Revelation 12

Figures...one of the places where my theology differs most from "traditional Lutheran theology" is the topic of today's chapter. Brace yourselves, and I'm fine if you decide to call me a heretic.

The struggles I have with this chapter (and with "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" - traditional version) is that it sets the world/cosmos/reality up as a battle between Good v. Evil. It's God v. the Devil, Black v. White, Yes v. No....and we are all living between these two poles - God and the Devil.

I'm not comfortable with this dichotomy. I don't see the world in polar opposites. To me, there is God and there is "All that is not God." I fight for, serve, and strive to emulate God. My focus is on God. And God alone.

I do not focus on fighting "the Devil." To me, it's too simple to say that evil is the polar opposite of God. God is the light, and we can stray from that light in a myriad of ways. Walking away from the light does not mean walking "towards" something/someone else.

Our reality has so much grey...Even as I read about battles in history, I have learned that the issues are rarely clear-cut. Wars are more often about power and control and wealth. They are almost never about good v. bad.

We do not live in a world on a line - oscillating between the extremes of God and Devil. We live in orbit around the Sphere of God. And we can walk quite far into the darkness away from that sphere.

So, in short, not my favorite chapter in the Bible. And I'm rather disturbed at how much of our culture's idea of the Devil comes out of this chapter in Revelation. We seem to discard a great deal of Revelation as troublesome and murky...yet these images of serpent and Heavenly battle have made their way into the common consciousness.