Parables on the Kingdom of God/Heaven

Steve Walton has made his slides from a recent talk he gave on the parables and the kingdom of god/Heaven available here as a free PDF.

Five Questions with Dr. R. Alan Streett on the Kingdom of God

Dr. R. Alan Street graciously agreed to answer five questions about his new book Heaven on Earth: Experiencing the Kingdom of God in the Here and Now. Dr. Streett is Senior Research Professor of Biblical Exegesis at the Criswell College.
  
Question: How did Heaven on Earth come about?

Over the past ten years, I have been immersed in a study of the kingdom of God. I have read every major work and nearly every minor work on the topic. As I pondered the issues I believe I came to develop a theology of the kingdom, which I articulated in class and in private discussions with friends and colleagues. Bob Hawkins, owner of Harvest House publishing, was the first to suggest that I write a book. The rest is history, as they say.

Question: What is the main thesis of the book?

Through the person and work of Christ, God inaugurated the kingdom on earth. It has not arrived in its fullness, but it can be entered and experienced today.
 

Question: What surprised you most during the writing of this book?

Since all my research was completed and I knew the materials like the back of my hand, I decided to simply sit down and start typing. I was surprised at times how the words flowed onto the page. During certain portions of the book, I could sense God’s presence. I am not a mystic, but I knew something special was happening. Over the past few weeks people have written to tell me how they have been changed by the book.

Question: What do you hope to accomplish through this book?

Although the kingdom began with Jesus, it will not be consummated until he returns. Between the “already” and “not yet” aspects of the kingdom, we have a job to do. Hence, “Heaven on Earth” challenges believers to take seriously their responsibilities on earth as kingdom citizens. Likewise, it calls for believers to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom. Hence the book seeks to be missional and transformational. My desire is to produce kingdom-focused believers and kingdom-focused churches.

Question: What other resources on the kingdom of God would you recommend?

I will mention only a few among the hundreds of excellent works on the kingdom of God:

Beasley-Murray, G. R. Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.
Cullmann, Oscar. Christ and Time. Trans. by Floyd V. Filson. London: SCM, 1951.
Ladd, George Eldon. The Presence of the Future. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.
McLaren, Brian. The Secret Message of Jesus. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.
Pate, C. Marvin. The End of the Age Has Come: The Theology of Paul. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.
Wright, N. T. How God Became King. New York: HarperOne, 2012.



Readers can access a sample from Heaven on Earth here.
 

McKenzie on the Messianic Kingdom

  
I have been scanning some old articles from my files and came across one from the Roman Catholic scholar John L. McKenzie. I have provided two excerpts, one from the beginning of the article and one from the end. 

“Exegetes are not entirely in agreement on the extent on which messianism should be called eschatological: that is, whether the messianic hope is to be realized within history or outside history. In either case, however, messianism is understood to be a divine intervention in history and the establishment of the kingdom of God over all men. In the conclusion of this paper I shall state the meaning which I think should be attached to the word eschatological. Here at the beginning we must notice that the future kingdom of God is conceived and described in the terms of historical kingdom of Israel as the primary term of analogy; consequently, the messianic hope rarely appears entirely deprived of national features.”

“In conclusion, then, we can state that royal messianism is a conviction that Yahweh has promised the dynasty of David an eternal duration. With this eternal duration Israel is inescapably connected. The Davidic king and the kingdom of Israel are to extend their sway over the entire world and to be the medium through which the kingdom of Yahweh realize itself for all men, a kingship not of conquest and oppression like the world empire of the Assyrians, but a kingdom of justice, righteousness, peace and security. This hope in its earliest form focuses upon the dynasty as a whole, represented in each successive historical king. As time goes on and the historical perseverance of the dynasty becomes uncertain, and it finally comes to an end, the hope turns to an assurance that the promises of Yahweh will find fulfillment only in the restoration of the dynasty. Attention is then focused not upon the dynasty as a whole—for it no longer exists, or is shortly to perish—but rather upon the ruler who will restore the dynasty. This founder of the new dynasty will be another David in the sense that the reign is inaugurated with him. Like David, he will exhibit the qualities of the ideal king. In him the fullness of the spirit will be realized, upon him will rest the gifts of the spirit, and through him the power of Yahweh will establish His reign over the entire world, which will submit in peace to the rule of a righteous God.”

John L. McKenzie, “Royal Messianism, Catholic Bible Quarterly 19 (1957): 25, 51–52.
  

Blaising on the Old Testament Basis for Premillennialism

"In summary, Old Testament prophecy describes the future kingdom of God as being in existence prior to the final judgment. At the final judgment, the conditions of sin and cease so as to give way to conditions of everlasting peace and righteousness (e.g., Isa 9:7; Dan 9:24) in which there is ‘no death, no crying, no pain, for the first things have passed away’ (Rev 21:4). A number of OT prophecies speak directly of this final, eternal kingdom order. However, a number of prophecies, while highlighting conditions of blessedness, also describe conditions of sin and death which can only precede the final judgment. This can only be true if the future, eschatological kingdom is first established some time prior to the final judgment, the final judgment, then, separating two phases of that kingdom, one temporary, the other eternal."

Craig Blaising, "The Kingdom That Comes With Jesus: Premillennialism and the Harmony of Scripture," Southerm Baptist Journal of Theology 14 (2010): 6.

Kingdom of God in Matthew Paper and Response

Rod Decker has posted links to David Turner's paper "Matthew Among the Dispensationalists: A Progressive Dispensational Perspective on the Kingdom of God" and Mark Bailey's response"A Response to David Turner's 'Matthew Among the Dispensationalists." Both papers are scheduled to be delivered at this years national Evangelical Theological Society meeting. You can access the papers here.

The Kingdom of God

See this short video on the much discussed topic of Jesus and the kingdom of God. Both Graham Stanton and James D. G. Dunn appear in the video.



HT: Matthew D. Montonini

Decker on Dispensationalism and Kingdom

Rodney Decker has made a previously published booklet on Dispensationalism and Kingdom (Rodney J. Decker, Contemporary Dispensational Theology, Kansas City, MO: Calvary Bible College, 1992. ii + 58 pgs) available as pdf download here.

The Kingdom of God in the SBJT

The Spring 2008 issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of the Kingdom of God. Stephen Wellum's editorial and Brian Vicker's article on "The Kingdom of God in Paul's Gospel" are available as pdf downloads (see links below). See also the article in Towers Online.

Editorial: Stephen J. Wellum
"Reflecting on the Kingdom of God"

Graeme Goldsworthy
“The Kingdom of God as Hermeneutic Grid”

Peter J. Gentry
“Kingdom Through Covenant: Humanity as the Divine Image”

Jonathan T. Pennington
“The Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew”

Brian Vickers
“The Kingdom of God in Paul's Gospel”

Russell D. Moore and Robert E. Sagers
“The Kingdom of God and the Church: A Baptist Reassessment”

Todd L. Miles
“A Kingdom without a King? Evaluating the Kingdom Ethic(s) of the Emerging Church”