St. Paul toward the end of his letter to the Ephesian church spoke of the "principalities and powers, the rulers of the present darkness, and spiritual wickedness in heavenly places." The terms he uses are quite specific, borrowed from the political and religious language of the day. Unfortunately, except in religious circles, we rarely talk like this today. Outside of church and Hollywood's horror genre of movies, people occasionally speak of someone being an angel, but talk of demons and evil spiritual powers will get you branded as some sort of fanatic weirdo.
Even in religious circles, we don't really know what to do with this Biblical kind of talk. While some religious groups speak freely about demons, if you listen carefully, it often seems like their conception of such things are formed more by film than by Christian faith. I tread on thin ice here; just because I haven't personally experienced some of the strange manifestations others have experienced doesn't mean they are crazy. They might be, but it would be highly arrogant of me to assert that if I haven't experienced something, it doesn't exist.
Nevertheless, when I read of "principalities and powers, of demons and spiritual wickedness," I have to ask what Paul had experienced that made him talk that way. My assumption is that human experience hasn't changed much in the 2000 years since these words were written. For certain, life is modernized in a way that would have been miraculous to people of the first century, but people still experience love, hatred, joy, sorrow, oppression, and uncertainty. So I ask that question. "What did the Biblical writers experience that made them talk that way," and, "What corresponds in human experience today that we describe in different terms?"
Walter Wink, late professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn seminary, wrote three books dealing with the language of power in the New Testament, in which he explored this very concept. He asks what it is that we experience today that corresponds to what was experienced in the 1st century that they used this kind of language to describe. He was dissatisfied with how we conceive of "spirit," as if it were some self-existent ghostly entity. When we speak of "team spirit," it is very real, but ceases to exist if the team dissolves. The same can be said of a "mob spirit," or a "corporate spirit." It is interesting that we use these words differently in religious settings than we do in the corporate or sports world.
Wink describes "spirit" as the "interiority" of a person or group of people. The corporate spirit of Starbucks for example, is quite distinct from the corporate spirit of Anheuser-Busch. They both trade in liquid refreshment, but they are very different. And should these corporations disband, the corporate spirit would also disappear.
When St. Paul speaks of spiritual powers in heavenly places, he is describing something operating in this world that cannot be seen, but is very real. And according to him, it is evil. We've all felt it at different times. The young woman battling depression, the middle-aged man struggling with alcohol addiction, the couple in a macabre death-dance of abuse and victimization, the corporate executive driven to succeed at all costs, the courting of death shared by abortionists and ISIS alike, the political powers that ravenously consume everything and everyone that gets in the way of its voracious appetite for complete control--this is not adequately explained in psychological, medical, social, or political categories.
When the Bible talks of principalities and powers, it is to these very real human experiences it speaks. And it is with these realities we deal, clothed in the spiritual armor, fighting in prayer. And when the Creed speaks of "the heavens and the earth," it is to remind us that the world we see, and that which is unseen but very real and very powerful, was made by God. He still remains above and beyond it, yet deeply involved in it through the incarnation of his Son Jesus. When we recite the Creed, we are driving a stake in the ground, reminding both ourselves and the powers that seek to gain ultimate control over us that God is God, the Father Almighty to save. And for that I am eternally thankful.
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