Spiritual Warfare” in the Anglican Charismatic Renewal
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The Church Militant: A Study of “Spiritual Warfare” in the Anglican Charismatic Renewal by GRAHAM RUSSELL SMITH A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham July 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis uses a practical-theological methodology to explore the theology and spirituality of „spiritual warfare‟ that developed in the charismatic renewal from the 1960s. Beginning with a study of twelve charismatic Anglican pioneers, a detailed case study then explores spiritual warfare praxis in a charismatic Anglican congregation. The ensuing theological reflection focuses on the ontology of evil, through dialogue with Nigel Wright, Amos Yong, and Gregory Boyd, as well as Karl Barth and Walter Wink. The thesis argues for a positive ontology for evil powers, based on a charismatic hermeneutic of biblical texts; on the grounds that Jesus treated Satan and demons as real spiritual entities, the Pauline epistles refer to real evil spiritual powers in the heavenly realms, and charismatic experience supports this ontology. Such powers are in malevolent and wilful rebellion against God, deriving from a corrupted fallen angelic nature. A Trinitarian model of theological praxis is presented, focused on responding to the goodness of God in repentance; renewing faith in the believer‟s identity in Christ and His victory upon the cross; and resisting the devil in the power of the Spirit. This model emphasizes personal responsibility, helps bring freedom from fear, and re-connects with Anglican baptismal liturgy. Dedicated to the memory of the late Michael Harper and the late Martin Knox ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I wish to thank my family, my wife Kiew for her care and support over the long journey of completing this thesis, and my daughters Lydia and Zoe who have also had to be very patient at times when Dad seemed to be far too unavailable. Thanks too to my clergy colleagues in Bushbury parish, Philip Dobson and Ian Poole, for generously supporting me in taking the time amidst church duties to complete this thesis over the last 3 years, and to Ian for his stimulating theological discussions on this and other topics. Thanks also to the members of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Low Hill for their gracious forbearance, especially in the closing stages of writing. Thanks are also due to diocesan leaders in Birmingham and Lichfield for their personal, financial and moral support; firstly to the then Bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu, for enabling me to begin this project whilst in training for ordination at Queen‟s College and through curacy in Yardley in Birmingham, and then Bob Jackson whilst Archdeacon of Walsall, together with Bishops Jonathan Gledhill and Clive Gregory, for enabling me to complete it whilst in parish ministry in Wolverhampton. Special thanks are due to Professor Allan Anderson, my first supervisor for his support and encouragement especially in the early stages, and to Mark Cartledge, for his perceptive supervision and many constructive suggestions that has helped to draw out the best of my abilities in shaping this thesis, as well as his friendship and support. Thanks also to fellow students at the Birmingham Research Seminar over the years for their stimulating discussions and presentations, including specific help given by Andy Lord, Connie Au, Janet Warren and Stephen Torr. A number of people also helped specifically along the journey with access to their private libraries or lending books – most notably Gordon Mursell, but also Richard Massey, Hugh Scriven, Bob Dunnett and Brian Miller. Paula Gooder has been a great inspiration in relation to biblical studies, and George Kovoor was the first person to clearly challenge me to think of doing a PhD. Thanks to Wendy Bright who generously gave much of her time in typing up the interview transcripts, to Amos Yong for his input and correspondence in relation to chapter 6, and finally to Dan Yarnell for kindly proof reading the near final draft and for his helpful and constructive suggestions. And finally thank you to the leaders and members of „St George‟s‟ church for their kind hospitality during my research visits. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………...1 1.1 The spread of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity .………………………………………….1 1.2 Theological study of charismatic spiritual warfare ……………………………………………….4 1.3 Main research questions ...………………………………………………………………………..11 1.4 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………..13 1.4.1 Practical theological methodology and structure of thesis …………………………………..13 1.4.2 Social science methodology ………………………………………………………………….21 1.4.2.1 Participant observation ………………………………………………………….……………21 1.4.2.2 Reflexivity and epistemology ……………..…………………………………………………22 1.4.2.3 Case study approach …………………………………………………………………………26 1.4.2.4 The use of semi-structured interviews ……………………………………………………….27 1.4.2.5 Research ethics ……………………………………………………………………………….29 1.5 Definitions, scope & limitations …………………………………………………………………31 2 ANGLICAN CHARISMATIC SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 36 2.1 The historical Anglican tradition in relation to „spiritual warfare‟ ………………………………36 2.1.1 Medieval times and the Reformation ………………………………………………………..…39 2.2 Revd Alexander Boddy: the first Pentecostal Anglican …………………………………………41 2.3 The history of charismatic renewal in the Church of England …………………………………..44 2.3.1 Harper and All Souls …………………………………………………………………………45 2.3.2 Burslem and Gillingham ……………………………………………………………………..47 2.3.3 The renewal spreads ………………………………………………………………………….51 2.3.4 New centres for renewal ……………………………………………………………………..54 2.3.5 Wimber and signs and wonders ……………………………………………………………...60 2.3.6 Post-Wimber, the Toronto Blessing and „Alpha‟ ……………………………………………64 2.3.7 Charismatic controversies over spiritual warfare ……………………………………………67 3 THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARISMATIC SPIRITUAL WARFARE: A STUDY OF SOME ANGLICAN PIONEERS ………………………………………………70 3.1 Introduction to Interviewees ……………………………………………………………………72 3.2 Michael Harper: Pioneer origins ………………………………………………………………..77 3.2.1 Development of a charismatic theology of spiritual warfare ………………………………...80 3.3 David Watson: Evangelist and inspirational leader ……………………………………………84 3.4 Michael Green: Evangelist theologian ………………………………………………………….87 3.5 Integrated analysis of spiritual warfare theology and praxis …………………………………...92 3.5.1 The ontology, nature and origin of evil powers ……………………………………………...92 3.5.2 The nature and extent of spiritual warfare …………………………………………………...95 3.5.3 Praxis in spiritual warfare: „weapons‟ and methods, dangers and outcomes ………………..98 3.5.4 Similarities and differences in developing a theology of spiritual warfare ………………...101 3.6 Concluding summary: origins, influences and core beliefs …………………………………...110 4 SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE CHARISMATIC ANGLICAN CONTEXT: A CASE STUDY………………………………………………………………………………113 4.1 Introduction and pilot study ………………………………………………………………...…113 4.2 Case study selection and methods ………………………………………………………….…117 4.3 Church context ………………………………………………………………………………...121 4.4 Interviewees ……………………………………………………………………………….…..129 4.5 Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………....….132 4.5.1 Symbols …………………………………………………………………………………….133 4.5.2 Praxis………………………………………………………………………………………..135 4.5.3 Theology ………………….………………………………………………………….……..149 4.5.4 Outcomes ……………………………………………………………………………….…..151 4.6 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………….…..159 4.6.1 Ontology ……………………………………………………………………………………160 4.6.2 Demon focus – A paranoid worldview? ……………………………………………………164 4.7 Concluding summary ………………………………………………………………………….167 5 NIGEL WRIGHT: THE ONTOLOGY OF EVIL ………………………….…………………171 5.1 Introduction …………………....………………………………………………………………171 5.2 The ontology of evil: a dialogue with Nigel Wright and his sources …………………………173 5.3 Evil as nothingness ……………………………………………………………………………174 5.4 Evil as „God-forsaken space‟ ………………………………………………………………….185 5.5 The origin of evil: evil as arising from human sin……………………………………………..189 5.6 Evil and the concept of „personhood‟ …………………………………………………………194 5.7 Conclusion: towards a charismatic ontology of evil ………………………………………… 198 6 AMOS YONG: A TRIADIC METAPHYSICS OF THE DEMONIC 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..……203 6.2 Yong‟s foundational pneumatology…………………………………………………….….…204 6.3 Foundational pneumatology, the demonic, and Walter Wink …………………………..……207 6.4 Personhood, the Holy Spirit and demonic ontology ……………………………………....…213 6.5 Discussion and critical analysis of Yong‟s demonic ontology …………………….…………218 6.6 An example of Yong‟s methodology in practice …………………………………….……….228 6.7 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………233 7 GREGORY BOYD: A SPIRITUAL WARFARE WORLDVIEW ……………………………235 7.1 Boyd‟s contributions to a theology of spiritual warfare ……………………………………...238 7.2 Old Testament spiritual