Posts Tagged ‘kingdom of God’

The Home of God is Among Mortals

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 by Jason Wermuth

Many Christians in the world today believe that the end of the Christian journey is escaping this hell-filled world at which time we will live in the spiritual realm called heaven for eternity with God in an idyllic paradise. Many go as far as to make heaven a world of self-fulfillment where we get to do and be whatever it is that tickles our innards. Football stars will have green football fields as far as the eye can see, computer nerds will have every Apple product known to the angels. This is a wonderfully giddifying idea, but, is this really what the bible says about life after death?

In the New Testament (and the Old for that matter) the goal of life with God seems far less about leaving here (although some will leave, 1 Thess 4:13-17) and going to heaven but with God and heaven coming here to earth. Jesus’ whole message was centered around the idea that the kingdom of God was coming to earth just like it is in heaven, not the other way around. This idea has been articulated magnificently by N. T. Wright in Surprise by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church. In this book, Wright argues that for far too long Christian’s have focused on escaping earth and going to heaven. This focus, however, leaves out a whole lot of the gospel.

So if heaven isn’t the point, what is?
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Paul and his Kingdom Problem – Part 2

Saturday, April 17th, 2010 by Jason Wermuth

Last week we discussed the fact that Paul rarely mentions the kingdom of God in his letters (read part 1 here), which is a problem precisely because this happens to be the central theme of Jesus’ whole earthly message. The natural question that arises from this problem is, why does Paul use the phrase “kingdom of God” so rarely?

In order to understand the problem one must first understand a little bit about the cultural climate in which Paul lived. The Roman Empire, in Jesus and Paul’s day, controlled everything from Spain in the west to the Arabian Peninsula in the east. Each territory of the Roman Empire was ultimately under the rule of the Caesar who appointed Governors to ensure order was maintained throughout the Empire. These governors were famous for using their vast military might to crush uprisings with brute force. Any hint of an uprising or any question of who the real ruler of the Empire was and the Governor was likely to squash you and your group with swift and decisive action. These were the likely events that surrounded Jesus’ own crucifixion, of which Jesus’ followers were all too familiar. Even Paul, who was not one of Jesus’ followers at the time of his death but who claims to have seen the resurrected Jesus (Gal 1:11-17; 1 Cor 9:1; 1 Cor 15:8-11), knew what happened when someone was proclaiming the coming of a new kingdom with a new king. It would follow then that Paul, cognizant of his surroundings, would have taken care not to write anything that might be intercepted and traced back to him as some kind of clarion call to begin a battle against Rome and inaugurate a new kingdom. Furthermore, Paul was often writing to a mixed Jewish and Gentile audience. It is likely that the Gentile audience would not have understood a discussion of the kingdom of God in the way that Paul would have intended it, and so in most instances, Paul refrains from talking about the kingdom of God. The question remains though, did Paul know anything about Jesus’ kingdom message?

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Paul and his Kingdom Problem – Part 1

Saturday, April 10th, 2010 by Jason Wermuth

The apostle Paul is well known for many of his theological insights, such as his theology of justification, salvation, sanctification, glorification and all of the other Pauline words that, in English, end in “-ation.” Many scholars note, however, the scarcity of references to the kingdom of God in Paul’s epistles. Since this is the central theme of Jesus’ message, this would appear to be a problem!

Many suggestions have been offered in reference to the lack of kingdom language in Paul. Some suggest that he knew nothing of Jesus’ teaching, and thus he knew little of the kingdom of God. This answer is unsatisfactory, however, since as a good Jew, from the pharisaic tradition, he would have certainly been well acquainted with the promise of the coming kingdom found in places such as Daniel 7 and elsewhere throughout the Jewish Scriptures. Furthermore, Paul does indeed use kingdom language in his letters, albeit rarely.

Why do you think Paul talked about the kingdom of God so rarely?

In most instances Paul uses kingdom language eschatalogically (referring to the end of the age), and many use this fact to show that Paul knew nothing of the “at-hand” kingdom that Jesus was set on inaugurating in the present. Some, such as James Dunn (see his The Theology of Paul the Apostle, pp. 190-191) have proposed that there is more to Paul’s understanding of the kingdom of God than many have given him credit for.

Dunn contends that Paul replaced much of the kingdom language associated with Jesus’ teaching with Spirit-language and I am inclined to agree with him on this point. He shows that in the synoptic Gospels, “the kingdom” is mentioned some 105 times. In contrast, Paul uses the term kingdom of God (or related variations) only 14 times. Paul, however, mentions the Spirit over 110 times. Could it be then that through Paul’s emphasis on the Spirit we may see allusions to Jesus’ not-yet/already tension of the kingdom of God?

Next week we will look at why Paul uses the phrase so rarely and we will survey the pertinent passages in relation to Paul’s view of the kingdom to attempt to understand what Paul means when he does use kingdom language and how this compares to Jesus’ use of the phrase.

Does Paul actually view the kingdom of God similarly to Jesus? What would it mean for Christian theology if Paul truly knew nothing of Jesus’ teachings? What role does the kingdom of God play in your own theology?

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