Edgework

Instead of tweaking one of the long-standing atonement theories, as J. Denny Weaver does by adding “narrative” to the Christus victor theory, Hendrik Berkoff chooses instead to simply unpack the Pauline understandings of how Christ “disarmed” the “principalities and powers.” One could argue that in a sense Berkhoff’s commentary on Paul simply supports Weaver’s theory. On the other hand, I think it can stand alone as a unique understanding of what, in essence, the work of Christ entailed.

Berkhoff’s original work, Christ and the Powers, was published in Dutch in 1953 and became available to English readers in 1962. I stumbled upon it in the 1970s and was quite taken in by it. When I began to teach at Steinbach Bible College in 1983 I was pleasantly surprised to find that its president, Ben Eidse, was actively promoting Berkhoff’s thinking. He said that Berkhoff’s way of presenting the gospel had been well received during his many years of mission work in Africa. In that context, he noted, people who had been enslaved to various manifestations of the “principalities and powers” could relate well to the notion that Christ came to set them free from their domination. And he thought it also was relevant in the North American context.

I cannot do justice to Berkhoff’s insights here but will summarize his key arguments. Berkhoff points to Paul’s use of a “constellation” of realities that seek to separate us from God. There is some variation in translation but in general they include, “…death, life, angels, principalities, space, time, powers, rulers, rule, authority, dominion, Prince of the power of the air, spiritual hosts of wickedness, thrones, might, evil spirits.” (Find these terms listed in Romans 8:38, I Corinthians 2:8, 15:24-26, Ephesians 1:20, 2:1, 3:10, 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:15.) In these various references the terms “principalities” and “powers” are used most frequently and so I use them as representing all of them.

Traditionally these principalities and powers were thought of mostly as non-human, spiritual beings, as indeed they are often depicted in apocalyptic literature. But Berkhoff argues that, at least to some extent, Paul has “demythologized” these concepts. While still allowing for the possibility of personal beings working against humanity, Paul includes non-personal forces in this listing as well. And, according to Colossians 1:16, it seems that Paul insists that these principalities and powers were created by God. As to their function, “They are to hold life together, preserving it within God’s love, serving as aids to bind men fast in His fellowship; intermediaries, not as barriers but as bonds between God and man. As aids and signposts toward the service of God, they form the framework within which such service must needs be carried out” (29).

I suggest that Paul’s listing of the principalities and powers is not exhaustive. It could include any and all realities in our experience like sexuality, government, culture, tradition, appetites and family. Together they are tasked with holding society together and close to the heart of God. The problem is that we do not experience these “principalities and powers” in their divinely intended roles. “We know them only as bound up with the enigmatic fact of sin, whereby not only men have turned away from God, but the invisible side of the cosmos functions in diametric opposition to its divinely fixed purpose…No longer do the Powers bind man and God together; they separate them. They stand as a road-block between the Creator and His creation” (30). So in their fallen state the principalities and powers seek to make themselves God (Galatians 4:8), demand total obedience (Ephesians 2:2), and enslave human beings (Galatians 4:1-4); all in an attempt to separate us from God (Ephesians 6:11-12).

The solution to this dilemma comes when these powers are unmasked and so lose their power to dominate us. This is precisely what Jesus did. “He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them thereby” (Colossians 2:13-15). “Atonement here is not only (as elsewhere) a redemption of the sinner from guilt, but especially liberation from slavery to the powers of fate” (37). Berkhoff takes pains to note that the powers are not “destroyed” since we can still see them active all around and within us, but that they are “disarmed” or “dethroned” so that for those who understand this need not cave in to their demands.

So as Paul surveys the Jesus event through this lens he sees Jesus, in his every move, tearing up the planks of the deck that keeps humans enslaved to the powers. His incarnation brings light that exposes the powers (John 1:9). In living as a free person he demonstrates the impotence of the powers (John 8:20). In refusing to support the powers in his temptation he demonstrates their powerlessness (Luke 4: 1-12). In his ministry of proclaiming good news, healing the sick and offering forgiveness and freedom to all, Jesus loosens people from the grip of the powers. In creating a faith community he provides a network of support to withstand the powers (Luke 6:12-16). In his death he cancelled the code of condemnation registered against us (Colossians 1:20-21). In his resurrection Christ was seated far above the principalities and powers (Ephesians 1:20-21). And in his consummation Christ ultimately rehabilitates all the principalities and powers back to their intended purpose – holding us all close to the heart of God (I Corinthians 15:24, Ephesians 1:9-10).

This dethroning of the powers, according to Berkhoff, is in essence the message of the gospel. It is a message of atonement and redemption because it claims that the powers that separate us from God have been dethroned and so can no longer keep us from union with God. “The Powers are limited by the very presence of men who will no longer let themselves be enslaved, led astray, and intimidated, against whom the program of the Powers, that is, their effort to separate men from God, suffers shipwreck” (44).

Good news, indeed!