The final phrase in the prayer Jesus taught his disciples is not an upbeat paean of praise crying aloud – ‘for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.’ It is not in the original text at all. The final phrase is actually a humble down-beat petition for help – ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’

Edmund Burke once said ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men (and women) to do nothing’. And that is the temptation we all face; the temptation to do nothing;  the temptation of withdrawing, taking it easy, turning on the tv, making cynical comments about the state of the world and doing nothing.

Jesus knew from hard personal experience how easy it is to succumb to the temptation to give up doing good, and to decide to go along with evil just to get along. Jesus’ challenge is: ‘not to be overcome with evil but to overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12.21) – ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6.10).

There are four perspectives that explain the relationship between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ and explore the possibility of doing God’s will ‘on earth as it is in heaven’.

The first perspective is the ‘traditional perspective.’ [i] This perspective sees reality in terms of two parallel dimensions – a ‘heavenly’ one and an ‘earthly’ one – which intersect and interact, and simultaneously reflect and reinforce the actions of one in the other.

From a ‘traditional perspective’, the New Dark Age could be seen, as it is by Frank Peretti, in his best selling contemporary novels, This Present Darkness and Piercing The Darkness, as ‘earthly skirmishes’ in a ‘heavenly war’ between ‘God and the Devil’.[ii]

Certainly people like Martin Luther and John Calvin saw their battles precisely in these terms. Martin Luther said that ‘we are all subject to the Devil.’[iii] And John Calvin said that the task of every saint is to engage in ‘unceasing struggle against the Devil.’ [iv]

The second perspective is the ‘spiritualistic perspective.’[v] This perspective sees reality in terms of two parallel dimensions – a ‘heavenly’ one that is manifest in the ‘soul’ – and an ‘earthly’ one that is manifest in the ‘body’. From this point of view the heavenly dimension is ‘real’ and ‘right’; while the earthly dimension is either ‘unreal’ and/or ‘wrong’.

From a ‘spiritualistic perspective’, the New Dark Age could be seen as it is by Baba Ram Das, in his cult classic, Be Here Now, as nothing but a ‘bad dream’, from which we will eventually ‘awake’ to the realisation that ‘pleasure and pain, loss and gain, fame and shame, are all the same -they’re just happening.’ [vi]

Certainly people like the Gnostic Monoimus and Meister Eckhart saw matters precisely in these terms. They believed that ‘enlightenment’ would dispel the ‘ignorance’ that produces a ‘nightmarish existence’ and ‘experiences of terror’. [vii]

The third perspective, the ‘materialistic perspective’, is the exact opposite of  the ‘spiritualistic perspective’ [viii] This perspective sees reality in terms of two parallel dimensions – an ‘earthly’ one that is manifest in the ‘body’ – and a ‘heavenly’ one that is manifest in the ‘soul’. From this point of view the earthly dimension is ‘real’ and ‘right’, while the heavenly dimension is either ‘unreal’ and/or ‘wrong’.

From a ‘materialistic perspective’, the New Dark Age could be seen, as it is by Sigmund Freud in his famous text on The Future Of Illusion, as nothing but ‘fulfilments of the oldest, strongest and most urgent wishes of mankind.’[ix]

Certainly people like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels saw issues precisely in these terms. They said that the so-called ‘religious’ character of much of the violence in the world was ‘simply a sacred cloak to hide desires that are very secular.’[x]

The fourth perspective is the ‘integral perspective.’ [xi] This perspective sees reality in terms of two co-terminous aspects of the universe – an ‘outer’ or ‘earthly’ one – and an ‘inner’ or ‘heavenly’ one – so that every event has both an ‘outer’ visible ‘material’ aspect and an ‘inner’ invisible ‘spiritual’ aspect.

From the ‘integral perspective’, the New Dark Age could be seen, as it is by Morton Kelsey, in his beautiful book, The Other Side Of Silence, as destructive ‘material’ expressions of demonic ‘spiritual’ realities, ‘that are actually parts of a single realm, (though) at present, they may appear to separate’.[xii]

Certainly people like Walter Wink and Charles Elliott see the current events precisely in these terms. Walter Wink says, ‘institutions have an actual spiritual ethos and we neglect this aspect of institutional life to our peril’.[xiii] Charles Elliott says, ‘we have to return to the basic position that demonic powers control structures’, religious and secular alike, ‘and it is those powers that have to be confronted if the structures are to be set free’ from their destructive proclivities. [xiv]

There is probably some truth in all these views. If the traditional view is true, we need to recognise there is more going in the world on than meets the eye. If the spiritualistic perspective is true, we need to seek spiritual enlightenment. If the materialistic perspective is true, we need to critique illusion in the name of the spiritual enlightenment that we seek. But, if the ‘integral perspective’ is true, the only way we can guarantee God’s will is ‘done on earth as it in heaven’ is if we exorcise our demonic propensities, embrace our divine potential,  and seek to do God’s will ‘on earth as it in heaven’ in the ‘power of the Spirit’ just like Jesus did.