The Shadowland War: A Primer On Spiritual Warfare

By Ryan Stohldrier

Spiritual warfare is about more than the weapons we fight with or the enemy we fight against. If we are not familiar with the battleground we fight on and the strategies and tactics of the enemy, we will find ourselves tripped up, fallen, trapped, and overwhelmed. We must know not only our enemy, our armor, and our weapons, but also the spiritual environment we fight in. Satan has not grown slack in his attacks and the darkness in the world is not getting any lighter. We must learn to shine the light of God in this dark generation in order to live victoriously in this life. The Shadowland War is a book designed to open your eyes to a new way of viewing spiritual warfare. It is time to rally the troops and fight the enemy instead of each other. Join me on this discovery to reveal what is happening behind the scenes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9781312490871

Book preview

Acknowledgments

I want to give a special thanks to those who supported this project, both financially and through input and critique of the text.

Financial contributors: Tammy, Connie, Emmanuel, Jason & Katie, and Rhonda

Textual contributors: Brenda Bannerman, Caleb Ellis, Kyle McMaster, Rhonda Vaughn, Rebecca Stohldrier, and many others who gave input here and there (too many to count).

I also want to thank Emmanuel and his team of ministers in India for the development of the cover art for this book.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my wife for putting up with me through long hours of writing, editing, polishing, and saying, hey, how does this sound?

Be Advised: The enemy does not want you to read this. You may experience spiritual attacks on your mind, body, or family. Proceed Prayerfully.

Introduction

I

see a battlefield. On that battlefield, I see soldiers – not the stately soldiers, like you would see in the colonial armies, but rugged and fierce. Opposite those soldiers, I see a shadow army – nameless, faceless, heartless, hopeless, and originating from the pits of Hell itself. The soldiers are bruised and bloodied, many fallen – some to death and some to fainting – but all are affected by the war. And in the background, I see an endless stretch of residences, all living in the shadows but not enlisted in the war.

What are the two armies fighting for? Each army is fighting for its kingdom. One is fighting for the kingdom of darkness – the kingdom that produces, controls, and advances the darkness; the other is fighting for the kingdom of Light, whose goal is to dispel the darkness and reveal the true nature of all. Each army is trying to advance to the increase of their kingdom, and each army is looking to recruit from the residences: your house and mine.

What we see in our mind’s eye from this description is an imagination of the world of the unseen. For those who are willing to pull their minds out of Hollywood and see the true nature of this battle, it is a sobering sight. We sit on our comfortable couches and watch a movie like The Lord of the Rings or some other battle-packed movie, and then we sleep soundly because we believe it is fiction and it doesn’t affect us. After all, if we get to a battle scene in a movie that is too ugly or too gruesome, we can simply hit a button on a piece of ergonomically-designed plastic that makes it all go away.

What if one day, you were watching a movie like that and you got tired of seeing all the gruesome carnage? You say, it’s too depressing, so you hit the button to turn it off… but it doesn’t go off. Out of batteries is probably what you would be thinking. No problem, you say, and then go to press another button, this time on the device itself to turn it off… but it still doesn’t turn off. At this point, you still may not be worried because you can simply unplug your television set… but that doesn’t work either. Now you are very concerned, perhaps even freaked out. What can I do to turn off this battle? you think. But suddenly, there’s another problem: the battle comes spilling out of the television set and into your house, and you cannot get away from it. (Sounds like a Hollywood movie, right?)

Perhaps this doesn’t trouble you because all you have to do is stop imagining that scenario or simply put down this book. The problem is: whether you put down this book or stop imagining these things, you still cannot get away from this war; and if you try, you will find yourself fighting on the wrong side. The kingdom of darkness is fighting against the kingdom of Light, and unless you are actively fighting alongside the army of the kingdom of Light, you are living in the shadows and are perfectly positioned for the enemy to use you.

We are at war, make no mistake about it. It is an ugly and confusing war, to say the least. There is nothing about it that is cute. And although I hear all the time in Christian circles about spiritual warfare, so much of what I hear and read about it seems ineffective, more like beating at the air (also known as shadowboxing). In fact, our brother from a couple of millennia ago had this to say:

So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air.

1 Corinthians 9:26 (CSB)¹

So much of what many Christians call spiritual warfare these days reminds me of martial arts clubs that practice shouting and throw punches and kicks, but never really spar or test out their skills. In some cases it might even be compared to a child running up to a stranger, kicking them in the leg, and then running back to mom and dad, acting like they have won this great victory. Some of us have psyched ourselves up to think we are great warriors, when in reality, we are so often more like the kid on the soccer field who cheers himself, running the wrong way down the field with the ball only to score a goal for the other team! 

Many people think that just because they have learned a few verses from Ephesians 6 or watched the movie War Room – a great movie, I might add – they are prepared to fight the enemy (Satan). Perhaps they have heard their pastor talk about how there is nothing more to spiritual warfare than simply shouting the name of Jesus. I am here to tell you that, if that’s you, you have no idea what you’re up against; and this book is a good place to start.

We who live in peaceful times mostly only know about war from what we see on television. We see an ugly scene and think "wow, that’s tough, and then grab another handful of popcorn or potato chips and take another sip of our drink. It’s easy to see warfare as something we only see on television; something that we can distance ourselves from; something that doesn’t require us to get dirty; something that doesn’t allow the bullets flying on-screen to come hurling into our living rooms. We read the passages of scripture where Jesus commanded the demons to come out, and it would be easy to think, Hey, that was easy… maybe I can do that too!" What we don’t always realize is that Jesus had 30 years to show the devil that He was a force not to be reckoned with, and the disciples He trained lived with Him and knew first-hand how He lived.

I am not saying these things to try to convince you that you can’t do what Jesus did or that you need to obtain a seminary degree to engage in spiritual warfare. On the contrary, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father, John 14:12. Jesus intended that those who would put their faith in Him would be able to do miraculous works in His name. He intended for us to walk in His footsteps, not just in morality and teachings, but in benevolence and supernatural works; not for our glory, but for His.

At the same time, you need to be prepared for the fact that true spiritual warfare and doing the works of Jesus is not as easy as picking up some spiritual weapons and swinging them about. For us to avoid fighting like one beating the air, we need to know more about the enemy we are fighting, what we fight with, how we fight, and most importantly, the battlefield on which we fight (something many Christians I have met understand little about).

The Memo

Some of you may be very familiar with the warfare terminology as it pertains to Christianity. The topic of spiritual warfare has become quite popular in recent years. Unfortunately, as ideas like this become popular, they tend to become trivialized as well: "Yes, we are in a war, and we are fighting for Jesus! Now where do you want to go eat lunch?" *sigh* Alas, there is much to discuss, but first we need to get the memo.

When a king decides to go to war with another king or nation, he typically issues a declaration of war. The king then usually confers with his war council regarding strategies and tactics. In Biblical times, if the nation was small or the war was fought on a single front, the king would often go out at the head of the army, greatly reducing the need for communications (example: King Saul). If the nations or wars were larger, they could be fought on many different fronts. In such cases, the King would more often oversee the war efforts, perhaps giving a general strategy but leaving the majority of the strategies and tactics to the generals (an example of this would be the Roman imperial conquests). The generals would then take the strategies and work with the commanders on tactical applications. Of course, this is a very basic and generalized description because different types of kingdoms handle wars and strategies differently.

Before the use of radios, satellites, and other forms of wireless communication, when a general or commander wanted a battalion of troops to do something, he would have to issue a directive, sent by courier. In more modern times, communication with the troops is much quicker, more reliable, and is often done by memorandums (a.k.a. memos).

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines a memorandum as (among other things) a communication that contains directive, advisory, or informative matter. Additionally, the Online Etymology Dictionary explains a memo as a note of something to be remembered for future reference or consideration.² The Memo you are reading in book form serves as an advisory regarding the present state of affairs, strategic and tactical considerations, and directives for the repositioning of the army of Christ and the advancement of the Kingdom of Light. At this time, the Body of Christ in the United States is extremely unlike an army. It much more closely resembles individual pockets of militia, doing their own things and sometimes fighting each other. Scattered individual pockets of light cannot dispel the darkness enough to overcome it. In order to overcome the darkness, we must come together to shine as one.

For those who would disagree with that statement, consider the amount of light dispensed by a disco ball compared to an LED light bulb. The disco ball is composed of many different lights, but each one shines separately from the other lights (some are composed of one light that is split into multiple directions – regardless, the result is the same). Anyone trying to work under the light of a disco ball would find great difficulty in doing so. By contrast, the LED light bulb is also composed of several lights, but they work together to produce a unified light. Even though in reality it is much smaller than the disco ball, the amount of light dispensed can fill up an entire room because of its unity. Individual pockets of light shining separately in different directions with different colors cannot dispel the darkness nearly as well as pockets of light working together to dispel the darkness.

The Body of Christ must begin to work together to dispel the darkness in this present age, but this is not a new concept. We have known for decades that we need to unify, but how to go about that unification has been a question that needs answers. Perhaps in a future book, I will be able to go over the information and directives necessary to accomplish this seemingly daunting task, but before we can even begin to tackle that subject, we must first learn about the war we are fighting in. We must go through a sort of orientation to the war before we can even begin talking about strategies for troop movements, coordinated attacks, and other wholescale strategies. Therefore, this book will serve as an orientation to the battlefield, armies, weapons, and basic tactics.

In Ezekiel 7:14-15 we read, They have blown the trumpet and prepared everything, but no one goes to war, for My wrath is on her whole crowd. The sword is on the outside; plague and famine are on the inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and plague will devour whoever is in the city. In the Body of Christ, many Christian leaders sound the trumpet to go to war, but so many church members just sit back and say, ah, we’ll let the pastor fight that battle. So many in the ranks of the pews have been made to feel like they are inadequate for the battle, and so they give up before they even get started. Meanwhile, Christianity and its values are under attack by the world (the sword is on the outside), and the churches are dying because they are so focused on looking good through programs or they devour one another because of theological differences (plague and famine are on the inside). Ezekiel wasn’t just talking about those in his day and age; he was looking ahead to the future church and foresaw a time when the church would be in trouble. I am convinced that what he saw was the church of today.

Equipment

Okay, so perhaps you recognize that we are in a spiritual war. Good! Now what? Let’s take inventory of what we have. Most seasoned Christians will say that we have the Christian armor listed in Ephesians 6:14-17. Good! We will look in depth at each piece of the Christian armor in Chapter 12 but for now, let’s look at some brief ideas about each one:

The Belt of Truth. Which truth? Whose truth? We live in a postmodern society where you have your truth and I have mine. Furthermore, even though many Christians would cite the Bible as truth, many live as though the Bible is more of a flawed historical document and the commandments are more like suggestions. Many would struggle to quote anything more than 1 or 2 verses. Some would even give the scriptural answer that Jesus is the truth, but often they do not look to His teachings for how to live. In Chapter 12 we will look at what real truth is and how to wear it properly.

The Breastplate of Righteousness. What righteousness? Without getting into a theological gauntlet here, jumping through once-saved-always-saved issues, righteousness comes through faith³ (Romans 3:22) and manifests through the life of a believer. For many Christians, faith is an abstract idea that they think they have without testing it. The term righteousness is a loaded term that many Christians don’t fully understand. For now, I will simply say that for many this breastplate is about as protective as well-crafted and polished aluminum foil – it looks good, but the devil’s fiery darts will go right through it.  In Chapter 12 we will look at 3 different aspects of righteousness and what it means for believers.

Preparation of the Gospel of Peace. I know ministers who could not sufficiently explain what this is, let alone how to use it. Most Christians I have spoken to believe that the Gospel of Peace is simply the gospel described as peace. When Paul speaks of us becoming ministers of the Gospel, he speaks in terms of becoming ministers of reconciliation. There is so much more to this idea than many Christians realize. We will look at what it means to be prepared with the Gospel of Peace.

The Shield of Faith. That’s a famous piece of armor there. As I said above, faith is an abstract idea for most people. In March of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic began, and churches were all of a sudden faced with a test of faith. So many of the churches I heard about failed the test miserably, and yet what I kept hearing from Christians was, we have faith, but we also have common sense. Little did many of them know how elementary and untrue that statement really is. When Peter walked on the water, it was contrary to common sense. We will discuss what real faith is and how to really apply it.

The Helmet of Salvation. The keyword here is helmet, not sword or club. So many people use the topic of salvation along with its theologies as a weapon. I was guilty of it myself for more than half of my Christian walk! Our salvation should be our protection, not our weapon. A helmet is designed to protect your head, and in the same way, your salvation is meant to help protect you from the enemy getting into your head. We will look at what exactly salvation is and how it is a helmet for us.

The Sword of the Spirit. This one gets the most attention. People like this one. We sometimes see Christians walking around with their Bible, saying I’ve got the sword of the Spirit, but there’s a problem with this at the outset: if the Bible was actually the sword of the Spirit, many believers would accurately be described as using the sword against their own brethren! We tend to use the Bible against each other far more than against the enemy. However, the sword of the Spirit is actually the word of God. The Greek term would best be translated as the spoken word of God or God’s voice. When we get to Chapter 12, we will look more closely at this matter.

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As you can see, the spiritual armor listed here is far too often misunderstood, not understood at all, or misused. It is fine for us to say that we are in a spiritual war, but in the present age, many Christians are like toddlers going out to war. Sure, we know our weapons of warfare; but what do we do with them? We run around with them chastising our brothers and sisters, hitting each other with various pieces of spiritual armor, and pretending like we have won a great battle! I did that kind of thing when I was 5 years old! It’s time we grow up a bit. It’s like I tell my wife: the Bible says to be child-like, not child-ish (she will appreciate that remark)

All of that having been said, I have met and listened to a number of my Christian brothers and sisters who do not have that kind of elementary understanding, and you may be one of them. I also know many Christians who do have a good knowledge of the Christian armor and are somewhat skilled in their use; but many are worn out, downtrodden, and spiritually gasping for air because, even though understanding the armor and weapons is essential, the next biggest obstacle is knowing our enemy. If we don’t know about who and what we’re fighting, then we will wear ourselves out trying to hit a target that keeps changing and moving.

Just knowing what a thing is called is very different from knowing its characteristics. Just knowing that we are fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, [and] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, NKJV), doesn’t mean we know their tactics, their characteristics, or their goals. So many Christians I see are fighting their hearts out because they are fighting an enemy they don’t understand.

Some will argue that we are not supposed to study the enemy (Satan, his demons, and all evil spiritual beings) because what we look at the most becomes a part of us. That is only partially true – and I will say this: to realize that is an important step in the right direction. We are not to fix our gaze on the enemy to scrutinize and study, but that does not mean that we should remain ignorant of what we are up against. If we spend all our time focused on the enemy, we will not be building our relationship with God and we will find ourselves ensnared and intimidated by the enemy. It is a fine line between studying the enemy too much and not studying him enough, but I trust that the Holy Spirit will help you to see that line as we move forward with this. This book is not about demonology or analyzing the depths of demonic insights; however, we do need to get a better understanding of who and what we are fighting and how they conduct warfare so that we are not wearing ourselves out against an enemy that is laughing at our feeble efforts.

Even if we do understand the spiritual armor of God and have an adequate understanding of our opponent, if we do not adequately understand the battlefield upon which we fight, we will be overwhelmed. We fight on a battlefield that is ever-changing, full of illusions, and covered with snares. It is similar to trying to fight an opponent in a house of mirrors: but one with hidden traps, snares, and devices designed to cripple us. To not know about the terrain you are fighting on is to be at a major disadvantage. We need to understand that the opponent we face in spiritual warfare has been around for a very long time and knows how to fight these battles. That fact alone presents a challenge, but going to war with an advanced opponent on a battleground we don’t adequately understand makes the challenge that much more difficult.

This was a lesson learned from the Vietnam War. The soldiers were prepared in numerous ways for battle, but they were not prepared for the terrain at all, and many of the tactics they came up against were previously unthinkable.

There are techniques for fighting in a house of mirrors, techniques for fighting in deserts, and techniques for fighting in jungles. Similarly, there are techniques for fighting in this spiritual battlefield we are in. For each of us, it will look different, specifically tailored to defeat us on an individual level, but it will have shared characteristics, as we will see throughout this book. This battlefield is designed to isolate and incapacitate in ways that we can scarcely imagine.

Though the tactics of the enemy are quite varied, they are not incomprehensible. Some Christians have tried to oversimplify them by categorizing them merely as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life according to John in 1 John 2:16 (NKJV). While these categories do exist, some tactics do not necessarily or easily fit into those categories. For example, a surprise attack is not properly lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, or pride of life. Similarly, snaring or using bait & switch tactics do not fit into those categories. Those may be adequate categories of various types of temptations, but not schemes or tactics. We need to understand much more about tactics than just those mere categories; and when we do understand the devil’s tactics, we can better fight the war.

These levels of spiritual warfare are what this book is about. We are fighting the shadows in the shadows with shadows. But what about ‘this little Christian light of mine?’ you say. Strap in and hold on, because that whole concept is about to take on levels of meaning like you wouldn’t believe!

Part 1: The Shadow Lands

Chapter 1

An Introduction to The Battlefield

So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

W

e spend way too much time thinking about and giving credit to the things that are seen. When I say we, I mean that I am included in that statement. I would not be so arrogant as to think that I am above you or beyond you. I am writing this as one who is in the awakening stages of these things. I am just starting to see things as they really are and starting to learn how to fight them; but what I am starting to see, I have not heard anyone talk about, and what I am starting to do to fight back, I have heard precious few talk about. I have been blessed to have my eyes opened to the truth of the battlefield and war around us, and this is the information I want to share with the rest of the Christian world.

Paul gives us a two-part instruction in 2 Corinthians 4:18. The first part is that we are not to focus on the things which are seen. What? Yes, there are so many things that our natural eyes see: computers, food, nature, people, and all sorts of other things in the natural realm. These are things we see with our eyes, but seeing is not limited to eye sight alone. For example, blind people can see the world through their sense of touch and even through their sense of hearing. Through our five senses, we experience (see) the world we live in and we are taught to operate by our five senses. From an early age, we are taught all about the world around us based on what has been seen and heard and experienced, all in the natural realm.

Then there are things that we perceive: we don’t see them with our eyes or experience them directly with our five senses, but we figuratively see them in the natural realm. We perceive things like political strategies, emotions, and history; we logically perceive ideas such as: if a + 3 = 6, then a = 3. These are things that we see in the world around us, though indirectly by perception and rational thought processes.

Paul actually tells us not to focus on these things, which are seen. Paul was trying to teach us the principle that we are not to give the things of this world - the things we see and perceive - credibility as full reality. Sure, the things of this world are real. The chair that I am sitting on, for example, is real. The laws that are passed on Capital Hill really do have an impact on our lives with real consequences, but the things we see are not full reality, and they can sometimes be very deceptive.

At this point, we must do a bit of a reality check. Thus far, I have been writing this under the assumption that you, the reader, are reading this as a born-again, Holy Spirit-filled, believer who is looking to get a better grasp of spiritual warfare. But if you don’t have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, helping you to understand, you will not be able to fully understand or comprehend what is in this book. Paul gives a word of caution that I need to reiterate here: In 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 he says,

We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

If you do not have the Holy Spirit in you, you will not be able to understand the things being conveyed in this book. If you are of this world, the truth presented in this book will seem to you to be quite foolish, but if you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, this book will serve to confirm and/or enlighten you. I have met many people who claimed to be Christians, but their understanding was so rooted in this natural world (as opposed to Christ) that they couldn’t see the truth if it slapped them in the face. So, before proceeding with this book, I strongly urge you to do a spiritual inventory and make sure you have the Holy Spirit living inside you to help you.

Everything in this world is subject to the laws of physics, but was Jesus subject to the laws of physics when He walked through a locked door? O, but that was Jesus! He was the Son of God, you might say. Okay, what about Philip? He was not in a post-resurrected body when the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away and he was later found at Azotus (Acts 8:39-40). He was teleported! Though the world around us is subject to the laws that govern a natural reality, we who are born again into the Kingdom of God have access to know about spiritual realities that can, at times, supersede the natural laws. How and when those laws are superseded is beyond the scope of this book, but this book is to help you understand more about spiritual realities.

Sam Soleyn, in his book My Father! My Father!, brings us back to the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and that fateful choice to partake of the forbidden fruit. He writes:

Then, by reason, the man concluded that his reality was not spirit but flesh; he began to engage that reality by fashioning clothing for his flesh. Whereas, previously, as long as he saw himself as a son to his Father, he accepted the fact that he was a spirit, because his Father was spirit. His flesh was the clothing with which God clothed the spirit, and he was not naked, but was a spirit clothed in flesh. Both Adam and Eve made a conscious and deliberate choice that permanently altered their vision of reality.

Growing up in church and hearing about the fall of Adam and Eve, I always wondered why they all of a sudden realized they were naked. I mean, after all, were they stupid? No, their reality was spiritual. They saw themselves as spirits clothed in flesh: their flesh was their clothing! They were children of God, and since God is a spirit, mankind must also be a spirit, only clothed in flesh. But they were seduced by the serpent to disobey God and receive all the wisdom of this world. By doing so, they chose physical reality as opposed to spiritual reality, and so they were no longer able to see themselves as spirit beings clothed in flesh. Instead, they began to see themselves as physical beings subject to the laws of nature and the physical world around them; and as a consequence, they realized that, as physical beings, they were not clothed.

In one instant they lost sight of what was really important in the world: a relationship with the Father and spiritual reality. They could no longer see the forces at work and could no longer experience the presence of God as they once had. Everything was all at once based on what man could do and provide and see and hear and taste and touch and smell. Mankind began to develop customs and practices, learning from what had happened before in their natural environment. They adapted to weather conditions and built shelters and towers and constructed all kinds of things. They built kingdoms and laws, developed an educational system and logic, and rules to govern all of that. Mankind effectively built an entire world to exist apart from God, and yet God wanted to be man’s entire world!

Paul reveals an interesting idea to us in Colossians 2:8. He says, Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ (NKJV). We need to understand that so much of what we are taught about the world is based on philosophy, the tradition of men, and the basic principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Many of the things we are taught in school and on the job fly in the face of the principles that Christ taught us. We have become so grounded in the basic principles of the world that we all too often are unable to see spiritual principles.

When I was in college, I majored in Psychology with an emphasis on counseling so that I could learn to be a marriage and family therapist. About three-quarters of the way through my bachelor’s degree program, I came across Colossians 2:8 while doing some extra-curricular study on Biblical Counseling. The Holy Spirit enlightened my mind in an instant, and all at once, I knew I could not finish my degree. He revealed to me that the nature of what I had been studying was found in Colossians 2:8 and was hindering me in my walk with God. Instead, He had me pursue the study of Biblical counseling and ministry training.

Psychology originates from philosophy, the traditions of men (including experience and the scientific method), and is according to the basic principles of this world. I am not stating this as mere conjecture. One of the courses I took in college was called The History of Psychology, which covered in detail how psychology originated from philosophy. Many of the principles of psychology are taken from Plato, Aristotle, and other classic philosophers who formed their philosophies by thinking logically through observations from nature. Those philosophers inspired other philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and John Locke who also inspired other philosophers such as William James (one of the founding fathers of Psychology) and John Stewart Mill.

It is also important to understand that science and medicine as we know them originated from philosophy. Indeed, much of the scientific classification system is based on the work of Aristotle in his book Organon, and indeed all of science is based on the rules of logic as set forth by Aristotle, Plato, and other philosophers. Education as we know it - math, science, history, social studies - is so heavily influenced by classical philosophers (Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, etc.) one might go so far as to say that if we were to add logic as a course of study in elementary, middle, and high school, practically everyone would graduate as a philosopher!

This doesn’t mean that education is a bad thing. Education is extremely important. We need to learn history, reading, writing, mathematics, and many kinds of scientific principles because all of these things are relevant to the life we live now; however, basic education in the things of this world must be subsidized by extra-curricular training in the matters of the spirit world (hence, Paul’s exhortation to focus on the things which are not seen). It doesn’t even mean that philosophy is a bad thing (philosophy is basically just teaching people how to think through things systematically). What Paul was trying to teach the Colossians is that the philosophies and traditions of men and basic principles of the world do not, in and of themselves, take into account spiritual matters. To put it another way, a person can study philosophy and traditions of men and basic principles until they are old and gray-haired; but without taking into consideration spiritual realities, that person will be lost in a sea of thought and bound up by human traditions that are, by nature, hopeless. Any kind of reasoning that leaves out spiritual matters, and especially the Holy Spirit, is hopeless and will lead away from God (philosophers David Hume and Friedrich Nietzsche found that out the hard way). That is why Paul said Beware lest anyone cheat you through those things.

We see this every day. We are told that if we go out in the rain and get wet, then we will catch a cold. Not only is this a human tradition (what we see as normally happening), but it is also a classic if/then structured logical argument. The problem with this kind of argument is that it doesn’t take into account our God! It is solely based on the traditions of men and the basic principles of this world. Additionally, we need to understand that there is something more to this idea of the basic principles than at first meets the eye.

When I was reviewing these matters for this book, I ran across another translation of Colossians 2:8 that translated the phrase as elemental spirits instead. I was taken aback by this and looked into it a little bit further. The Greek word used is stoicheion, which is properly translated as fundamentals. Generally, it is used for first principles or foundational principles; however, according to the Revised English Version Commentary,

Another use of stoicheion was in reference to the planets and other heavenly bodies that appeared in the night sky, and this was tied to the ancient belief that the sun, moon, planets, and stars fundamentally influenced what happened to people on earth, much like in astrology today. Stoicheion was also used of the transcendent powers that are in control over events in this world, thus the elemental spirits, ruling spirits, or spirits behind what happens on earth.⁴

So, what are we to make of these disagreements? What I find is that whenever there are theological differences regarding the meaning of a word, usually the idea is somewhere between the two. There are two fundamental ideas at work here: there are the elementary principles themselves, such as Sir Isaac Newton so famously deduced, and then there are the elementary spirits that influence us to derive things from nature, such as the idea of gods and astrology and all sorts of other spiritual ideas. When sin was unleashed upon the world and Adam and Eve became fleshly-minded, spiritual beings were let loose as well.

Spiritual beings are responsible for influencing man to come to ridiculous and foolish ideas about things. We see experts in science and psychology that come to ridiculous and foolish conclusions because they have no knowledge of spiritual matters. Scientists have brought us the idea that we evolved from monkeys. Psychology has taken principles of animal behavior and applied them to human interactions to bring us to all kinds of immorality. For example, we have seen the transgender classification move from being a mental disorder (Gender Identity Disorder) to merely a different way of identifying oneself (Gender Dysphoria), which has led the whole world into a foolish vortex, spiraling down to an abyss of ignorance. This type of thinking is illustrated by Paul in Romans 1:20-22 and 28-32:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…  (NKJV)

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (NKJV)

We have been trained by secular philosophies and teachings that reality is only what we can experience through our 5 senses, but their frame of reference is only the natural world influenced by spirits that have been around since creation. How could they come to any other conclusion? Reality isn’t limited to only what you experience with your 5 senses or even perceive in the natural. Reality is a combination of what we experience in the natural realm along with what is happening in the spiritual realm that may or may not be affecting the natural realm. This physical world can be manipulated and changed by spiritual forces, and so we must take that into account in all our evaluations of life. This is why, in 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul tells us not to focus on the things which are seen, but to focus on the things which are not seen. The things we see in the natural realm are but shadows of reality.

Look at what the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 8:4-5. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things… (NKJV). The author of Hebrews is giving us a little bit of insight into the fact that the law and the sacrifices were merely shadows. In chapter 2 we will take an in-depth look at what exactly the shadows are, but in this chapter, I want to introduce you first to the effect of the shadows. In preparation for this, I suggest reading Hebrews chapters 7-10 and look at the emphasis that the author places on spiritual reality compared to natural reality.

The Cave

The philosopher, Plato, wrote an allegory titled The Cave that almost perfectly illustrates the two different concepts of reality. It is important to note here that as I have looked at the writings of Plato, I believe that God was in many ways leading him to the truth; and while Plato, being a Gentile, never found God in this life, he came awfully close, as I have seen in his writings. My personal belief is that when Christ