A must read
There has been an upsurge in interest on the subject of powers and principalities as they pertain to biblical usage and how we are to relate them to the common era. Clinton Arnold has really brought this subject to a level that in my opinion far exceeds what has been written to date. He takes the cultural writings that have been preserved to give us a well documented and well structured account of how the particular Greek words were understood in the days that the New Testament era was unfolding, and gives good reasons for not allowing an unreasonable fear of these spiritual entities. He does not take any drastic turns on warfare nor does he imply that they are something we are not rightfully to take authority over. Mr Arnold accomplishes a two fold process in writing to the reader. He has a way of not only educating you with merely well thought out and structured words but he also writes in a way that you are compelled to receive the empowerment of God's Spirit coming on you when you read his material. You walk away from these pages knowing how truly more powerful your God is than any other force. He really drives home the point that those turning from serving idols as well as the society of those days understood power behind gods and were very afraid of the wrath that potentially awaited in turning from them to serve the one true God. This explains why we have Paul talking frequently about these powers that threatened and held them in fear before they knew the one true God.
