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Lucifer exposedDoubtful demonologyLUCIFER EXPOSED Derek Prince (1915-2003) was a well-known international speaker and deliverance minister, yet with a problematic overemphasis on the demonic realm unfortunately reflected in this book. The best part of the book for me was the final chapter (6), ‘The Work of the Cross’. Prince demonstrates a good understanding of the contrast between the Old and New Covenants, which he referred to as ‘law’ and ‘grace’. Here is much remarkable material very simply put, so that a person with little exposure to theology should be able to grasp the key issues and obey them. He clearly grasps and sets forth the overall argument of Romans. In regard to Romans 7.5-6, he commented: ‘Paul was not talking here about being delivered from sin, but about being delivered from the law’ (p.119). He is also excellent in stressing that God does not want us to be keeping a set of rules as such, but rather to be in a personal relationship with himself: ‘It is not effort, but union. It is not a new set of rules, but relationship. That principle is so plainly stated in the New Testament that it is amazing the majority of professing Christians have never known it’ (p.121). Yet Prince is far from being antinomian, as he says ‘deliverance from the law brings freedom to love. Just as the law and grace are opposed to each other, so are legalism and love. In a legalistic system, it is very hard to love’ (p.123). Then, commenting on Romans 13.8-10, he states: ‘Notice that, he who loves “has fulfilled the law”’ (p.123) and ‘That is very simple. In fact, the problem for theologians is that it seems too simple. Yet it is true’ (p.124). ProblemsThe early portion of the book I found disjointed and, in many places, incoherent. At the root of this is a major problem with Prince’s theology, namely an inadequate grasp of God’s overall sovereignty. For example, he writes: ‘Millions of Christians will get to heaven, but I’m afraid they will have missed God’s plan here on earth because they were not renewed in their minds’ (p.114). This, at the very least, does allow for the fact that, even in relative ignorance, Christians can be used by God to fulfil his highest will. Because a person is not aware of God’s plan does not mean that, through seeking God, he may not collaborate with God — even while his mind is not perfectly renewed. The area where this lack of sense of sovereignty is most troublesome is in the area of the demonic, which Prince heavily overemphasises. For example, Prince never explains that demonic powers have no power in themselves to operate with a free rein. They are only ‘free’ as far as God allows them to be. There are times when God requires us to take a firm stand against demonic powers and even to cast out demons. But this is not the same as attributing to demons more power than they have in reality (p.41). This inevitably results in a mindset in which Christians are always looking out for the next supposed demonic attack and being constantly on the alert to rebuke or bind the devil at every turn, an emphasis not evident in the New Testament. It is much healthier to be led by the Spirit in these matters and simply obey the Lord at each step, with the overriding awareness that he is in control of everything. Witchcraft?Possibly the worst chapter of all is chapter 5, which is called ‘The nature of witchcraft’. And here Prince introduces great confusion. Speaking of the occult in general, Prince rightly differentiates between those practices designed to gain power illegitimately and those designed to gain knowledge illegitimately: ‘Witchcraft is the power branch. Its product is power, and it operates through such activities as spells and curses’ (p.91). But, not content with that, Prince subsumes entire sectors of human life under the label ‘witchcraft’, insisting that ‘sorcery’ includes such activities as domination, manipulation, and intimidation. According to him, ‘Witchcraft, as a work of the flesh, operates in every area of society’ (p.87). He gives the example of a child in a scenario in which the child is forbidden to eat biscuits (p.87). On one occasion the mother is entertaining guests and offering them biscuits, whereupon the child seizes her opportunity, knowing that it will be difficult for her mother to refuse in front of all these guests, and asks politely for a biscuit. If the mother gives in, she has actually been manipulated by her little daughter. So, according to Prince’s broader concept of ‘witchcraft’, the child is guilty of ‘witchcraft’ when she manipulated her mother. In the end, ‘witchcraft’ almost becomes the root of all evil. It is seen everywhere and in everything. To attribute it all to witchcraft is stretching things to the point of the ludicrous. In fact, what Prince does is create an expanded clientele for a deliverance ministry. As long as people accept this analysis, they will always be crying out for a man of faith to speak at conferences and minister deliverance. Hierarchy?In other parts of this book, Prince strays into a number of doubtful areas, such as acceptance of a rigid demonic hierarchy with Territorial Spirits, that human beings are destined to take the place of Lucifer and his demonic hierarchies in God’s administration of the universe, that the Greek word kratØr always means ‘dominator’, something similar to the ‘carnal Christians’ doctrine, and that Paul’s ministry in Athens was a failure. Mike Taylor© Evangelicals Now - January 2008 |