One of the current evangelical theologians who has explored the figure of the Devil/the Powers is Gregory Boyd with his 2014 book titled, God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict. From Boyd’s understanding of the Powers, the personalization and the reality of these entities in the world is noteworthy. Although I disagree with Boyd’s interpretation of God’s providence and other topics, he makes a good point by calling the church not to ignore the reality of the evil forces in the world.
Dr. Boogaart, about Boyd’s God at War book and his understanding of the Devil, states:
[For Boyd, the Devil] is not a member of the divine council. He is a malicious adversary against God. This maliciousness lays the foundation for absorbing the chaotic features of Leviathan and the other monsters, referred to in the Bible and in the surrounding cultures. Satan seeks to possess and control, and power to possess is the basis for finding Satan present in the Old Testament. The snake can be interpreted as symbolizing or embodying Satan. The fall of kings such as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, referred to in Isaiah14 and Ezekiel 28, can be understood as the fall of Satan who has taken possession of them, and Satan’s fall at this historical time a re-actualization of Satan’s fall at the beginning of time [171].
Boyd argues the Powers might disrupt God’s purposes and plans with the world, or at least, they cause God’s purposes delayed (p. 9). For him, the Scriptures presuppose the existence of the fallen Powers, so he opposed the idea of identifying the Powers or the fallen angels as “social structures,” as Walter Wink suggests, or of depersonalizing the fallen angels at all.
For Boyd, the fallen angels are creatures who oppose God’s will (p.58). They were created without evil, but in their free will, they sinned against God. This view is fundamental for Boyd in order to assert that in the same way there is a kingdom of God, there is also a kingdom of the Devil that fights against God’s purposes in the world. Hence, there are two kingdoms that are at war, and humanity is in the middle of it.
Based on this reasoning, Boyd states,
[t]here is no suggestion in the Gospels that Jesus believed that demons or evil angels were carrying out a secret providential plan of God, despite themselves. Rather, Jesus treated each case of demonization as an instance of spiritual warfare: an alien force had illegitimately and cruelly invaded a person’s being” (p. 201).
As seen, for Boyd, the Devil is a personal enemy that opposes strongly against God and his mission in the world. He recognizes the figure of the Devil as an actual entity and not as a social structure.
Finding Biblical Support
Revelation 12:9-10, which speaks of the Dragon and the Woman, is an interesting passage because it allows us to identify who the Devil is:
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.“
Regardless someone may interprets it literally or allegorically, this passage identifies the Great Dragon as the Serpent; and at the same time, it identifies the Serpent with the Devil. One may deduce from the passage that the Devil is an accuser and a deceiver. The last phrase “who accuses them before God day and night” suggests that the Devil might also have access to the Divine Council in order to accuse Christians before God. This verse is significant because it allows us to personalize the Devil.
Luke 10:17-18 is another scriptural reference that personalizes the Devil. When Jesus sent the seventy-two disciples, they prayed for people and cast out demons in his name. When these disciples brought the news to Jesus, he replied to them with this: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” The first deduction we may see here is that Jesus did not surprise because the demons were submitted in his name. His reply also shows that for Jesus, the Devil was a real figure, a personal entity.
From Matthew 4:1-11, we learn the Devil is not a symbol of evil or a concept, but a personal entity that is real (though he is not human). One notices the Devil appeared before Jesus and tempted him. Verse 3 is usually omitted when we retell this story. In this passage, Jesus was not tempted in his mind or spirit. The Scripture does not say that he had these thoughts, for example. Instead, verse 3 affirms that “the tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’” One thing we note is that the Devil himself appeared before Jesus to tempt him. In fact, this scripture not only suggests that the Devil is real but also that he can see, can talk, and can reason.
What Boyd’s View of the Powers Offers
Regarding the Devil and the Powers, I agree with Boyd about personalizing the Devil and the Powers and identifying them as irreconcilable enemies of God. They harm God’s work, God’s people, and God’s creation.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:11-12 states:
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Although indirectly, Paul suggests a difference between the Powers and human beings and between the Powers and animals. Interestingly, Paul does not identify the Powers directly, but at least says what they are not. In the Reformation Study Bible, one finds an interesting comment on this verse. It states that rules, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces are “terms [that] refer to powerful spiritual beings that make up the power of the air ruled by Satan.”
Boyd reminds us that the purpose of the Devil is to destroy God’s plans and overthrow his purposes. In this respect, the Apostle Peter tells us to be sober-minded and watchful. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” he writes in 1 Peter 5:8. As Boyd emphasizes, the Devil and the Powers are intelligent creatures. Not surprisingly, these verses advise us to be watchful. The phrase “seeking someone to devour” denotes that the Devil is intentional in his search for causing damage.
Overall, Boyd’s understanding of the Devil offers a new perspective on the topic, although one should not forget that God’s purposes are unchangeable, so the Devil or the Powers cannot overthrow those purposes, though they may oppose them fiercely.