“This is the worldview reflected in the Bible. In this conception, everything earthly has its heavenly counterpart, and everything heavenly has its earthly counterpart. If war begins on earth, then there must be, at the same time, war in heaven between the angels of the nations in the heavenly council. Likewise, events initiated in heaven are mirrored on earth. This is a symbolic way of saying that every material reality has a spiritual dimension, and every spiritual reality has physical consequences…

“Not only the writers of the Bible, but also the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, and Chinese — indeed, most people in the ancient world — shared this worldview, and it is still held by large numbers of people today.”

(From Walter Wink’s The Powers That Be, p.15-16.)