kingdom of god - lecture

Question 1

the problem of eschatology and christology

Answer 1

• 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
• Should start by looking at language of KofG before looking at more wide-ranging discussion of problem of eschatology

Question 2

attestation of kofg

Answer 2

-	Multiple attestation 
o	Mark 
o	Q
o	L
o	M
-	But… complete absence of term in John 
o	Except John 3:3, 5 and comments about ‘my kingdom’ at J 18:36

Question 3

relative absence in non-gospel material

Answer 3

o	Cf. Romans 14:17
o	1 Cor 4:20
o	6:9
o	10
o	15:24
o	Rev 1:6, 9

Question 4

definition of kofg

Answer 4

• But… the phrase is never defined, we do not know what it consists of
  o ‘mystery of the kingdom’ (Mark 4:11)
  o ‘word of the kingdom’ (Mrk 13:9)
  o ‘sons of the kingdom’ (Mt 8:1, 13:28)
  o Also cf. Mt 5;19, 11:11, Luke 7:28, Mt 11:12/L 16:16, L 13:43 etc.
  o Description of KofG in other terms assumes that the audience will understand the reference

Question 5

Hebrew bible

Answer 5

o Exodus 15:18, 19:6 – appears as a verb, not a noun
o Numbers 23:21 – ‘he has not beheld his fortune in Israel’
♣ Associated with future of Israel and its triumph
o Dan 2:44, 3:24, 6:27, 7:14
♣ Significance for early Xians – future hope bound up in Israel
♣ 7:14 = a vision, ‘he was given dominion, glory, kingdom’
♣ messianic expectation

Question 6

extra canonical

Answer 6

o Psalms of Solomon 17
♣ Series of oracles
♣ ‘you are our king’
♣ messianic expectation
o Ass. Moses 10
o 1 QM 6:4
o Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice (from Qumran)
o SibOr. 3.767
o Benediction 11 from ‘Eighteen Benedictions’
♣ ‘take us from sorrow and sighing and reign over us, thou Lord alone, in grace and mercy; and justify us in judgment’
♣ said 3 x a day

Question 7

future - kingdom 1 thess 4:15-17

Answer 7

♣ 1 Thess 4:15-17 - According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,with a loud command, with the voice of the archangeland with the trumpet call of God,and the dead in Christ will rise first.17After that, we who are still alive and are leftwill be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lordforever.

Question 8

future kingdom - Matt 10:23

Answer 8

• You will not have gone through all of Israel before the SofM comes
Criterion of embarrassment – SofM does not come before the disciples return

Question 9

future kingdom - L 6:20-6

Answer 9

beatitudes

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Question 10

Future kingdom - the twelve

Answer 10

• 12 disciples = 12 tribes of Israel

tribes will be united in KofG

Question 11

judgment sayings - 11:31/M 12:42

Answer 11

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here.

Question 12

Kofg as present - matt 12:28/l 11:20

Answer 12

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Question 13

Kofg as present - matt 11:12/luke 16:16

Answer 13

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,[a] and violent people have been raiding it.

Question 14

Kofg as present - mark 1:15

Answer 14

o the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

Question 15

kofg as a metaphor

Answer 15

o Kingdom/eschatological language = metaphorical
o But an era of signs and portents in which people did really believe in God’s capacity to act upon and transform the world
o Language can function at both a symbolic and literal level
o Language can denote and connote
o The problem of delay – L 19:11, Acts 1:6
♣ It is an assertion of the sovereignty of God

Question 16

eschatology and JC context

Answer 16

• Eschatological character of J the Baptist teaching and of the early church
  o Is it really likely that JC teaching was discontinuous with both the movement from which he emerged and the movement he spawned?
• facts of earliest belief in resurrection – reflection of antecedent context?

Question 17

eschatological basis in other sources

Answer 17

o	1 Enoch 
o	Assumption of Moses 
o	Sibylline Oracles
o	4 Ezra
o	2 Baruch 
o	Qumran
o	Josephus’ sign prophets
o	Popularity of Daniel (Josephus 10.268)
o	People with whom JC is compared (L 7:33-4, Mk 6:14 (JB), Acts 5:35-9 (Theudas and Judas))

Question 18

heuristic advantages to kofg

Answer 18

o	an explanatory hold-all for many aspects of JC ministry:
♣	JC appeal to disaffected
♣	Importance of reversal as theme 
♣	Utopianism
♣	Intensified ethical dimension
♣	Calling into question of family ties
♣	Questioning of religious taboos

Question 19

Dodd - general

Answer 19

• D = concerned with Schweitzer’s idea that JC referred to a futuristic KofG
• 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
• Future dimension to KofG refers to other-wordly reality

Question 20

Dodd - examples

Answer 20

• E.g. Mark 9:1
  o For D, it refers to the idea that some will realise that the KofG has come through JC. Realised KofG
• Parable in Matt about hidden treasure
  o Treasure = already there it simply must be discovered
• Mark 4 – Parables of Growth
  o They are actually about nature and growth
  o Metaphors for the idea of growth re. KofG
  o It is not a sudden arrival but is something that must be discovered now

Question 21

Dodd criticisms

Answer 21

o Only minority of JC sayings refer to KofG
o Parables of growth e.g. sower – mustard seed grows into a great harvest
♣ This is miraculous, not natural
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

Question 22

difficulty in defining, Morgan

Answer 22

• ‘only a reckless New Testament scholar would now claim to know with any certainty what exactly Jesus meant by the phrase ‘Kingdom of God’, even though nearly all agree that he used it and that it was central’ (Morgan)
  o Yes – allusive character of language
  ♣ Parables describe strange things e.g. Samaritans beings friends with Jews/sowers being unable to sow etc….
  o No – because of what is stated about future dimension.

Question 23

what did JC associate with the kofg

Answer 23

• But, it is clear that he expected something which would constitute a transformation of the world order
  o Coheres with Judaism and JC promises
  o Eschatological teaching = associated in Judaism with end time and resurrection

Question 24

importance of reversal ideas

Answer 24

o Idealistic

o Q of family ties etc. = compatible with idea that there will be a future, dramatic and imminent transformation