Dusty Phrases

dustyreviewer

Dec 19

Posted on September 26, 2022by dustyreviewer

Hi! Welcome to "Dusty Phrases." You will find below an ancient phrase in one language or another, along with its English translation. You may also find the power to inspire your friends or provoke dread among your enemies.

For other examples, visit HERE:

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Greek:

Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ
Basileia tou Theou

English:

Kingdom of [the] Heaven[s], or God's Kingdom

The idea of a Kingship of God is an element of all the Abrahamic religions, however, the use of the phrase in Greek is primarily a result of its use in the early Christian Church. From wiki:

The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" but does not include the term "Kingdom of God".

The "Kingdom of God" and its equivalent form "Kingdom of Heaven" in the Gospel of Matthew is one of the key elements of the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. The Gospel of Mark indicates that the gospel is the good news about the Kingdom of God. The term pertains to the kingship of Christ over all creation. Kingdom of "heaven" appears in Matthew's gospel due primarily to Jewish sensibilities about uttering the "name" (God). Jesus did not teach the kingdom of God per se so much as the return of that kingdom. The notion of God's kingdom (as it had been under Moses) returning became an agitation in "knaan," modern Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon, 60 years before Jesus was born, and continued to be a force for nearly a hundred years after his death. Drawing on Old Testament teachings, the Christian characterization of the relationship between God and humanity inherently involves the notion of the "Kingship of God".

The Quran does not include the term "kingdom of God", but includes the Throne Verse which talks about the throne of God encompassing the heavens and the Earth. The Quran also refers to Abraham seeing the "Kingdom of the heavens". Writings of the Baháʼí Faith also use the term "kingdom of God".

I was not entirely sure that I agreed completely with the wikipedia summary above, at least as it relates to Christianity, so I sought out some other sources and more background on the term's use in Christianity. The following comes from a Catholic source, but I believe the explanation could be embraced by Orthodox and Protestants also.

From CatholicAnswers.org:

Sometimes we can mistake our familiarity with a term or phrase with our understanding of it. If you're not terribly sure what is meant by the Kingdom of God, then keep reading.

Did you know that the phrase, "Kingdom of God" occurs 122 times in the New Testament?

Did you know that 99 of these occurrences are found in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)?

Did you know that 90 of those 99 occurrences come from the mouth of Jesus?

Yeah, me neither. That was until I read Jesus of Nazareth, volume 1 by, now, pope emeritus Benedict. If you haven't yet read it yet, you really should.

let's examine three historic and harmonizing interperetations of the kingdom of God, each of which shed light on this important concept.

THE CHRISTOLOGICAL DIMENSION

Here we see that "the Kingdom is not a thing, it is not a geographical dominion like worldly kingdoms. It is a person; it is he. On this interpretation, the term 'Kingdom of God' is itself a veiled Christology. By the way in which he speaks of the Kingdom of God, Jesus leads men to realize the overwhelming fact that in him God himself is present among them, that he is God's presence." (Pope Benedict, Jesus of Nazareth, Part 1)

THE IDEALISTIC/MYSTICAL DIMENSION

Here we see that The Kingdom of God resides in the heart of man. Church Father, Origen [1] wrote, "those who pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God pray without any doubt for the Kingdom of God that they contain in themselves, and they pray that this kingdom might bear fruit and attain its fullness."

THE ECCLESIASTICAL DIMENSION

Here we see that the kingdom of God is in the here and now, present in and through the Church. Yet it is a mixed reality that will only be perfectly realized at the end of history. This current "mixed" state can be seen as the Church on earth which now grows in the field of the world with both weeds and wheat until the harvest when Christ says he will "tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the wheat into my barn" (Matt 13:30).