Powers Used By Paul
As per Berkhof (Christ and The Powers, p18),
If we have begun to think of the Powers as angels or classes of angels, this text is somewhat embarrassing. The angelic names stand here side-by-side with other nouns which certainly do not designate personal spiritual beings. Even the sequence is most remarkable: death - life - angels - principalities - present - future - powers - height - depth; then all the list is summed up under the heading "creatures." Obviously Paul means to name a number of realities, which are a part of our earthly existence, and whose role is one of domination. This is still more evident in another text which also includes this kind of list, namely, 1 Corinthians 3.22,
Whether Paul, Apollos, or Cephas; whether world, life, or death, whether present or future, all is yours.
Here the names of the angelic powers are missing, but here as well Paul intends to group the names of experienced realities which dominated the lives of Corinthians. It is clear that these entities are not all thought of as persons, much less as angels. The fact that Paul could weave the names of the angelic powers into such a list of abstractions would indicate that his emphasis lies not on their personal-spiritual nature, but rather on the second characteristic named above, on the fact that these Powers condition earthly life.
Created 6 months ago
