Charles Kraft: Power Encounter In Spiritual Warfare
Charles H. Kraft, Power Encounter In Spiritual Warfare (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2017), 124 pages, ISBN 9781532617140.
Charles Kraft has taught at Fuller Seminary and has served as a missionary in Nigeria. In addition to these ministries he has also written a number of books including: Christianity With Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural, The Evangelical’s Guide To Spiritual Warfare: Scriptural Insights and Practical Instruction On Facing the Enemy, Defeating Dark Angels: Breaking Demonic Oppression in the Believer’s Life, and I Give You Authority: Practicing the Authority Jesus Gave Us. This brief sampling of titles indicates that the topics of spiritual power and spiritual conflict are subjects of great interest to him; he has written about them a number of times. This, his newest book, also deals with the subject of spiritual conflict or spiritual warfare, specifically the power encounter.
The author says that the term “Power Encounter” came from the late Alan Trippett who was a missiologist at Fuller Seminary (page 1). Kraft describes a power encounter as “an encounter or confrontation between false gods and the true God” (page 3). Trippett reported that this type of encounter brought large numbers of people to Christ in the South Pacific when they saw that the Christian God was superior to their ancestral gods (page 1). Conversions took place when a priest or chief challenged the ancestral gods and broke their allegiances to them and the ancestral gods could not respond (page 2). Kraft points out that power encounters are now widely accepted by missiologists as valuable in the work of evangelism (page 2). Also in chapter one, he draws from a couple of Trippett’s reports about power encounters in the South Pacific in order to illustrate what they are. Kraft says that some power encounters are unsought but others, such as those in the Bible between Moses and Pharaoh, and Elijah and the prophets of Baal and those in the South Pacific, were sought in that they were open challenges (page 10). The author does not point out the events from Scripture and the South Pacific for merely historical purposes. He believes that the church today, like Jesus and the early church, ought to exhibit spiritual power such as we see in the Bible which includes healings and deliverances (page 15).
In chapter 2, Kraft surveys a number of power encounters in Scripture, drawing examples from both the Old and New Testaments. These are clearly conflicts between good and evil, some of the ones he mentions include: Moses and Pharaoh, Elijah and the prophets of Baal, Jesus and Satan in the wilderness, and Paul and the demon-possessed girl in Acts 16. In chapters 3, 4, and 5, Kraft sets forth principles related to spiritual warfare. One very important point he makes in chapter 3 is that many in the West tend to view most spiritual beings and spiritual power as the things that fairy tales are made of (page 32). This can be true with reference to both the supernatural power of God and of the enemy (pages 32-33). This is what is sometimes called the anti-supernatural Western mindset. At least in part, this book seeks to serve as a corrective to that error. In chapter 5, Kraft is clear that though there is a kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God, the rulers of these kingdoms are not equal; God is much more powerful than Satan (page 48).
That being said, I am not entirely comfortable with this book. There are some theological statements Kraft makes that I not sure that I want to endorse. For example, he says concerning Jesus, “Though he had a divine nature as well as a human nature, he had agreed with the Father never to use it” (page 28). Also on page 28, he writes concerning the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, “Jesus faced this as a human being. He had no divine power except the Holy Spirit.” He restates this position in different words on page 45. The subject of whether Jesus lived His earthly life by His divine power or as a Spirit-filled man is a subject of debate in the church.
Kraft also conjectures that the root of Lucifer’s rebellion against God may have been because God gave the honored place Lucifer once held over to humanity (page 41). This he believes, may be why the enemy wants to destroy humanity (page 41).
In chapter 5 he says, “When God wants to do something in the human realm, it appears that he usually needs the obedience of a human to do it” (page 53). It is true that one of God’s preferred ways of working is through people; however, I am not sure He “needs” anyone. I would have preferred that he did not make this statement. It is good that the word “usually” was included as it softens the statement. I understand the importance of our obedience, but I do not think that we can bind or control omnipotence or Divine Sovereignty. If God wants to act, He can.
Though the author is expressing his views on these matters I have just listed above, which he is certainly free to do, they do give me some reason for pause. I have concerns about other things that he has written in this book as well.
Chapter 6 lists a number of things that people can be involved in that can place them in spiritual danger. The list includes things like: witchcraft, sorcery, divination, dedication, and reincarnation. Chapter 7 is devoted to applying the principles articulated in the book both in what he calls, “ground-level spiritual warfare,” and, “cosmic-level spiritual warfare” (pages 99-107).
I would not recommend this book to just anyone. The author is a practitioner in this field and has given a great attention to this subject over the years. Power Encounter in Spiritual Warfare has some good observations and information that needs to be heard, perhaps especially by Western readers, but the book should be read only by those who have had some degree of theological education and spiritual discernment. The subject of spiritual warfare is a topic about which there are various viewpoints. Some of what the reader will find in this book can be readily accepted while other points, in my opinion, are questionable.
Reviewed by John P. Lathrop
Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/power-encounter-in-spiritual-warfare.html
