God's Kingdom
In theology, the concept Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven (in Greek βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ basileia tou theou) is a kingdom in which God is the ruler and judge, whose seat is heaven.
The Kingdom in Judaism
The Kingdom of God is mentioned frequently in the Tanakh. It is linked to the Jewish understanding that God would directly intervene to restore Israel's nationality and then rule over it. Then it was interpreted as the Messiah of Israel would come from the descendants of David, who would sit on David's throne and rule for eternity. Therefore the Jews await divine intervention, politically and spiritually.
The Kingdom of God was expressly promised to King David, making a pact between him and God and promising that someone would always reign on the throne of his "house" — David's —.
The Kingdom in Christianity
The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates that in the New Testament various expressions are used to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man: the arrival of the Kingdom of God; "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" —Mt 5:8—; "entry into the joy of the Lord" — Mt 25; 21.23 —; "the entrance into the rest of God" - Heb 4, 7-11.
- «There we shall rest and see; we shall see and love; we shall love and praise. Here is what will come to an end. And what other end do we have, but to reach the Kingdom that will have no end?. St Augustine civ.22.30»
The idea of the Kingdom of God is found predominantly in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels.
The Kingdom of God is a term used interchangeably with "Kingdom of Heaven." In the Gospel according to Matthew the latter expression is used, while in Luke, Mark and John the "Kingdom of God" is used. The usual explanation is that the Gospel of Matthew is intended for Jews who prefer to avoid direct use of God's name. Mark and Luke are aimed at a more general audience less familiar with the term "Kingdom of Heaven."
Some premillennial interpreters think that the "Kingdom of Heaven" refers to God's millennial reign, while the "Kingdom of God" refers to his universal reign. Others are of the opinion that there is no basis for such a distinction.
The British historian, writer and philosopher H. G. Wells wrote:
"The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines ever animated and transformed human thought. »H. G. Wells (1920), Outline of History
The Christian thought of the Kingdom of God groups different concepts according to the understanding of each denomination, among which the following stand out.
- The Kingdom of God is a unique heavenly government that will rule throughout the earth after Armageddon, when all the wicked have been destroyed.
- The king of this kingdom is Jesus Christ, according to the covenant God made with David.
- Jesus Christ speaks many times of the Kingdom of God, which is near and how to explain it is with parables that are comparisons that express a teaching.
Present aspect
The gospels describe Jesus of Nazareth proclaiming the Kingdom as something that is already near, that is coming in the present, not as a future reality. The narrated activities of Jesus, by healing diseases, casting out demons, teaching a new ethic of life and offering a new hope in God to the poorest, are understood as a demonstration that the Kingdom is in action. Having the Messiah, the King of the Jews, among them, is one aspect of this Kingdom: the King had come to represent his Kingdom. By his sinless life and by his miracles he was demonstrating to the Jews what the Kingdom is like.
"The Kingdom of God" It is a genitive, which tells us that it is God himself from a specific point of view, his performance in this world and in our history. The question posed to Jesus' contemporaries (especially those imbued with the apocalyptic mentality) is whether God acts in this world and in this history, or not; and if he acts, when he does or will do it and under what conditions. Jesus tells us that this is imminent, and that the expected action of God in this world begins now.
Jesus gave a lot of importance to this topic, as can be seen in the Lord's Prayer, where it is the second most important topic in that prayer.
The Kingdom of God also refers to the change of heart or mind (metanoia) on the part of Christians, emphasizing the spiritual nature of his Kingdom by saying that “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you themselves». This phrase can also be translated, however, "the kingdom of heaven is in your midst."
Jesus used the language of the "Kingdom of God" in a way that contrasts with the Jewish revolutionaries of the I century, called Zealots, who believed that the Kingdom was a political reality which would come with a violent revolt against Roman rule, replaced by a Jewish theocracy.
In the canonical Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth invites all men to enter the Kingdom of God; even the worst of sinners is called to convert and accept the infinite mercy of the Father. The Kingdom belongs, already here on earth, to those who welcome it with a humble heart. To them are revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. The (Catholic) Church considers itself to be "the beginning on earth" of the Kingdom of God and that its fullness will be reached after the final judgment, when the entire universe, freed from the slavery of corruption, will participate in the glory of Christ, inaugurating "the new heavens and the new earth" (2 P 3, 13). In this way the full Kingdom of God will be achieved, that is, the definitive realization of God's salvific plan to "make everything have Christ as Head, what is in heaven and what is on earth" (Eph 1, 10). God will then be "all in all" (1 Cor 15, 28), in eternal life.
Protestants, on the other hand, tend to believe that the Church is the instrument in which the Kingdom is manifested, not a synonym for the Kingdom itself.
According to the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Kingdom of God on earth is configured in two aspects, in which it manifests itself divided: miracle and order. «The aspect under which the Kingdom of God manifests itself as a miracle we call church; and the aspect under which the Kingdom of God manifests itself as order we call state. The Kingdom of God in our world is nothing other than the duality of church and state... The Kingdom of God takes shape in the church to the extent that it bears witness to the miracle of God... The Kingdom of God is configured in the state to the extent that it recognizes and preserves the order of maintenance of life...".
Future Look
The present manifestation of the Kingdom was expressed by Jesus as tentative evidence of a larger reality in the imminent future.
This future aspect of the Kingdom is the belief in a post-apocalyptic implementation of God's rule, (theocracy), especially in the premillennial interpretation of fundamentalist Protestantism.
The tension between the future and present aspects of the Kingdom has been called "the now and the not yet" of the Kingdom of God.
Typically, in Catholicism, liberal Protestantism and among Pentecostals, among others, the present aspect has been emphasized, while fundamentalist Protestants and evangelicals have emphasized the future aspect.