The Three Battlegrounds
by Francis Frangipane
(Cedar Rapids,Iowa: Arrow Publications, 1989) 151pp.
I bring this review with some serious reservations. I would only guardedly recommend this book for the following reasons:
Though Francis Frangipane obviously comes to the subject of spiritual warfare with a wealth of life experience and wisdom, (a long-time pastor and church planter) he fails to separate clearly between issues of straight Biblical teaching and those derived from experience, tradition or personal interpretation. He writes with a matter-of-fact fatherly style that further compounds the reader’s difficulty in discerning absolute truth from conjecture--a dangerous brew to the unwitting reader. For a believer well-grounded in the Word of God, there is much spiritual wisdom here however, thus my mixed review…
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The Three Battlegrounds is a book about spiritual warfare with an especial concern for equipping the church to fight from a position of both wisdom and purity of heart, with boldness but never presumption. While greatly appreciating Frangipane’s obvious wealth of wisdom and of experience, and his sincere intent to equip the church in the arena of spiritual warfare, I offer this review with serious hesitation to recommend the book’s overall content. The reason for my reluctance will be soon evident.
The three battlegrounds, chosen for their relevance to most believers, are: the mind, the church, and the heavenly places. The book is divided into three parts accordingly, with the final section regarding the heavenly places, being the longest.
The first section, on the battleground of the mind, is in my opinion the most trustworthy and least controversial part of the book. Recognizing and overcoming personal strongholds is essential groundwork in spiritual warfare. Particular emphasis is given to the need to be conformed to the character of Christ rather than merely using His name in battle. Our calling is primarily to Christlikeness, not to warfare—
“Satan is tolerated for one purpose,” Frangipane suggests, “the warfare between the devil and God’s saints thrusts us into Christlikeness, where the nature of Christ becomes our only place of rest and security”(46)
He goes so far as to say: “The Father is more concerned with the coming forth of His Son in our lives than He is in defeating Satan” (47) and that many of our spiritual conflicts “simply are not going to cease until the character of the Lord Jesus is formed in our hearts” (46). Frangipane strongly cautions against letting warfare and the devil become our focus rather than Jesus. Turning to Him and appropriating His nature are our best preparation for any further battle.
The middle section of the book touches on issues relevant to the battleground of the Church. While the tone of writing here continues to be authoritative, it often lacks actual substantiation from the Word of God. There are plenty of references to passages and verses but the application is often based on a personalized or allegorical interpretation rather than the actual teaching of the passage-- on impressions and convictions rather than actual exegesis of the passage in question. Frangipane’s tone becomes prophetic and contexts are used loosely to support his impressions. The line between Frangipane’s impressions and interpretations and the actual teaching of Scripture becomes dangerously blurred. I would therefore not recommend this book to anyone not solidly grounded in the Word of God and prepared to read with critical discernment, filtering actual Bible doctrine from human interpretations.
Despite that disclaimer, this section does cover some hard-hitting and relevant issues for the church. Frangipane calls the church to re-discover the unity Christ intended us to have--based in genuine love--and to beware of bitterness and unforgiveness crystallizing into what he calls “a stronghold of cold love”.
Two excellent short chapters give careful attention to identifying true discernment, which stems from a motive of love, from its counterfeit--a critical spirit that judges in order to condemn.
Additional chapters emphasize replacing criticism with intercession when faults are seen in the church, becoming a true worshiper in affliction and in plenty, and avoiding becoming an ‘accuser of the brethren’.
I can heartily agree with many of Frangipane’s emphases but find his exegesis of Scripture and loosely defined applications to be disturbing, particularly because of the authoritative style in which he writes. In most cases he fails to distinguish between his opinions based on logical reasoning and the actual teaching as it stands in Scripture. The reader should not be misled that content is entirely Scriptural just because references and quotes are given. Context and orthodox principles of interpretation should be applied to all teaching.
The final section of the book is the least orthodox in its teaching, perhaps because it deals with ‘the battleground of the heavenly places’ regarding which we are given so little detailed teaching in Scripture. I found this part of the book to be based more in allegorical ideas and interpretation of experience than in actual Scripture. The chapter on what constitutes reality (“The War over Reality”) is seriously flawed from even a standpoint of basic logic. Yes, there is such a thing as subjective reality, but it is not necessarily in conflict with actual reality, nor does a society have the power to define its own reality. The concept of ‘worldview’ is needed to clarify this discussion.
I would also object to the statement that merely imagining and believing a thing is sufficient to accomplish it. Believing is a start but there must be the ability and the will to accomplish it. When we believe in what God has said we have both the ability and the will to accomplish it on the side of our belief. If we merely believe in idle fantasies or lies, or on our own interpretation of what God has said, we may or may not experience their accomplishment. Man is not omnipotent. God has defined reality. Once again, this chapter is a mixture: flawed reasoning, inaccurate statements, but also important truths. I concur with Frangipane on the necessity of knowing and using the Word of God when engaging in any kind of spiritual warfare, even that which happens in our own thought processes!
Additional chapters in this final section deal with ‘exposing the Spirit of Antichrist’, and discerning and warring with the ‘spirit of Jezebel’ and the ‘spirit of Babylon’. Though these chapters do contain perceptive insights regarding areas of spiritual darkness in the church, they are awash with questionable premises, faulty exegesis of Scripture and ambiguous use of language. They put undue emphasis on identifying a ‘spirit of…’ behind every ‘bush’ resulting in a focus on conjectured realities rather than a simple God-ward focus of repentance and faith, submitting to God and resisting temptation by His power.
As I see it, the spirit world is real and the heavenly realms are real. (Believers are in fact said to be ‘seated in the heavenlies’), but most of the workings of these realms are not revealed to us, likely because it is not necessary for us to know everything in order to ‘do’ spiritual warfare, and might, in fact, distract us from a God-ward focus.
I appreciate Frangipane’s own humble disclaimer at the close of the book. He considers his book to be primarily a tool to inform believers of their need for training in spiritual warfare while providing some teaching by way of insights and guidelines. At the same time he affirms that it is only in being actually led by the Lord that we will be trained in warfare, and cautions against putting confidence in this book, rather than the Lord.(145)
It is useful to re-read the Preface at this point as well, in which Frangipane encourages readers to let him know of their disagreements with the text. He acknowledges that spiritual warfare is an ‘ever unfolding’ subject fraught with ‘present inadequacies’ but that in relying upon the Lord ‘all things become adequate’.
I would prefer to regard God’s Word as a sufficient guide for life and warfare and steer away from any idea of ‘unfolding’ revelation, however, I do respect and appreciate Frangipane’s wisdom and intent in offering this volume on spiritual warfare, and I offer it to you tentatively, with this review’s disclaimers.
--LS
