Kingdom of God
At the heart of Jesus' preaching: God's reign breaking into the world
The Kingdom of God is God's reign, central to Jesus' preaching in the Synoptic Gospels. Christians teach that it was inaugurated in Christ and awaits its full consummation at the end of time. Traditions interpret it variously — some emphasize its 'already/not yet' tension, others its spiritual, churchly, or future dimensions — so its precise nature and the balance between present and coming reality remain matters of discussion.
How it traveled
- HebrewsRome · 67explains
- 1 CorinthiansEphesus · 67explains
- RomansCorinth · 67explains
- ColossiansRome · 67explains
- MarkRome · 68explains
- MatthewAntioch · 80explains
- LukeRome · 84explains
- ActsRome · 84explains
- RevelationPatmos · 100explains
- JohnEphesus · 100explains
- Dialogue with TryphoRome · 165explains
- The First ApologyRome · 165explains
- Against Heresies: Book VLyons · 202explains
- On Prayer.— · 220explains
- The Church History of EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- Aphrahat: Select DemonstrationsMosul · 345explains
- The Catechetical Lectures of S. CyrilJerusalem · 386explains
- The Homilies of St. John ChrysostomConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. JohnConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- Homilies on First CorinthiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and ThessaloniansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- A Commentary on the Acts of the ApostlesConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the HebrewsConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and PhilemonConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- City of GodHippo Regius · 430explains
- Expositions on the Book of PsalmsHippo Regius · 430explains
- Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New TestamentHippo Regius · 430explains
- Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. JohnHippo Regius · 430explains
- Our Lord’s Sermon on the MountHippo Regius · 430explains
- A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of InfantsHippo Regius · 430explains
- Of Holy VirginityHippo Regius · 430explains
- The Harmony of the GospelsHippo Regius · 430explains
- A Treatise on the Soul and its OriginHippo Regius · 430explains
- Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the GospelGeneva · 1564explains
- Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from ItGeneva · 1564explains
- A History of the Work of RedemptionNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New EnglandNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- XIV Five discourses on the soul's eternal salvationNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Seventeen Occasional SermonsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Fifteen Sermons. On Various SubjectsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758applies
Key passages(20)
For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy · Alexander Schmemann
Jesus of Nazareth · Pope Benedict XVI
Crossing the Threshold of Hope · Pope St. John Paul II
Lectures on Divine Humanity · Vladimir Solovyov
A History of the Work of Redemption · Jonathan Edwards
2. Having thus shown wherein this overthrow of Satan’s kingdom will consist, I come now to observe its universal extent. The visible kingdom of Satan shall be overthrown, and the kingdom of Christ set
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A History of the Work of Redemption · Jonathan Edwards
THE SUCCESS OF REDEMPTION THROUGH THAT SPACE WHEREIN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH SHALL, FOR THE MOST PART, BE IN A STATE OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY. In order to describe this part, I would speak, first, of the
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A History of the Work of Redemption · Jonathan Edwards
Now this kingdom of heaven is that evangelical state of things in the church, and in the world, wherein consists the success of Christ’s redemption in this period. There had been often great kingdoms
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A History of the Work of Redemption · Jonathan Edwards
3. I would observe, that each of those four great dispensations which are represented as Christ’s coming in his Kingdom, are but so many steps and degrees of the accomplishment of one event. They are
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A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 16.—God Rules Everywhere: and Yet the “Kingdom of Heaven” May Not Be Everywhere. You may, however, not improbably contend that all things, it is true, belong to the kingdom of God, because He
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A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 17.—Where the Kingdom of God May Be Understood to Be. Now, they who say this, do no doubt seem to themselves to say a good deal, because theirs is only a slight and careless view of Scripture
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confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of God.
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preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
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Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel · John Calvin
4. That the strength and utility of the kingdom of Christ cannot, as we have said, be fully perceived without recognising it as spiritual, is sufficiently apparent, even from this, that having during
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Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It · John Calvin
42. The second petition is, THY KINGDOM COME. This contains nothing new, and yet there is good reason for distinguishing it from the first. For if we consider our lethargy in the greatest of all matte
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Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.”
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Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God!
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Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John · Augustine of Hippo
Tractate CXV. Chapter XVIII. 33–40. 1. What Pilate said to Christ, or what He replied to Pilate, has to be considered and handled in the present discourse. For after the words had been addressed to
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‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.’
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Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you.’
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But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.
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Modern teachers who discuss this idea
Modern and living teachers whose books take up Kingdom of God. These works are still in copyright, so we can’t show the text here — each links out to the book.
- Vladimir SolovyovLectures on Divine Humanity(1881)View on Amazon→
- Alexander SchmemannFor the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy(1963)View on Amazon→
- Pope St. John Paul IICrossing the Threshold of Hope(1994)View on Amazon→
- Pope Benedict XVIJesus of Nazareth(2007)View on Amazon→