B. Ehrman on the Kingdom
November 2nd, 2007 by Sean
I thought the following quotation was fantastic. Not only does Bart Ehrman clear up that the kingdom of heaven is not heaven but he also states that the kingdom is not in your heart. Instead the kingdom is a real, physical paradisal world that God will usher in at the end of this age.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium pgs 142-143
For one thing, almost all scholars today would agree that when Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, he is not referring to “heaven”–in the sense of the place that your soul goes, God willing, when you die. To be sure, the Kingdom of God has some relationship to “heaven” as the place where God is enthroned; but when Jesus talks about the Kingdom, he appears to refer principally to something here on earth–where God will at some point begin to rule as he already does rule up above. This is in fully keeping with the Jewish background to Jesus’ life and thought. For throughout the Hebrew Bible, there is constant talk of the God of Israel being the King of all people and establishing his rule for them…Moreover, when Jesus refers to this coming Kingdom, in which God will reign, he does not appear to be thinking in purely symbolic terms about God becoming the ruler of your heart. For he often describes the Kingdom with graphically tactile language. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God “coming in power,” about people “entering into” the Kingdom, about people “eating and drinking in the Kingdom” with the Jewish ancestors, about his disciples serving as “rulers” of the Kingdom, sitting on actual “thrones” in the royal court…
Jesus, like other apocalypticists living before him and afterwards, evidently thought that God was going to extend his rule from the heavenly realm where he resides down here to earth. There would be a real, physical kingdom here, a paradisal world in which God himself would rule his faithful people, where there would be eating, drinking, talking, where there would be human co-regents sitting on thrones and human denizens eating at banquets.
The future kingdom stands over against the present evil kingdoms to which God’s people are now subjected, kingdoms of hatred, want, and oppression. In the future kingdom, God’s people will be rewarded with a utopian existence. No wonder Jesus proclaimed the coming Kingdom as “good news” to those who would listen. But it wasn’t good news for everyone–not, for example, for those who were already in power. For when the coming kingdom arrived those who were in power now would be overthrown. And the day of judgment was soon.
- comments anyone?
That is very refreshing to hear! The day of judgment is coming soon, especially if speaking in terms of our short existence and life span. The “good news” hits home with me when we are going to finally be with our FATHER, GOD. All that our hearts can do is barely begin to grasp at the smallest and most minute pieces of understanding of what the Kingdom is to be, as GOD allows us to see, while in this present age. Along with what is shared as “Gospel”
Only Adam and Eve had the chance to live in and get to experience the perfect garden! They however were able to have a more complete idea for who and what YHWH really is. It is extremly intriguing trying to grasp at a perfect Kingdom which is shown throughout the Bible as compared to what we have in existence today.
Heaven on earth is an amazing concept to me! In my limited knowledge it truly is Jesus’ main teaching. Without God as the ruler there will be no perfect paradise societies, until Christ’s return. However the idea has brought forth some interesting fictional books, and movies that always seem to go wrong, and aren’t nearly as perfect as first portrayed.
This new world will stand in wonderful contrast to the present, this is something to get excited about, speak about and live in hope for. This perhaps is where we and other poor souls can derive their courage to go on in this life no matter the obstacles. This is perhaps why the line from the song it is well with my soul resonates in my heart.
“For when the coming kingdom arrived those who were in power now would be overthrown. And the day of judgment was soon.”
Is 2000 years soon? If it is soon, then perhaps the judgement will not come for another 1000 years or maybe another 10,000 years.
2000 years is certainly not soon. Check out this chart I came across recently. It proposes that the kingdom was postponed when the people rejected it.
What a great quote by B. Ehrman!
Even though we only get a glimpse from afar of earth as perfectly renewed under God’s coming reign, it is a real glimpse: from Isaiah’s descriptions to the visions in the Apocalypse:
No longer will there be anything that has a curse on it. The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city, and His slaves will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night any longer; so they will need no lamplight nor sunlight, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will rule forever and ever. Revelation 22: 3-5 Williams translation