Kingdom of God
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- Kingdom of Heavenredirects here; for the 2005 film, seeKingdom of Heaven(film)
Kingdom of GodandKingdom of Heavenare terms referring to concepts of thekingship ofGodwhich appear in allAbrahamic religions;the notion of God's kingship is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom".The terms"Kingdom of God"and"Kingdom of Heaven"beginto be used in recorded statements ofJesus;theQuranuses the term "Kingdom of the heavens",andBahá'íwritings use the term "kingdom of God."
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- A young man who had been troublingsocietywith impalpable doctrines of a newcivilizationwhich he called "the Kingdom of Heaven" had been put out of the way; and I canimaginethatbelieverinmaterialpowermurmuring as he went homeward, "it will all blow overnow."Yes. Thewindfrom the Kingdom of Heaven has blown over theworld,and shall blow for centuries yet.
- Æ,inThe Economics of Ireland and the Policy of the British Government(1921), p. 23
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- If the body yields to the claims of thespiritas it should, it is instrumental in bringing down the kingdom of heaven onearth.It becomes a vehicle for the release ofdivinelife,and when it subserves thispurposeit might aptly be called the temple ofGodon earth.
- By finding thekingdom of Godwithin himself, and by the study of the laws of his own being, themysticbecomes proficient in the laws which govern the universe, of which he is a part. Theoccultistrecognises the kingdom of God in nature or the system, and regards himself as a small part of that greater whole, and therefore, governed by the same laws.
- Alice Bailey,inLetters on Occult Meditation,p. 147, (1922)
- Oh, theairis sultry and pregnant withlightning.
And therefore we call to our deluded brothers:Repent,repent, the Kingdom of the Lord is athand!- Mikhail Bakunin,in "The Reaction in Germany" (1842)
- If I did not believe that our work was done in the faith and hope that at some day, it may be a million years hence, the Kingdom of God will spread over the whole world, I would have no hope, I could do no work, and I would give my office over this morning to anyone who would take it.
- Stanley Baldwin,Speech to the British and Foreign Bible Society (2 May 1928); published in This Torch of Freedom (1935), pp. 92 - 93
- The Kingdom of God comes by way of a listening heart.
- PopeBenedict XVIin his bookJesus of Nazareth,cited inThe Watchtower,3/1, 2011.
- Thereligioustruthofanarchismconsists in this, thatpowerover man is bound up withsinandevil,that a state ofperfectionis a state where there is no power of man over man, that is to say, anarchy.The Kingdom of God isfreedomand the absence of such power... the Kingdom ofGodis anarchy.
- Nikolai Berdyaev,Slavery and Freedom(1939), p. 147
- TheGospelis concerned with the kingdom of God and only with the kingdom of God.The kingdom cannot, therefore, be equated with any human archy, be that archy left wing or right wing,liberalorconservative,revolutionary or anti-revolutionary,Roman Catholic,Orthodox, orProtestant.The Archy ofGodis intent on reconciling adversaries instead of creating them.
- David Alan Black,Christian Archy(2009), p. 5
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[edit]- Right now, especially in the Middle East, things are shaping up quite nicely to blow us all to kingdom come. Except thatno kingdom is going to come because this is the kingdom, it has already come and we are already living the dream.Religion knows this but it doesn't want us to know it because then it would no longer have any reason to exist. So instead, it seeks to position itself between us and our experience; a self-appointed filter, a parasite.
- Pat CondellAbsolute certainty(May 13,2007; fromYoutube).
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- This is by the decree of watchers, and the request is by the word of the holy ones, so that people living may know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that he gives it to whomever he wants, and he sets up over it even the lowliest of men.
- And to him there were given rulership, honor, and a kingdom, that the peoples, nations, and language groups should all serve him. His rulership is an everlasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.
- Daniel7:14(NWT)
- If you want toknowwhat itmeansto behappy,look at aflower,abird,achild;they areperfectimages ofthe kingdom.For they live frommomentto moment in theeternalnowwith nopastand nofuture.So they are spared the guilt and anxiety that so torment human beings and they are full of the sheer joy of living, taking delight not so much in persons or things as in life itself. As long as your happiness is caused or sustained by something or someone outside of you, you are still in the land of the dead.The day you are happy for noreasonwhatsoever, the day you find yourself takingdelightineverythingand innothing,you willknowthat you have found the land of unendingjoycalled the kingdom.
- Anthony de Mello,inThe Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello(1995)
- To find the kingdom is the easiest thing in the world but also the most difficult. Easy because it is all around you and within you, and all you have to do is reach out and take possession of it.Difficult because if you wish to possess the kingdom you may possess nothing else.
- Anthony de Mello,inThe Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello(1995)
- To pass through thedoorthat leads toGod's kingdom, we must go down on our knees.
- Catherine Doherty,Soul of My Soul: Coming to the Heart of Prayer(2006)
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- One has afeelingthat one has a kind ofhomein this timeless community of human beings that strive fortruth.…I have alwaysbelievedthatJesusmeant by theKingdom of Godthe small group scattered all throughtimeofintellectuallyandethicallyvaluablepeople.
- Albert Einstein,as quoted inEinstein's God — Albert Einstein's Quest as a Scientist and as a Jew to Replace a Forsaken God(1997) by Robert N. Goldman, p. 98
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- The kingdom of God which is within us consists in our willing whatever God wills, always, in every thing, and without reservation; and thus His kingdom comes; for His will is then done as it is in heaven, since we will nothing but what is dictated by His sovereign pleasure.
- François Fénelon,Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers P. 269. (1895)
- Thehumanheartdesiresjoy.We all desire joy, every family, every people aspires to happiness. But what is the joy that the Christian is called to live out and bear witness to? It is the joy that comes from the closeness ofGod,from his presence in our life.From themomentJesusentered intohistory,with his birth in Bethlehem, humanity received the seed of theKingdom of God,like the soil receives the seed, the promise of a future harvest.
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[edit]- Thejoysand thehopes,thegriefsand theanxietiesof the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers ofChrist.Indeed, nothing genuinelyhumanfails to raise an echo in theirhearts.For theirs is a community composed of men.United in Christ, they are led by theHolySpiritin their journey to theKingdom of their Fatherand they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man.That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked withmankindand itshistoryby the deepest of bonds.
- Gaudium et Spes,composed during theSecond Vatican Council,promulgated byPope John XXIII(7 December 1965), Preface
- I think ifGodis dead helaughedhimself todeath.
Because, you see,welivein Eden.Genesishas got it allwrong—we never left theGarden.
Look about you. This isparadise.It's hard to find, I'll grant you, but it is here.Under our feet, beneath the surface, all around us is everything we want. Theearthis shining under the soot.We are allfools.- James Goldman,inThey Might Be Giants(1961)
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[edit]- What is thislibertythat must lie in theheartsofmenandwomen?It is not the ruthless, the unbridledwill;it is not thefreedomto do as one likes.That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its overthrow.Asocietyin which men recognize no check on their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few — as we havelearnedto oursorrow.
What then is the spirit of liberty?I cannotdefineit; I can only tell you my ownfaith.Thespiritof liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it isright;the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks tounderstandthemindsof other men and women;the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own withoutbias;the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls toearthunheeded;the spirit of liberty is the spirit ofHimwho, near two thousand years ago,taughtmankindthat lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall beheardand considered side by side with thegreatest.- Learned Hand,equating the spirit of Liberty with theessenceof the Kingdom of God, in "The Spirit of Liberty", a speech at "I Am an American Day" ceremony, Central Park, New York City (21 May 1944)
- The kingdom of God must be built upon the foundation, not of institutions, but of individuals in whom God dwells and who are glad to live for their fellow men.
- Adolf von Harnackand Wilhelm Herrmann, “The evangelical social mission in the light of the history of the church,” (1894)Essays on the Social Gospel,G. M. Craik, trans. (1907), vol. 20, p. 15
- The time for the kingdom may be far off, but the task is plain: to retain our share inGodin spite of peril and contempt.There is a war to wage against the vulgar, the glorification of the absurd, a war that is incessant, universal.Loyal to the presence of the ultimate in the common, we may be able to make it clear that man is more than man, that in doing the finite he may perceive theinfinite.
- Abraham Joshua Heschel,in "The Meaning of Jewish Existence" inThe Torch(1950)
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- If those wholeadyou say, "See, the Kingdom is in thesky,"then thebirdsof the sky will precede you. If they say to you, "It is in thesea,"then thefishwill precede you.Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come toknowyourselves,then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell inpovertyand it is you who are that poverty.
- Jesus,as quoted inGospel of Thomas:Saying 3
- Variants:
- His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?"
Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."- As quoted inGospel of Thomas:Saying 113
- Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and hisrighteousness,and all these other things will be added to you. So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.
- It is easier for acamelto go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.
- Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom.
- And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom ofGodshould come, he answered them and said,The kingdom ofGodcometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
- Jesus,as quoted inGospel of Luke17:21
- We must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.
- The kingdom of the father is like a certainwoman.She took a little leaven, concealed it in some dough, and made it into large loaves.Let him who has earshear.
- Jesus,inGospel of Thomas:Saying 96
- Repent:for the kingdom of heaven is athand.
- Jesus,in theGospel of Matthew4:17 (KJV)
- Blessedare the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will seeGod.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be calledsons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.- Jesus,in theGospel of Matthew5:1–12 (NIV); often referred to as "The Beatitudes" this is the start of "TheSermon on the Mount".
- When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying,Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,Thou art theChrist,the Son of thelivingGod.And Jesus answered and said unto him,Blessedart thou, Simon Barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. AndI say also unto thee, That thou artPeter,and upon thisrockI will build my church; and the gates ofhellshall not prevail against it.AndI will give unto thee thekeysof the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind onearthshall be bound inheaven:and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
- If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his ownsoul?or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in thegloryof his Father with hisangels;and then he shall reward every man according to hisworks.Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste ofdeath,till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
- This is why I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.
- And the seventhangelsounded; and there weregreatvoicesinheaven,saying,The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
- John of Patmos,inRevelation11:15 (KJV)
- Variant translation:
- The seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.
- Andwarbroke out inheaven:Mi′cha·eland hisangelsbattled with thedragon,and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer inheaven.So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one calledDevilandSatan,who is misleading the entire inhabitedearth;he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And I heard a loudvoicein heaven say:
- "Now have come to pass the salvation and thepowerand the kingdom of ourGodand theauthorityof hisChrist,because the accuser of ourbrothershas been hurled down, who accuses themdayandnightbefore our God! "
- John of Patmos,in theBook of Revelationalso known as theApocalypse12:7-12
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[edit]- You can never enter the kingdom of God with hardness against any one, for God islove,and if you love God you will love one another.
- Ann Lee,as quoted inThe Communistic Societies of the United States(1875) byCharles Nordhoff
- It is thedutyof the Christian to submit to the human government in its office and work and to seek its destruction only by spreading the religion of Christ and so converting men from service to the earthly government to service to the heavenly one, and so, too, by removing thenecessityfor its existence and work.Noviolence,nosword,no bitterness or wrath can he use. The spread of thepeacefulprinciplesofthe Savior,will draw men out of the kingdoms ofearthinto thekingdom of God.
- David Lipscomb,inCivil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny(1889), p. 87
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[edit]- The "Kingdom of Heaven" is a condition of the heart — not something that comes "upon the earth" or "after death".
- Friedrich Nietzsche,inThe Antichrist(1888), § 34
- The "kingdom of God" is not something one waits for; it has no yesterday or tomorrow, it does not come "in a thousand years" — it is an experience within a heart; it is everywhere, it is nowhere...
- Friedrich Nietzsche,inThe Antichrist(1888), § 34
- Christis called therighteous& by his righteousness we are saved & except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall not enter into the kingdome of heaven.Righteousness is thereligionof the kingdom of heaven & even the property ofGodhimself towardsman.Righteousness &Loveare inseparable for he that loveth another hath fulfilled thelaw.
- Many Christians have been misled for centuries about the nature of God’s kingdom by the well-known mistranslation ofLuke17:21: “The kingdom of God iswithinyou.” Today all serious scholars and translators would agree that the test should read: “The kingdom of God isamongyou orin your midst.”The Greek wordentoscan means “within” or “among.”
- Albert Nolan,Jesus Before Christianity: The Gospel of Liberation(1976), p. 46
- The kingdom of God, like any other kingdom, cannot be within a man; it is something within which a man can live.
- Albert Nolan,Jesus Before Christianity: The Gospel of Liberation(1976), p. 47
- The much quoted text, “My kingdom is notofthis world” (John 18:36) does not mean that the kingdom is not, or will not be,inthis world oronthis earth.... When Jesus and his disciples are said to beinthe world but notofthe world, the meaning is clear enough. Although they live in the world they are not worldly, they do not subscribe to the present values and standards of the world.... The values of the kingdom [of God] are different from, and opposed to, the values of this world. There is no reason for thinking that it means the kingdom will float in the air somewhere above the earth or that it will be an abstract entity without any tangible social and political structure.
- Albert Nolan,Jesus Before Christianity: The Gospel of Liberation(1976), p. 48
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[edit]- Jesus…is the final priest who makes all priesthood obsolete – not merely the performance of ritual sacrifice, but the office, pomp and circumstance of priestly authority and hierarchy itself. Instead of deferring to any caste of religious hierarchs, followers of the Way are thus now summoned to collectivelybea "royal priesthood," a "chosen race" or "holy nation" built not upon offices of any kind but upon transferred allegiance to God's in-breaking "kingdom."
- Ronald E. Osborn,Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy(2010), p. 35
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[edit]- ToAllahbelongs the kingdom of the heavens and theearth;Hecreateswhat he wills. He gives to whom He willsfemale(children), and He gives to whom He willsmales.Or He makes them (both) males and females, and He renders whom He wills barren. Indeed, He isKnowingandCompetent.
- Quran42:49 - 42:50
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[edit]- The essential purpose of Christianity was to transform human society into the kingdom of God by regenerating all human relations and reconstituting them in accordance with the will of God.
- Walter Rauschenbusch,Christianity and the Social Crisis(1907)
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[edit]- Jesusknew—knew— that we're carrying the Kingdom of Heaven around with us,inside,where we're all too goddamstupidand sentimental and unimaginative to look? You have to be ason of Godto know that kind of stuff.
- J. D. Salinger,inZooey(1957)
- I never wish to be more charitable than Christ. I find it written: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
- Charles Spurgeon,as quoted inThe Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers(1895), p. 490
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[edit]- Therefore, seeing that we are to receive a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us continue to receive undeservedkindness,through which we may acceptably offer God sacred service with godly fear and awe.
- His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?"
- Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
- The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God;and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgment and profession of the truth by each one of us.
- Leo Tolstoy,inThe Kingdom of God is Within You(1894), Ch. 12
- Variant translation: The sole meaning of life is to servehumanityby contributing to the establishment of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by the recognition and profession of the truth by every man.
- The man who persistedin calling himself the "son of God"— he later acknowledged that he had many brothers — was demanding nothing less than that the military ruler of all England should forthwith disavow all violence and all coercion, make Christ's law of love the supreme law of the land, and substitute the mild dictates of theSermon on the Mountfor the Instrument of Government by which he ruled.In a word, Fox would have him makeEnglanda kind of pilot project for theKingdom of Heaven.Fox was a revolutionary. He had no patience with the relativities and compromises of political life.His testimony was an uncompromising testimony for the radical Christian ethic of love and non-violence, and he would apply it in the arena of politics as in every other sphere of life.It is not recorded that Cromwell took his advice. Neither is it recorded that Fox ever receded an inch from his radical perfectionism.
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[edit]- All that is real in me is God;all that is real in God is I.The gulf between God and me is thus bridged.Thus by knowing God, we find that the kingdom of heaven is within us.
- Swami Vivekananda,inPearls of Wisdomedited by the Ramakrishna Mission
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[edit]- This doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching ofJesus,and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly one of the mostrevolutionarydoctrines that ever stirred andchangedhumanthought.It is smallwonderif, theworldof thattimefailed to grasp its fullsignificance,and recoiled in dismay from even a half apprehension of its tremendouschallengesto the establishedhabitsand institutions ofmankind.It is small wonder if the hesitating convert and disciple presently went back to the old familiar ideas of temple and altar, of fierce deity and propitiatory observance, of consecrated priest andmagicblessing, and these things being attended to reverted then to the dear old habitual life ofhatesandprofitsandcompetitionandpride.For the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus seems to have preached it, was no less than a bold and uncompromising demand for a complete change and cleansing of the life of our struggling race, an utter cleansing, without and within.To the gospels the reader must go for all that is preserved of this tremendous teaching; here we are only concerned with the jar of its impact upon established ideas.
The Jews were persuaded thatGod,the one God of the whole world, was a righteous god, but they also thought of him as a trading god who had made a bargain with their FatherAbrahamabout them, a very good bargain indeed for them, to bring them at last to predominance in the earth.With dismay and anger they heard Jesus sweeping away their dear securities.God,he taught, was no bargainer; there were no chosen people and no favourites in the Kingdom of Heaven. God was the loving father ofalllife,as incapable of showing favour as the universalsun.And all men were brothers — sinners alike and beloved sons alike of this divine father.In the parable of theGood SamaritanJesus cast scorn upon that natural tendency we all obey, to glorify our own people and to minimize therighteousnessof other creeds and other races. In the parable of the labourers he thrust aside the obstinate claim of the Jews to have a sort of first mortgage upon God. All whom God takes into the kingdom, he taught, God serves alike; there is no distinction in his treatment, because there is no measure to his bounty. From all, moreover, as the parable of the buried talent witnesses, and as the incident of the widow's mite enforces, he demands the utmost. There are no privileges, no rebates, and no excuses in the Kingdom of Heaven.- H. G. Wells,inThe Outline of History(1920), Ch. 28
- It was not merely amoraland asocialrevolution thatJesusproclaimed; it is clear from a score of indications that his teaching had apoliticalbent of the plainest sort.It is true that he said his kingdom was not of this world, that it was in theheartsof men and not upon a throne; but it is equally clear that wherever and in what measure his kingdom was set up in the hearts of men, the outer world would be in that measure revolutionized and made new.
Whatever else the deafness and blindness of his hearers may have missed in his utterances, it is plain that they did not miss his resolve to revolutionize theworld.- H. G. Wells,inThe Outline of History(1920), Ch. 28
- DearGodI've heard yournamefromteachers,familyand friends, you made theuniverseand so will live on when itends.Everyone Iknowadmits they’ve never seen yourface,they’re not sure where youliveand have no map to the place.
- Dawud Wharnsby,in "Dear God", inA Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden(2011)
