kingdom of god as imminent - essay Flashcards
intro general
- What is the problem?
o If JC thought of himself as in some ways the SofM or the Messiah, he must have had a perception of things reaching a resolution, of the end-time approaching, during or after his ministry
o Should start by looking at language of KofG before looking at more wide-ranging discussion of problem of eschatology - Significance
o Attested
o But hard to define KofG – do not know exactly what it consists of
Tensive symbol that evokes the myths of God the creator who has been active in history to preserve his people and who will act definitively and reassert rule over rebellious creation - Jewish eschatology
o Kingdom of God was a way of referring to Israel’s god becoming king
o ‘and when this god became king, the whole world…would at last be put to rights’ (203)
o hope that YHWH would vindicate Israel
o revolutionary undertones
o Josephus puts forward the link between the true god as king and the idea of a holy revolution
argument and paras
o Future but imminent so often seems to be described in presentist terms
o There is an element of metaphor involved – link to question of time. As Guy states, ‘Jesus thought of the Kingdom as essentially timeless’
Present tense can be used to convey imminence
o Link to Chilton – JC is not concerned with the question of time
o Gerhard von Rad – idea of linear time is not known in OT
o It is with the prophets that we begin to have an idea of time
E.g. Isaiah with a new David
Eschatological hope – future divine activity
o This notion of imminence is what JC adds to previous Jewish, eschatological hope
Allison - ‘his association of eschatological expectations with events and persons around him gave traditional myths a fresh and inventive application’ (171)
o KofG started in JC Incarnation, but not yet finished
o Also raises broader Qs about JC self understanding
- Paragraphs
o KofG as future
o KofG as now
o KofG as started but not finished
para 1
o Sanders gives three pieces of evidence for KofG as an apocalyptic
Action in temple – eschatological expectation of new temple
• Attested in multiple sources
• Mark 13:24 – ‘the sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will not give their life’
o Allusion to Isaiah 9-11 – ‘the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil…and Babylon…will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them’
o Location of Mount of Olives = significant
Allusion to Zech 14:4-5 – speaks of Israel’s god standing on Mount of Olives
Context = coming of divine kingdom (Zechariah 14:9)
Coming great battle of nations against Jerusalem (14:1-3)
But… not purely written to fulfil Zech
• JC is sitting not standing
• There is no earthquake
• Mt does not explicitly link it to fulfilment of prophecy
para 1 jewish eschatology
o Reflects Jewish eschatology
Babylonian destruction of Temple = YHWH abandoning Temple to its face. Worship became impossible, Davidic monarchy ceased
Longing for return to exile/return of YHWH – rebuilding of Temple etc.
Cannot separate KofG from Jewish context
para 1 ao2 general
- Schweitzer, ‘thoroughgoing eschatology’
o For S, JC proclaimed an eschatological kingdom of God
o In this way JC was a failure as KofG did not arrive
- Schweitzer, ‘thoroughgoing eschatology’
- Jewish view = the Messiah will descend from heaven and judge mankind
o Emphasis for S is on apocalyptic literature – JC’s contemporaries were aware of significance of phrase KofG
o Jewish view is brought to the Gospels
o Indeed idea of judgment - However…many felt this portrayed JC negatively (see Dodd) and does not recognise presentist interpretation
- Futuristic KofG conforms with SofM imagery, wider implications for JC self-understanding (Schweitzer, proclamation of apocalyptic, futuristic KofG reflects JC self-identity)
para 1 ao2 dodd
o D = concerned with Schweitzer’s idea that JC referred to a futuristic KofG
o There are places in Gospels where JC seems to suggest that KofG has already come and that it is a present reality
o matt 12:28/l 11:20 - But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Lk – ‘by the finger of God’ rather than by the Spirit
o Future dimension to KofG refers to other-wordly reality
o However…not present due to statements above. But, so imminent that it can almost be described in presentist terms
para 2 general and mark 9
- Dodd – not ‘foresight but insight’
- Dodd gives example of Mark 9:1
o Mk 9:1 – ‘there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the KofG has come with power’
o Dodd – ‘realised eschatology’
o For D, it refers to the idea that some will realise that the KofG has come through JC. Realised KofG
para 2 luke
- Luke 17:20-25 - 20Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,Jesus replied,“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,21nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
o Delay of Parousia
o But only in Luke - OT basis – Dan 4:34, ‘his kingdom endures from generation to generation’
o But…also Dan 2:44, ‘the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed’
para 2 ao2 against luke
but…o Odd to suggest that KofG has come upon opponents
o The meaning of ephthasen is disputed – Greek word may not capture what JC meant in Aramaic. Could mean ‘came’ in the sense that the coming was determined. Imminent but not here yet
Sanders – should be interpreted as ‘bearing down upon you’. Still in future
para 2 present and future
- Combines present and future imagery
o Dodd’s ideas are in fact reflective of the idea that KofG is so imminent that it can be talked about in presentist terms
o Caird – imminent quality is metaphorical
o Future but imminent?
para 2 implications
- Implications for self-understanding
o ‘The fact that he expounds the Kingdom of God by parables shows that he alone knows its present and future mystery. His knowledge about the Kingdom of God is a messianic knowledge’ (68) – hengel
para 3
- flusser: ‘Jesus is the only Jew of antiquity known to us who proclaimed not only that people were on the edge of the end-time, but at the same time that the new time of salvation had begun’
- Perrin, Ladd, Jeremias – inaugurated eschatology. Both present and future
o Mention in parables of harvest time
o Fig tree in Mark 13:28 – symbol that the Parousia has arrived
Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Jeremias – announces the now of salvation in words and deeds – drives out the merchants and fulfils Zech 14:21
para 3 ao2
this is achieved through juxtaposition of present and future
- Theissen, juxtaposition of present and future
o Link to Our Father which combines both present and future – should not restrict ourselves to a temporal interpretation
jesus has started it through attitudes to poor etc. but ultimate revolution will come with proper realisation of kofg
