LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

READING REFLECTION: THE ADVERSARY: THE CHRISTIAN VERSUS DEMON BY MARK I. BUBECK

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. GLEN L. JEFFRIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE EVAN 670 STRATEGIC PRAYER AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE

LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY KAI A. BROWN L23047679

NORCROSS, GEORGIA JUNE 19, 2011

Summary Mark Bubecks book, The Adversary: The Christian Versus Demon Activity, describes a world in which too many believers are unfamiliar with spiritual warfare and victory in such warfare. The Adversary is a vastly useful book for Christians. It helps with combating spiritual enemies and keeping the ground they take as they gain victory through the power of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Bubeck book flows from his introduction and description of the spiritual warfare every believer faces to the focus on how the believer can find and maintain victory over the enemies of darkness. Finally he author deals with how the believer is to face these battles. Evaluation and Critique Bubecks writing style is one of the strengths of the book. He speaks in laymans terms which allow the reader to recognize both the simplicity of understanding spiritual warfare as it is openly revealed in Scripture and the obvious cost involved in claiming victory over the devil. He shows each of these things clearly through his outlines, lists and his application of scriptural passages. Specifically, each can be seen in Bubecks outline of the wide-ranging Bible quotations about Satan.1 This outline stands out as an exhaustive yet brief biography of the devil. Bubeck covers background information on Satans original state, rebellion, fall, his titles and names.2 Further, he discloses Satans power, his sphere of activity, his strategy and his destiny.3 Bubeck focuses much of his book on giving the absolute basics of spiritual warfare for Christians to understand. This is another strong aspect. He covers the believers responsibility in

Mark I. Bubeck, The Adversary: The Christian versus Demon Activity. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), 57Ibid., 57-58.

66.
2 3

Ibid., 63-66.

spiritual warfare, the reasons why sin is wrong, and the methods for being filled with the Spirit.4 First he writes of the believers responsibility in this spiritual warfare that each must fight the good fight of faith (I timothy 6:12) and remain strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10).5; p. 16, 70). Then he writes that sin is wrong because it dishonors God, it denies Gods right to direct and discipline His children, it derives from the old man instead of the new, and it disagrees openly with the conduct of the new man.6 Finally, Bubeck writes about how a believer can be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18): he must communicate honestly with himself, confess any known sin, capitulate to Gods lordship, convey his desire to be filled by the Holy Spirit, consider such promised filling as already accomplished, and continue to obey Gods will as it is laid out in Scripture.7 I struggled to find a true negative in Bubecks, The Adversary. However one thing that is difficult to overlook is the dated feel of The Adversary as a whole. Having been published in 1975 some of the examples do not seem to fit into the current times. This book could use an updated. While often personal in his approach, Bubeck has written his work from a different era and generational perspective than Christians experience today. The Adversary could make resurgence into a mainstream religious works and inform the Christians of the ever-present spiritual darkness all around. The enemy has corrupted media today to much deeper extent than a single Exorcist film had done in the mid-1970s. This generation has become inundated with darkness in entertainment that includes black magic, vampires, inhumanity, and a godless universe. Children are growing up today in a world that finds much more joy inside the internet
4 5

Ibid., 16, 34-35, 42-43.

Ibid., 16.
6

Ibid., 35.
7

Ibid., 42-43.

and video games than in the world that surrounds them. The military organization of spiritual darkness8 has discovered new weapons with which to attack the believers of the new millennium, and these weapons are the weapons of mindless entertainment and godless time-wasters. To have a better, clearer understanding of the demonic forces that surround them today, Christians would be blessed in finding an updated version of Bubecks The Adversary. Personal Application The Adversary by Mark Bubeck has proven to be a useful tool for understanding spiritual enemies and for instituting training to combat them. Bubecks faithfulness to scriptural application has given me the deisre to seek better learning on how to truly step into the authority that my relationship with Christ has afforded. I will delve deeper into Scripture to prepare myself to continue to fight the battles that daily confront me as a Christian. I will no longer take lightly the little sins that hamper my effectiveness in battle against the enemy. I will learn to better understand and wear the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6:10-17 that I have beccause of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Bubeck has given me a renewed vigor for helping myself and others stand in the face of the adversary.

Ibid., 72.

Bibliography Bubeck, Mark I. The Adversary: The Christian versus Demon Activity. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1975.