The Four Evils -- Part Two

2000-12-19 11:50:00

I want to welcome the new members. Hope you have a good learning and sharing experience here.

Perhaps we seekers have a kinder and gentler view of evil than the many hard liners, but as humanity as well as the Masters define the term, both good and evil exist.

Now let us move on to Paul's third evil that can pull the disciple backwards in his evolution and service:

"Rulers of the darkness of this world."

It is always helpful to examine Biblical phrases in the ancient languages.

"Rulers" comes from KOSMOKRATOR. This Greek word is derived from two other words. The first is KOSMOS which is often translated as world, but more closely corresponds to what we currently call "the system." It literally means the "current arrangement of things." The second word is KRATEO which basically means "to seize with power."

The word "rulers" is a bare bones translation that does not give the full implication.

A more correct translation would read: "Those who seize power and control the way things are." "The power brokers within the system" could be another rendering.

Darkness comes from SKOTOS which can indeed mean darkness, but also can be translated as "shadow" or "obscurity."

"World" is mistranslated from AION which means "an age." The English word "eon" comes from this.

Taking this into consideration, let us give a more accurate wording of the verse. Instead of reading; "Rulers of the darkness of this world," it could more accurately read:

"Those who size seize the power of this age and work in the shadows."

So, who are these people that send out a frustrating negative force to the workers of light?

In our age some would call these power brokers "the conspiracy."

Even though there is no unified agreement on how sinister, powerful or unified the conspiracy is, there is one thing most will agree upon and that is that there are definitely people of selfish intent working behind the scenes pulling strings to manipulate events toward their own ends to the detriment of the whole.

It does seem that every time a good work or a good worker comes forward to change the world for the better that some power comes out of the shadows to do everything in its power to stop them. In our time John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were mysteriously killed just when they were in the midst of progress.

Organizations who seek to change things for the better are often hit with law suits, tax audits, and mysterious threats.

A disciple therefore, must be aware that he or she not only has outward authorities of position and glamour to deal with but also invisible power brokers behind the scenes who may be impossible to identify without revelation.

Next we approach what I called the great mystery -- the fourth evil which is "spiritual wickedness in celestial or heavenly places."

  

-- End of Part Two --

  

Go to:

The Four Evils -- Part Three

The Four Evils -- Part One

The Four Evils (Article Index)