The “kingdom of God” is a reoccurring theme in the New Testament, but there is a lack of explanation as to what it means. Jesus explains “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets” will be in the kingdom of God, and then people from around the world “will eat in the kingdom” (Luke 13.28-29). However, there is no mention of what the kingdom is and whether it is has already occurred or is yet to come; this has led to various theories suggested by critics causing a debate over the true meaning of the kingdom of God.
It is thought by many that the kingdom of God is an eschatological ideal. A key critic who took this approach is Albert Schweitzer, who thought Jesus looked at the world …show more content…
Therefore, it could be said that the Christian faith itself is the kingdom of God because it only includes those who are forgiven of their sins. Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ (Dunn, 2003, P.4), who is recorded to have frequently preached about the good news of the kingdom of God in the New Testament. It could be said that Jesus’ preaching of the kingdom of God was him informing the public of the new religion of Christianity. Jesus’ teaching was an attempt to achieve inward perfection of those who followed him, in order to establish the kingdom of God: Christianity. (Tolstoy and Garnett, 2009, P.51) Luke explains that the “kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 12.21), ‘you’ being the follower of Christianity. Faith is not physical; it is a personal concept that is within an individual. This approach looks at the kingdom of God being among us in the contemporary society, where as the eschatological view prophesizes it. Either way the kingdom of God is invisible without faith, which provides further evidence for the kingdom being Christianity. For those who hold no faith in Christianity, the kingdom is a reality but is not reachable until they are baptised into the