet inseparable, spiritual and material poles.

4. The Powers Can Be Both Good and Evil

These Powers are also both good and evil.

Created good. The Powers were created by God in, through, and for Christ (Col 1:16), implying their original purpose was good and integral to the created order.

Potential for evil. When a Power becomes idolatrous, placing itself above God's purposes for the whole, it becomes demonic. This applies to human institutions, individuals, and spiritual entities alike.

Not dualistic. Even when acting in opposition to God, the Powers are not independent, dualistic forces. They remain creatures, parasitic on the good creation for their very existence and power, and are ultimately subject to God's sovereignty.

5. Christ's Victory Over the Powers is Both Accomplished and Future

Then comes the end, when he [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after neutralizing every rule and every authority and power.

Already/Not Yet. The New Testament presents a tension regarding Christ's victory: some texts (Col 2:15, Eph 1:20-23, John 12:31) declare the Powers already defeated and subjected through the cross and resurrection, while others (1 Cor 15:24-26) place their full subjection in the future.

Cosmic victory. The cross is depicted as the decisive moment where God disarmed, unmasked, and triumphed over the Powers, revealing their idolatry and breaking their ultimate claim on humanity.

Ongoing struggle. Despite this decisive past victory, the Powers continue to operate in the present age, requiring believers to engage in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:12) and live in anticipation of the final consummation when all things will be fully subjected to Christ.

6. The "Elements of the Universe" Refer to Basic Constituents, Not Just Spirits

It denotes merely an irreducible component; what it is an irreducible component of must be supplied by the context in which it is used.

Generic term. The Greek term stoicheia is a formal category meaning the basic, irreducible constituents of something, like letters of the alphabet, physical elements (earth, air, fire, water), or fundamental principles.

Context-dependent meaning. Its specific meaning in the New Testament varies by context:

• Elementary principles of faith (Heb 5:12)
• Physical elements of the universe (2 Pet 3:10, 12)
• Basic religious practices/beliefs common to Jews and Gentiles (Gal 4:3, 9; Col 2:20)
• Philosophical first principles of reality (Col 2:8)

Idolatry of the basic. Paul's concern is the idolatry that occurs when these basic elements or principles are treated as ultimate reality, diverting people from Christ, who is the true arche (first principle) of all creation.

7. "Heavenly Places" Signify the Transcendent "Within" of Reality

"Heaven," in religions all around the world, is precisely that—the habitat of angels, spirits, cherubim, and seraphim, but also of demons and the devil and all the Powers "in the heavenly places."

Beyond spatial location. "Heavenly places" (ta epourania) in Ephesians does not refer to a remote location "up there," but to a dimension of reality accessible to believers now.

Realm of the spiritual. It is the metaphorical "place" where the spiritual aspect of reality resides, encompassing:

• The presence of God and Christ (Eph 1:20)
• The sphere of spiritual blessings experienced by believers (Eph 1:3, 2:6)
• The domain where spiritual powers operate (Eph 3:10, 6:12)

Transcendent within. This "heaven" is not separate from earth but interpenetrates it, representing the inwardness, potentiality, and transcendent dimension of all things, including institutions and individuals.

8. The Ancient Worldview Saw "What Is Above" Mirrored "What Is Below"

And as above so on the earth also; for the likeness of that which is in the firmament is here on the earth.

Macrocosm/Microcosm. Ancient cosmology often viewed earthly events as mirroring activities in the heavenly realm, seeing a correspondence between the structure of human society and the divine council or angelic hierarchies.

Revelation, not mystification. This perspective was not merely a fabrication to legitimate earthly power, but a way of expressing the perceived reality that earthly institutions and events have a spiritual, transcendent dimension that influences them.

Simultaneity. Biblical texts often depict heavenly and earthly events occurring simultaneously (Luke 10:18, 1 Thess 2:18, Rev 8:1-5), reflecting the belief that the spiritual and material planes are deeply interconnected and mutually influential.

9. The Powers Were Ignorant of God's Plan in Christ

None of the rulers (archontes) of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Cosmic blindness. The myth suggests that the Powers, both human and spiritual, were ignorant of God's hidden wisdom and plan of salvation revealed in Christ (1 Cor 2:7-8, Asc. Isa. 9:13-15).

Crucifixion by ignorance. Their ignorance led them to crucify Jesus, the very principle of their own coherence and existence (Col 1:16-17), demonstrating the universe's blindness to its own deepest reality.

Knowledge through revelation. The cross and resurrection served as a revelation to the Powers, making known to them the truth of Christ's sovereignty and God's ultimate purposes, leaving them without excuse.

10. The Church's Task is to Make God's Wisdom Known to the Powers

That through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities (archais) and powers (exousiais) in the heavenly places (toil epouraniois).

Proclaiming to the spiritual. Ephesians 3:10 states the church's unique mission: to communicate God's wisdom not just to people, but to the spiritual dimension of the Powers in the "heavenlies."

Addressing the "soul" of power. This involves addressing the invisible, spiritual aspect of institutions, systems, and forces, reminding them of their created purpose in Christ and challenging their idolatry.

Integrated action. This task requires both social action (addressing the visible structures) and spiritual engagement (prayer, worship, discerning spirits), recognizing that genuine transformation involves changing both the outer forms and the inner spirit of power.

11. The Enduring Value of the Mythic Language of the Powers

The myth does not provide final explanations, but it preserves a structure by which evil in all its depth can be discerned and held up to consciousness.

Beyond reduction. While modern interpretations can translate aspects of the myth into psychological or sociological terms, the myth itself holds a deeper, more comprehensive truth that cannot be fully reduced.

Access to the imaginal. Mythic language provides access to the "imaginal" realm, the real but invisible dimension of reality where spiritual forces operate, which cannot be fully grasped by senses or intellect alone.

Mobilizing awareness. The language of the Powers mobilizes awareness of the spiritual depth of evil and the cosmic scope of salvation, calling believers to engage in a struggle that is both earthly and heavenly, physical and spiritual.

Last updated: June 7, 2025