Jesus and the Power of Satan (1968 Kallas), book

Jesus and the Power of Satan (1968) is a book by James G. Kallas.

Abstract

"In Jesus and the Power of Satan, James G. Kallas (1968) explores the dynamic tension between two juxtaposed motifs he terms the “Godward view” and the “Satanward view” in New Testament thought, especially as manifested in the Synoptic Gospels ... Kallas argues that Jesus’s life, teachings, miracles, and exorcisms reveal a robust commitment to a cosmic struggle against demonic powers; he situates this emphasis not as marginal but foundational to understanding the Gospel message ... The book’s thesis asserts that in spite of dominant evangelical theological currents favoring human responsibility and divine sovereignty (the Godward view), approximately eighty percent of the Synoptic Gospel content actually concerns the far more prevalent Satanward view—highlighting human vulnerability to spiritual forces beyond mortal control ... Through systematic theological and biblical analysis, Kallas demonstrates that Jesus saw the Kingdom of God as already breaking into the world through his confrontation with evil. He unpacks how Jesus’s exorcisms, conflict with demonic adversaries, and teachings signal that the coming of God’s reign is intrinsically tied to the defeat of Satan’s dominion ... Structured in two parts, the work first establishes its literary, historical, and theological context, then proceeds to explore core aspects of Jesus’s person and ministry—from the virgin birth, baptism, and temptation, to Kingdom parables, miracles, last supper, crucifixion, resurrection, and eschatological promise—framing each within the cosmic drama of divine and diabolical power ... Kallas’s contribution is both corrective and constructive: corrective in calling for a reclaiming of Jesus’s own cosmic worldview, and constructive in integrating this perspective into a theology of exorcism, deliverance, and spiritual conflict as essential to New Testament interpretation."--ChatGTP

Editions and translations

Published in Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1968.

External links

• [ Google Books]