Spirit Wars: Pagan Revival in Christian America

Professor Peter Jones is intelligent, learned, witty, courageous, thorough, an excellent writer, and a Christian. After a dozen years, this book remains the best, most scholarly and entertaining analysis of modern New Ageism and gnosticism. With the understanding of an experienced, talented and mature scholar, Dr. Jones thoroughly documents the roots of gnosticism and its tendrils in the feminist and homosexual movements, and their effects and implications for modern society and the church. This book is a massive resource, and its only small criticism might be that its seventy-one pages of detailed end notes and lengthy index of authors and biographical characters does not adequately serve neophytes or non-academicians to search material in the book by subject matter. Of course, atheists, gnostics, and other pagans and anti-Christs, in keeping with John 3:19-20, will assign the book a "1" while Christians rate it a "5". Professor Jones here shines bright light into dark corners of the "Pagan Revival in Christian America." Every Christian should read and study this book until its pages are well-worn.

Peter Jones' Spirit Wars (also published by Regal as Pagans in the Pews) is neither mean-spirited, nor hateful, nor bigoted. Sometimes the truth is painful and truth is what this work has plenty of. The intent is to "Learn how to arm yourself with God's truth - not to kick pagans out of the church, but to lovingly point them toward the One in whom all truth resides." Along with other works like Bright and Damoose's Red Sky In The Morning, Douglas Groothuis' Truth Decay, and Reclaiming the Center (editors: Erickson, Helseth, Taylor), Professor Jones reveals how the Church is subtly and often willingly slipping into the neo-paganism rampant in our culture. When a work gets praise from dispensational and reformed and charismatic circles, as this one has, it is an indication of the importance and universality of its message to the Church. Those who find fault with Professor Jones' text either have not actually understood him or had their minds made up before they read the book.

Dr. Jones provides the faithful with a thorough analysis of a growing portion of the apostacy away from the church which is a fall back to paganism.Especially, he takes note of the Sophia movement and Wicca, both associated with the feminist agenda of righting the ship of patriarchal dominated Scriptures.This valuable resource documents from the apostate sources their increasing candor in preaching clearly what they believe, a gnostic inspired, new revelation which if anything is just a new appearance of the old lies.The growing concern here, as the book points out, is the inroads this has made into the church (or what formerly was church). Jones concludes: "The God of the Bible locked in mortal combat for the souls of men with the goddess of revived pagainism--who would have imagined such a scenario in civilized, Christian America at the end of the twentieth century?"One only has to look at ELCA and other bodies, where the feminists have power gobbled up much, and seek more. What they have eroded and distorted with their deceptions is traced in this well written, researched work. It will serve many to contend for the faith without being contentious.

Peter Jones correctly and painstakenly documents the root of many of problems afflicting our modern society. In Spirit Wars, Dr. Jones shines the light of truth on the agenda of the pro-choice/homosexual/radical feminism agenda and ties them together in a neat little knot. He does this by exposing the very words spoken and written by the leaders of such groups, uncovering their true agenda. Indeed, the book is heavily footnoted and documented. In short, Spirit Wars helps to identify what lies at the root of todays "man centered" way of thinking that was brought into the mainstream by the Me Generation. It is no wonder that his targets howl and attack the messenger. They cannot dispute the content of Spirit Wars because to do so, they would dispute their own words, actions and deeds.

There truly is "nothing new under the sun." What is often dismissed by a postmodern view as "narrow," the central thesis of Jones scholarly work is simply that truth has always been truth, and both modern and ancient cultural notions notwithstanding, it will never cease being such. Although highly readable and thought-provoking, the book has extensively organized footnotes inviting those who would dig deeper to challenge and analyze the documentary laid forth.