'Elemental Spirits' in St Paul (Galatians 4)

[Byron Jack Gaist]

Can someone explain what the "elemental spirits of the universe" St Paul refers to in his epistles (e.g. Galatians 4) are from an Orthodox perspective?

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

I take the 'elemental spirits' of Gal 4 as referring to the thoughts.
In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Alec Lowly]

I'm not contradicting Father Raphael, but it's possible that the apostle was referring to what his Hellenic readers would have understood to be the chthonic powers and also the powers of "the air," demons in both instances. Orthodox tradition holds that angels are tasked to specific places -- why not the other side, too?

In XC,
Alec, sinner

[Richard David Hawthorn]

Christ is Among Us!

I consulted my Ancient Christian Commentary on these verses (4:3,8) and the various views as to what the "elemental spirits" refer to were as follows:

Marius Victorinus equates it with worship of the stars and their supposed influence on human affairs, this the pagans "who make gods for themselves even from the elements of this world." Or he also takes it for Judaizers (whom the epistle was written to combat) who understand the Law carnally rather than spiritually.

Ambrosiaster says, "By the elements he means new moons and the sabbath." also referring the passage to the Judaizers among the Galatians.

Bl. Augustine says that although the rest of the epistle was written to combat those going over to the Law, "In this place alone he seems to speak to those who were attempting to return to Gentile superstitions" so following Marius' first interpretation above.

Bl. Jerome in interpreting the "weak and beggarly elements of the world" says that "world" refers to the people in the world and the "elements of the world" refers to the same as what St. Paul called "tutors and overseers" earlier in the epistle. So he directs this passage against the against the Judaizers as well: Although the Law of Moses was "rich, affluent, and illustrious" as a tutor before Christ, to revert back to the carnal practice of its details now is, for Christians, a "return to the weak and beggarly elements of the world."

These seem to be the main interpretations of this term although Bl. Jerome did mention a "minority opinion" that sees these elements as angels: "Some hold that these are angels that preside over the four elements" (meaning Air, earth, fire, and water)

In Christ,
Rd. David

[Byron Jack Gaist]

Dear All,

Thank you for these various interpretations. A summary:

The 'elemental spirits of the universe' are:

1. Thoughts (logismoi)
2. Demons (chthonic powers and powers of the air)
3. Natural elements eg. stars, which became objects of worship in pagan times
4. A carnal, as opposed to a spiritual understanding of Judaic Law
5. Angels presiding over the four elements (fire, air, earth, water)

Victor Shepherd, a protestant pastor whose sermons are posted on the web, suggests the following:
At one time the Greek word "elemental spirits", STOICHEIA meant the alphabet, "A,B,C..." By extension "A,B,C..." came to mean "the ABCs"; the ABCs of anything at all. The ABCs of baseball are the most basic aspects of baseball, the first principles, the rudiments -- as with sewing or music-making or arithmetic. The ABCs are the basic information about anything, the elements of anything, the sort of thing children learn in elementary school. By the "elemental spirits of the universe" Paul means the most basic understanding of how the universe operates. Think of bodily health. "Eat well-balanced meals. Wash your hands frequently. Avoid excessive fat in your diet." The most elemental stuff. Living by it won't turn you into a super-athlete or a beauty contest winner. Living by it doesn't mean you are extraordinarily virtuous. Living by merely helps you survive. Think of social situations. "Don't criticize the boss so as to make him lose face. Don't criticize your parents-in-law at any time. Don't wear a Hallowe'en mask into a bank." Observing these principles merely lets us survive socially. The STOICHEIA, the elemental principles of the universe, are the principles by which order is maintained in the universe. These elemental spirits, the ABCs of life, facilitate survival, but no more than survival.

Yet there is a second meaning to STOICHEIA, the elemental spirits of the universe. In the ancient world the STOICHEIA were also the forces that course through everyone's life, the forces that shape us socially, psychologically, politically. These forces determine eversomuch about how we think, what we expect, how we react, what we do. Think about me. I am a male. That means my thinking, my reacting, the social possibilities open to me are ever so largely determined by the centuries old force of patriarchy. The fact that I am a male also means that I must nowadays contend with the force of aggressive feminism. I am also an affluent westerner. This fact forces me into the strictest mould as surely as the impoverished Arab is forced into his mould and the Communist Chinese peasant is forced into her mould. The forces that shape us as they compress us and constrict us are legion. These forces too are part of what is meant by the "elemental spirits of the universe".

The apostle Paul, in his customary terseness, states that all humankind is in bondage to these spirits. These spirits -- whether the mechanisms that let us survive but no more than survive, or whether the forces surging over us at all times -- these forces don't merely shape us. They limit us. They restrict us, constrict us, confine us. They defy that "abundant life" which Jesus insists is alone worth calling "life".

How does this sound to Orthodox ears, I wonder?

In Christ
Byron

[Byron Jack Gaist]

Dear All,

This interpretation, from a RC website, sounds quite convincing:


What are the elemental spirits? If you follow St. Paul's argument, the elemental spirits "enslaved" both the Jews under the Law and the Gentile Galatians under paganism.

St. Paul, following a line of Jewish interpretation, taught that the Law was not given directly by God but through the mediation of angels. (cf. Gal 3:19-20) Moreover, St. Paul believes that the idols of the Gentiles are representations of demons - fallen angels in this case.

Follow his line of thought in Gal 4:8-9:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?
In other words the Gentile Galatians were formerly serving "beings that by nature are no gods," that is to say demonic idols. Now they want to "turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits" by becoming Judaizers and submitting to the Law.

Their reversion to Judaism is for Paul a "turning back again" to the elemental spirits. I find this fascinating and I don't know quite how to handle it. I can see how Marcion had a hey-day with this epistle and how he could use the language here to teach that the God of the Mosaic Law was actually a corrupt demiurge or "elemental spirit."

Perhaps the best way to understand this is to read it in light of Hebrews chapter 1 where the author, like Paul (perhaps it really was written by Paul?!), explains that Christ is far superior to angels. The Gospel of Christ is revealed through the incarnation of Christ. We come to "know God, or rather to be known by God." (Gal 4:8-9) The Law was given in the midst of thunder, clouds, smoke, etc. and apparently through angelic spirits. Even so it was given through a human man, Moses, who was not God.

When a person comes to Christ, his knowledge of God is directly through Christ. He can say "Abba" not through angels, elements, or men, but directly to God as a son to a father (Gal 4:6). It is not a mediated faith through angels or through men. For Paul, any attempt to know God in a way other than through faith in Christ is "slavery to the elemental spirits," whether they be Jewish or pagan. The "fullness of time" has come for both Jews and Gentiles to receive the "adoption as sons" that Paul speaks about in the same chapter of Galatians, i.e. chapter 4.

What do others think?

In Christ,
Byron

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Byron,

I have to say, you've done the best job I've ever seen of responding to a post two years after it was written, and doing so so seamlessly I actually had to double-check the dates were right!

Well done!

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Byron Jack Gaist]

Dear Matthew,

Thanks. I suppose its only a short thread, I doubt it would be like this if I tried to pick up a thread like the one on Genesis! Still, I guess the thing about nagging questions is that, until they receive a satisfactory answer, they keep coming back - even years later!

In Christ
Byron