`The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare`, by Dr. Ed Murphy, 2003

The Christian 's Weapons for Spiritual Warfare : A Review of

Murphy , E (2002 . The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare . Nashville : Nelson Books . 640 pages

Introduction

Christianity presupposes the existence of the supernatural . After all God is invisible and so are the angels and demons documented in the Bible as spirits that are present in the world inhabited by humans . Too often , however , because they are not seen , most people do not believe in the reality of the spiritual world . The Christian worldview takes into account the different unseen beings present and active

in the world This is well documented in the Bible and can be attested to by a lot of people who have been involved in one way or another in demonic possession

The church is also not spared in doubting the reality of spiritual beings at work . As such , they can easily fall prey to the wiles of Satan , which is described as a prowling lion ' in the Bible . Not only that , when they encounter demon possession or any spiritual activity involving demons . In fact , even Christians sometimes are not spared from demon activities , especially if they place themselves in places and circumstances where demons can work in their lives

Spiritual Warfare

The world in which Christians live is full of circumstances where the spirit of light and darkness struggle against each other . Dr . Ed Murphy said that there is a kingdom of Christ where believers belong to and the kingdom of Satan where the powers in the air and in the world reign and influence the lives of people who choose to live outside the fold of Christ 's grace and love . This statement was presented in page 5 and I agree because this dichotomy is reflected in the different activities of people in the world

Part One of Dr . Murphy 's book talks about worldviews and how such worldviews affect the thinking of people in the world . Those who belong to the two different kingdoms necessarily espouse different kinds of viewpoints . Those who have become believers in Christ have been transformed and redeemed . They no longer belong to the sinful ways of the world , where the influence of Satan is very much at work . The saving grace of Christ enables a person to change his views and his outward expressions . As such , spiritual warfare is truly a clash of worldviews between that of the Kingdom of Heaven and that of the world . The Bible also supports the worldview that spiritual beings are very much at work in the world then and now and it is the source of authority of God 's work

Dr . Murphy also expounded on a kind of history of spiritual warfare Satan used to be one of God 's top angels but was transformed by his desire for power and because of his pride . By relying on what the Bible says , the author traced the source of the cosmic conflict and how such conflict affects the world that we inhabit now . When Satan...