STRATEGIC LEVEL SPIRITUAL WARFARE: A modern mythology?
By Michael S.B. Reid
Xulon Press, USA. 348 pages
ISBN 1 591604 58 3
The author, Michael Reid, points out that the perception of spiritual warfare within the Christian world has been skewed by the skilful promotion of what has come to be known as Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare [SLSW], so closely associated with the 'Third Wave' movement. The most eloquent protagonist of SLSW has been Peter Wagner, whose publications have changed the thinking of large numbers of Christians of the present generation.
Promoters of SLSW see it as a necessary prelude to the work of evangelism. Once the battle in the heavenlies has been won, all Christians have to do is move in and engage in a spiritual mopping-up operation, reaping vast numbers of converts in specific geographical zones. Reid ably exposes this thinking as being entirely fallacious and as having no biblical moorings, regarding it as founded upon a biased evaluation of experience and anecdotal data. However, his main point is that SLSW has provided a sidetrack, drawing people away from the proclamation of the gospel message and from the eternal truths of Scripture.