Kingdom of Heaven: Encyclopedia II - Kingdom of Heaven - The Kingdom in Christian thought

Kingdom of Heaven - The Kingdom in Christian thought

The idea of God's Kingdom is found predominantly in the New Testament, specifically the Synoptic Gospels. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that people willingly enter through belief, spiritual rebirth, and carrying out the will of God. It is a kingdom peopled by the righteous, among whom the humble will be the greatest, and stands in stark contrast to the only other kingdom available to people: the kingdom of Satan.

The Kingdom of God is a term used interchangeably with Kingdom of Heaven in the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew usually uses the term "Kingdom of Heaven", while Luke and Mark use "Kingdom of God". The standard explanation for this is that Matthew's Gospel was addressed to a Jewish audience who would avoid the direct use of the name of God. Mark and Luke addressed their gospels to a more general audience who would be unfamiliar with the term "Kingdom of Heaven".

Some premillennialist interpreters believe that "Kingdom of Heaven" refers to the millennial kingdom of God, while "Kingdom of God" refers to His universal reign. However, most interpreters, including many premillennialists, believe that there is no basis for such a distinction.

Historian H. G. Wells wrote: "This doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus, and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought."

Jesus Seminar scholars have translated the phrase "Kingdom of God" as "God's imperial rule", or sometimes "God's domain", to better grasp its sense in today's language.

The Christian understanding of the Kingdom of God encompasses several ideas.

Kingdom of Heaven - Present aspect

The Gospels describe Jesus as proclaiming the Kingdom as something that was "at hand", and forcefully advancing since the days of John the Baptist, and not merely a future reality (see Mark 1:15). The reported activity of Jesus in healing diseases, driving out demons, teaching a new ethic for living, and offering a new hope in God to the poor, is understood to be a demonstration of that Kingdom in action. Having the Messiah, the King of the Jews, with them, is of course one aspect of the Kingdom: the King had come to represent His Kingdom. By His sinless life, and through His miracles, He also demonstrated to the Jewish people what the Kingdom of Heaven would be like.

Jesus treated the subject with great importance, so that in the Lord's Prayer, he said it should be the second most important subject in prayer (Matthew 6:9-10). The Kingdom of God is referred to 36 times in the book of Matthew alone, primarily in parables beginning with phrases such as "The kingdom of heaven is like...". Jesus maintained the importance of seeking The Kingdom throughout his ministry (Matthew 6:33; Mark 9:43-47). Following his resurrection, the kingdom of God was the centerpoint of the teaching of the Twelve Apostles and Paul of Tarsus as they carried the message out to the gentiles.

The Kingdom of God also refers to the changed state of heart or mind (metanoia) within Christians (see Luke 17:20-21), emphasizing the spiritual nature of His Kingdom by saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within (or among) you."

Jesus's use of "Kingdom of God" language can be contrasted with that of the first century CE Jewish revolutionaries who believed that the Kingdom was a political reality, that would come about by the violent overthrow of Roman rule and its replacement by a Jewish theocracy.

In Roman Catholic theology, the Kingdom of God can also refer to the Church. Protestants, however, believe that the Church is the instrument by which the Kingdom is manifested, but is not synonymous with the Kingdom itself.

Some modern fundamentalist religious denominations view the concept of the Kingdom of God as the heart of believers, where the commandments of God are proclaimed, heard and observed.

In Roman Catholicism, Jesus's proclamation of the Kingdom of God is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

Kingdom of Heaven - Future aspect

The present fulfillment of the Kingdom was treated by Jesus as a provisional foretaste of a greater, future reality.

The future aspect of the Kingdom is the belief of a future, post-apocalyptic implementation of God's theocratic rule, especially in a premillennialist interpretation of the prophetic genre of scriptural texts.

The tension between the present and future aspects of the Kingdom has been referred to as "the now and the not yet" of God's Kingdom. Traditionally, Catholicism, Liberal Christian and Pentecostal denominations have tended to emphasize its present aspect, while conservative Fundamentalists and evangelicals have emphasized its future aspect.

Occasionally, some groups, such as Sabbatarians or Adventists reject the idea of a present Kingdom of Heaven as interpreted by other groups, instead preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven existing only in heaven, but will later be extended over the Earth after the Second Coming of Jesus.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Kingdom in Christian thought", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki