The ‘Yahweh's Warfare’ theory is the one that has emerged as a important issue in modern missiology. It is a theory first claimed by the church growth theorists from Fuller theological
seminary by C. Peter Wagner and accepted mostly in Asia, Africa, and South America. This theory has a strength that it makes the supernatural events of the Bible a real experience and brings the expansion of the Evangelism. On the other hand, I think it lacks the Biblical base and focuses only on overcoming Satan and demons, hence it weakens the main points of the Bible such as the proclamation of the Truth and the salvation of souls. Therefore, it is necessary to put this movement on a sheer balance so that it can be helpful to bearing positive fruits to Christian ministry, based fully on the Bible. This issue was addressed during the Lausanne Covenant and then focused on as main contents at the Manila Covenant in 1989, and at Capetown covenant in 2010. However, the dispute over the issue is not completely solved and is still demanding the full Biblical base. In the same line, in order to understand the spiritual warfare through the Biblical base, the present paper investigates the ‘Yahweh's Warfare’ theory that the Old Testament scholars presented and argues, and that is helpful to basing the spiritual warfare theory to sublimate it spiritually in Christ. Thus, the present paper proposes to present the principles of the spiritual warfare by studying the ‘Holy Warfare’ theory argued by G. Von Rad in 1940’s, the writings of the ‘Yahweh Warfare’ theory and consulting the Old Testament texts regarding the ‘Yahweh Warfare.’ The main points of the Yahweh Warfare theme are: (1) Jehovah is the warrior who wages wars and orders in them; (2) the Christians who participate in the wars should be holy and belong to God fully; (3) the enemy of the spiritual warfare is Satan; and (4) the aim of the Yahweh Warfare is the establishment of the divine kingdom while the spiritual warfare aims to build the kingdom of God. The present paper does not deal fully with the Biblical base for the spiritual warfare, but confines itself to presenting the Biblical base for the spiritual warfare simply through the Old Testament texts on the Yahweh warfare.

• 이종우(백석대학교, 언론선교학) | Jongwoo Lee