kenarchy not sovereignty

Perhaps the most common adjective for describing God among Christians has been the word ‘sovereign.’ This has been exacerbated over recent years by what was, in my view, the catastrophic decision by the translators of the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), to use the phrase ‘sovereign Lord’ to translate the Hebrew for ‘Lord God’ (ādônây y’hôvih). The word ‘ādônây’ is the plural for the word ‘adon’ deriving from a Ugaritic word meaning “lord” or “father,” and emphasises the fulness of Godiness, but tells us little about how God uses his fulness. That, from the Christian perspective, waits for the incarnation to reveal. The word ‘sovereign’ on the other hand, now carries all the hidden baggage of the dominating power of empire, law and hierarchy.

It may be possible to de-toxify the word, but so deep is its baptism in the domination systems of this world that unless that problem is clearly pointed out, then it leaves the understanding of God wide open to being confused with characteristics that belong, according to the incarnational testimony of Jesus, to the devil. As Matthew and Luke describe, it is the devil who uses power to dominate the multitude. Their temptation narratives cearly contrast the demonic power and authority of the kingdoms of the world with the way of “the Lord your God” (Luke 4:8). Jesus resists the devil’s sovereign way of power and reveals God’s attitude and behaviour.

So this brings us to a further couple of pithy statements about kenarchy:
“kenarchy conveys an understanding of God’s power that is opposite to that carried by sovereignty” and
“kenarchy gives away power whereas sovereignty holds onto it.”