Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies

by N.T. Wright

Created; defeated; and then reconciled. The fact that God has celebrated his triumph over the rebel powers doesn’t mean that there is no role for ‘powers’ any more. It is easy for modern Western observers, instantly suspicious of all ‘powers’, to be glad that the ‘powers’ were ‘defeated’ and then to leave it at that, content with a sneering critique of all human authorities. Such a perspective might seem to imply that perhaps a cheerful anarchy, or a kind of optimistic ‘people’s republic’ with no visible power structures, would solve the problems of a city, a nation or the world. On the contrary: just as humans, liberated from sin, can take their rightful place as the royal priesthood, so the structures of governance, the tendons and ligaments of complex human society, are in principle reconciled. God intends that humans should share in running his world, and should be held accountable. Structures through which this happens – though still vulnerable to abuse and distortion – are not automatically evil. On the contrary, they are thus in principle reaffirmed and celebrated. As with everything else in God’s creation, once they stop being worshipped they stop being demonic. It takes the victory of the cross to break their power. But, once that has happened, wise humans can and must rise to the challenge of establishing and maintaining God’s intention for a well-functioning human society.