The well-known eschatological scheme of the "now" and "not yet" of the Kingdom of God is increasingly being critizised by charismatics. Pastors within the Post-Toronto-movement argue that the scheme isn't helpful, because it tends to underscore the "not yet" of healing and victory, inducing a passive and defeatist Christianity.
They certainly have a point. The term "Now/Not yet" has become jaded, and in many churches it seems to emphasize the "not yet" to the extend that the "now" hardly functions in faith practices.
Previously, I've argued to not let go of the tension of the "Now/Not Yet" (inaugurated eschatology), but to enhance this eschatological scheme from a pneumatological perspective. That's what this new blog series is about. Admittely, this is a series for serious theologians who are prepared to travel far and dig deep ;-)
We'll be drawing from Wolfhart Pannenberg, Vel-Matti Kärkkainen, Frank D. Macchia, and others. In this first episode, we'll trace the original "Now/Not Yet" back as understood by George E. Ladd, Derek Morphew (Vineyard) and New Wine.
Inaugurated Eschatology: The Presence of the Future
Among charismatic evangelicals the
concept of “inaugurated eschatology” has become the prevalent theological framework, stating that the
Kingdom of God has been “inaugurated” in the life and works of Jesus Christ and
thus is present already, while maintaining that is has yet to be consummated at the end of times. This
situation is often referred to by the term “the presence of the future”.
This term was coined by New
Testament scholar George E. Ladd in the 1950s, and then taken up by charismatic
evangelicals in the 1970s and 1990s. This strand in charismatic renewal
emphases that the future of God’s Kingdom has become present in Jesus – though
provisionally – and this new reality should be “enacted” by the church,
proclaiming the inbreaking of God’s reign in both words and deeds, in full
awareness of the future-character of
this Kingdom. Thus, the church should “continually be open to signs and wonders
and overwhelming interventions of God”, while at the same time “being patient
with what fails to happen”, acknowledging the “mystery of the Kingdom”.[1]
This perspective on the Kingdom of
God undergirds charismatic renewal movements such as the Vineyard Churches, the
New Wine movement that originated within the Church of England, and Holy
Trinity Brompton (HTB), home to the Alpha Course. However, a proper systematic
theological grounding seems to be lacking.[2]
Wolfhart Pannenberg uses the same
phrase – the “presence of the future”- in his Systematic Theology, also referring to the future (the “not yet”)
being present (“already”) in a very real way, as “a real instance of
something’s occurring in advance”.[3]
One of his major achievements has been to rehabilitate
future eschatology, and broader: an eschatological perspective on theology. He
connects this with history: God reveals himself indirectly, through his acts in
history. This can only be understood fully, Pannenberg asserts, at the eschaton:
the present is to be understood from the future – from the fulfilment of the
Kingdom of God. But this ultimate self-revelation has proleptically been
realized in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eternity has entered history, the
future is present, and the being of creation is to be understood as the
anticipation of its future. This view might be coined “eschatological realism”
or “realism of anticipation”.[4]
Before we explore Pannenberg's understanding of "the presence of the future", let’s have a better look at the “inaugurated Kingdom-theology” as proposed by George E. Ladd, and picked up by Vineyard-theologian Derek J. Morphew, and within New Wine.
George E. Ladd and “Presence of the Future”
After intense debates in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century over the character of the “Kingdom of God”, a new proposal was presented more or less simultaneously by Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Ridderbos (1909-2007; Professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at the Theologische Hogeschool Kampen), and American Baptist theologian George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982; Professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary). [11] Both Ladd and Ridderbos proposed a Kingdom-perspective that emphasizes the eschatological tension between the “already” and the “not yet” of the Kingdom - or: both its future and present character. Over against “future eschatology” (the Kingdom is future) on the one hand, and “realized eschatology” (the Kingdom has come in Christ) on the other, their proposal commonly is labelled “inaugurated eschatology”.[12] By this they mean that the Kingdom of God is at the same time future (it must still be consummated when Christ returns) and present (the Kingdom has been inaugurated in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ).
Therefore, God’s future is already present - in some mysterious and provisional but very real way. Ladd speaks of “the presence of the future” – a term that has become a key phrase within this strand of charismatic renewal, referring to present experiences of God’s future Kingdom in the life of believers and the church, as they live in “two ages.”
Two Ages
Jesus’ teachings display a fundamental dualistic structure and terminology, Ladd concludes after close-reading the Gospel accounts. On the one hand, Jesus boldly announced that the Kingdom of God had come: John the Baptist had announced an imminent visitation of God which would mean the fulfilment of the eschatological hope and the coming of the messianic age, and Jesus proclaimed that this promise was actually being fulfilled – it was happening in Jesus’ words and deeds, in his proclamation of good news to the poor, release to captives, restoring sight to the blind, freeing those who were oppressed.
“This is no apocalyptic Kingdom but a present salvation. Jesus did not promise his hearers a better future or assure that they would soon enter the Kingdom. Rather he boldly announced that the Kingdom (Herrschaft) of God had come to them (...) This was no new theology or new idea or new promise; it was a new event in history.”[13]
At the other hand, this message of fulfilment is accompanied by a view of the Kingdom of God which is futuristic and eschatological: we are yet to expect a future consummation of the Kingdom.[14]
Ladd discerns the concept of “two ages” in the ministry of Jesus: the present age, in which the world is in bondage to sin (the apostle Paul speaks of Satan as “the god of this age”), and the age to come, when evil will be destroyed and the Kingdom will be consummated.[15] But it is too simple to think merely in terms of temporal succession, Ladd argues.
“The age of fulfilment is not only near; it is actually present. Nevertheless, the time of apocalyptic consummation remains in the future.”[16]
Somehow, the future is present already - there is a “present fulfilment” of the Kingdom. Yet at the same time we await a “future consummation” still.[17]
Realm or reign?
How can the Kingdom be both future and present? Ladd finds the key in the “dynamic meaning of the Kingdom of God”.
Within the Gospels, the phrase “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of heaven”[18] has at least four distinct uses, Ladd argues. First, it has the abstract meaning of God’s divine rule, his royal lordship, over creation. Second, it can also refer to a future order of creation, a royal dominion or realm over which God rules. Third, the Kingdom is something present among men, as God reigns in them. Fourth, the Kingdom is a present realm into which men are now entering.[19]
A study of Jewish literature shows that the understanding of the Hebrew word malkuth does comprise the second meaning (the Kingdom as a realm over which God reigns, or his future dominion), but the central meaning is the first one: the abstract or dynamic idea of God’s rule over the world, his sovereignty, as something that people are called to acknowledge.[20]
Christian theology might understand this divine rule over the world as God’s sovereignty and preservation of creation, but the Jewish messianic hope is more dynamic than that: God intervenes and stands up for his people.
Christian theology might understand the Kingdom of God solely as God’s future order of salvation, as a concrete realm, but then it is hard to perceive how it could be present, even in Jesus.[21] As a realm, the Kingdom must be future. If it were only this future realm, then there is no way
“to conceive of its powers being present in the person of Jesus in such terms that one can actually assert that the Kingdom of God itself is present.”[22]
Yet this is exactly what Jesus asserted, as the Gospels show. Clearly, Jesus understood the Kingdom of God both as future realm and as God’s dynamic reign in the present. His understanding of the Kingdom of God, then is quite close to the rabbinic understanding. The Kingdom is God’s rule over the world, to which people are called to submit in the present, but God’s rule will be eschatologically manifested in the future, as the Kingdom will be fulfilled and the world will be God’s dominion.
But there is an element in Jesus’ teaching which sets it in contrast to Judaism, Ladd argues. Jesus taught that before the eschatological consummation, an actual fulfilment of the Old Testament hope was occurring in his own person and mission. In him, the future Kingdom was invading human history, not as a realm but as God’s active, dynamic reign in his people, anticipating the future realm.
The Kingdom, then, is God’s reign which men can and must receive in the present - as we recognize in the prayer that Jesus taught his followers to pray, and in particular in the petition for the coming of the Kingdom, as the perfect realization of God’s will in the lives of believers - “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”, Matthew 6:9-13).[23]
This understanding of the coming of the Kingdom as reign surfaces in the praxis of faith within the charismatic renewal, as believers seek to open themselves for God’s presence in worship and prayer, surrendering to God’s will and inviting God to have his way in them, and through them, ushering in his future reign on earth. This attitude of obedience and expectation is reflected in many contemporary worship songs within the charismatic renewal - for instance in the Vineyard-song Dwell:
Come and dwell in this place
Dwell in the midst of us
Come and have Your way
Not our will, but Yours be done
Come and change us
Not our will, but Yours be done.”
The Kingdom in the present age, then, is not merely the abstract concept of God’s universal rule to which men must submit; it is rather “a dynamic power at work among men.” Even though the present age did not come to an end, the future age had already arrived. This brings Ladd to his central thesis, that
“before the eschatological appearing of God’s Kingdom at the end of the age, God’s Kingdom has become dynamically active among men in Jesus’ person and mission.”[24]
This is not only the element which sets Jesus’’ teaching most distinctively apart from Judaism, Ladd argues, “it is the heart of his proclamation and the key to his entire mission.”
“Before the apocalyptic coming of God’s Kingdom and the final manifestation of his rule to bring in the new age, God has manifested his rule, his Kingdom, to bring to men in advance of the eschatological era the blessings of his redemptive reign.”[25]
Power of the future
Thus the Kingdom of God is “present as a dynamic power” (chapter 6), as “God’s dynamic reign invading the present age without transforming it into the age to come.”[26] A prominent motif in both the ministry of Jesus and in the mission of the disciples (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:17) is the casting out of demons. Exorcisms, Ladd argues, are not some side-show to the gospel, but part of the very salvation of the Kingdom.
“The chief opponents of God’s Kingdom are spiritual, and the victory of the Kingdom of God is first of all a spiritual victory (...) The ultimate coming of God’s Kingdom and the universal establishment of his reign will mean nothing less than the destruction of the very principle of evil in the spiritual realm (...) In metaphorical language Jesus interprets his own mission among men as an invasion of Satan’s kingdom (Matt. 12:26) for the purpose of assaulting the Evil One, overcoming him, and despoiling him of his goods.”[27]
In the same manner, the ministry of healing is integral part of the coming of the Kingdom, invading human history before the end of the present age.
“The presence of the Kingdom of God in advance of the age to come to overthrow the rule of evil is again illustrated by the mission of the Seventy who were sent out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 10:9).”[28]
The mission of the disciples shows that “the power of God’s Kingdom has entered into human history through the ministry of his disciples”, who exercise their power only in the name of Jesus - their authority is a delegated authority - and in the power of the Spirit.[29]
Healing and deliverance - and all destruction of evil - are the very substance of God’s salvation of mankind. What is achieved through these works, is salvation. The age of messianic salvation promised by Isaiah has come, although in an unexpected form.[30]
Divine activity
The Kingdom of God is present not as the work of man, but as the “divine activity” (chapter 7). In Jesus, God has taken the initiative to seek out the sinner, to bring lost men into the messianic blessing of his reign. Jesus pictures the eschatological salvation in terms of a banquet or feast to which many guests are invited, requiring from them a favourable response to God’s gracious offer. An inseparable relationship exists between the Kingdom of God and God’s Fatherhood, as sinners are invited to submit themselves to his reign that he might be their Father.[31] God’s redemptive action among men has the end of bringing them into a new and more intimate relationship with himself. All this points out, Ladd, argues, that the coming of the Kingdom is not a matter of human work, but entirely God’s deed.
“If the Kingdom of God is the divine redemptive act of seeking the lost, bringing salvation to those who receive it but judgment to those who reject it, a final conclusion must be drawn: the Kingdom is altogether God’s deed and not man’s work.”[32]
It cannot be identified with history, nor is it merely God’s working in and through historical events in general.
“It is more than this; it is God’s supernatural breaking into history in the person of Jesus. The coming of the Kingdom into history as well as its eschatological consummation is miracle - God’s deed.”[33]
Salvation as eschatological gift
The Kingdom of God is also present as “the new age of salvation” (chapter 8). Somehow the future “realm of salvation” is present too, as
“to be ‘in the Kingdom’ meant to receive the messianic salvation and to enjoy its blessings even while living in the evil age of mortality and sin.”[34]
The Kingdom of God designates the gift of full life and salvation. In the Gospels, Ladd argues, “salvation” is both an eschatological blessing and a present blessing. Primarily, it is an eschatological gift, including deliverance from mortality, and perfected fellowship with God, through forgiveness of sin. Salvation isn’t merely spiritual but includes “the whole man”.
“The evils of physical weakness, sickness, and death will be swallowed up in the life of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 25:34, 46).”[35]
Eschatological salvation means not only redemption of the body but also the restoration of communion between God and man which had been broken by sin.
But the mission of Jesus to save the lost has a “present dimension” as well.[36] First there is “the gift of present fellowship”, as Jesus illustrates by having table fellowship with outcasts and repentant sinners the day of salvation has come. Secondly, the presence of the messianic salvation is seen in Jesus’ works of healing and deliverance, for which the Greek word meaning “to save” is used (see Chapter 1 of this thesis). However, healings and exorcisms are the “negative side of salvation”. The positive side is “the incoming of the power and the life of God.”[37] Salvation means wholeness in all aspects of being - life to the full, in communion with God (comprising the gift of forgiveness and of righteousness).
Since the mission of Jesus brought not a new teaching but a new event, it brought to men “an actual foretaste of this eschatological salvation” – Jesus didn’t merely promise, he bestowed. Though the time of consummation still awaits the age to come, the age of fulfilment is present.[38]
Kingdom and church
Now if the Kingdom of God is to be defined as primarily the dynamic reign of God, and derivatively the sphere in which the rule is experienced, it is never to be identified with the church (chapters 10 and 11). The Kingdom creates the church, Ladd agrees with Ridderbos, and the church is the community of the Kingdom. The church even is an “instrument” of the Kingdom as it is to witness to the Kingdom in word and power, “exercising the powers of the Kingdom” (but the church cannot build the Kingdom or become the Kingdom).[39]
The church is “the people of the age to come, but it still lives in this age”. As such, it is to display in this present age the life and fellowship of the age to come, doing the works of the Kingdom.[40] The church is living from the powers of the future Kingdom, that has invaded the present order to bring to men the blessings of the age to come.[41]
Derek J. Morphew and “enacted anticipation”
One of the leading theologians within Vineyard – and also often referred to within New Wine - is South African theologian Derek J. Morphew, former leader of the Vineyard Bible Institute (1997 to 2006), and currently Dean of the Vineyard Institute. Taking up the theology of Ladd, Morphew emphasises that this “inaugurated eschatology” should be enacted: If the church professes that the Kingdom has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and the church is living “in between times”, as by now it is held by many New Testament scholars (such as N.T. Wright and James Dunn), then the church should act accordingly.
Main thesis of Morphew’s influential book Breakthrough. Discovering the Kingdom, is that the Kingdom is present yet future and that
“the church lives by the powers of the future age while the powers of this age continue around us.”[42]
The church thus finds itself in an “unexpected time of delay”, an “interim”, in which the Kingdom has arrived without yet being consummated. The future age has begun, while the present age hasn’t come to an end, and the two ages co-exist.[43]
This interim isn’t some deadlock or impasse, since it is filled with the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit.
“The ministry of the Spirit links what began in Jesus with what continues in the church as one extended event, undivided and yet manifest in repeated waves of divine intervention.” [44]
Every intervention of a God is an eschatological breakthrough of the powers of the future age – the powers of the future are present, though not yet exhaustive.[45]
Mystery of the Kingdom
Morphew translates the exegetical findings of Ladd into practical theology for local churches, as he argues that this “mystery of the Kingdom”, being present yet future, calls local churches to be
“continually open to signs and wonders and overwhelming interventions of God” [while at the same time being] “patient with what fails to happen”.[46]
The calling of the church is to proclaim the Kingdom of God, in both word and deed. And though entirely an act of God, the Kingdom comes through the proclamation of the Church.[47] The Church, therefore, is called “ to announce the presence of the Kingdom and to demonstrate its powers.”[48]
In full awareness, though, of the mystery of the Kingdom.[49] In some mysterious way, Morphew emphasizes, the “age to come” has begun prior to the termination of the “present age”, and thus the Church finds itself living in an “interim period” between the coming and consummation of the Kingdom – in between “D-Day” and “V-Day” (in the imagery of Oscar Cullmann). “From where we are, a French town behind enemy lines,” Morphew continues this imagery, “it often seems as though the enemy still has the upper hand, but we know we are on the winning side.”[50]
This in-between-reality, then, is “the basis of the experience of the Christian in this world”, Morphew argues:
- We are simultaneously “new creatures” in Christ, yet still struggling with the “old man” and its continual reasserting of its influence in our lives (“we are glorious contradictions, at the same time victorious in Christ and beset with weaknesses”).
- The Church is the new humanity, yet frail and often failing.
- We encounter wonders of healing, deliverance and restoration, while often this will fail to happen, as this is part of the “not yet” of the Kingdom.
Christians who understand this Kingdom-life, Morphew asserts, live “hovering between two worlds”, never knowing when a “very ordinary, ‘this-worldly’ church service will be transformed into an ultimate encounter, or when a private devotional moment will be injected by the powers of the future resurrection.”[51] But never “claiming” it, and not surprised, unnerved or fazed when it fails to happen.
“Understanding the Kingdom therefore becomes a world view, a permanent orientation, a moment-by-moment expectation (…) The Kingdom world view makes us continually open to signs and wonders and overwhelming interventions of God (…) Understanding the Kingdom also makes us patient with what fails to happen. It is always here, almost here, delayed, and future. Every promise of God, every prophetic word, every calling, every ministry we engage in, has the mysterious sense of being continually delayed by God and yet just around the corner. We live tasting, yet with our mouths watering; filled and yet hungry; satisfied and yet longing; having all, yet needing all.”
New Wine Vision
The enacted, inaugurated eschatology of this Kingdom-theology is reflected in the vision statement of New Wine, and in the vision of the closely-related Westminster Theological Centre (WTC), which has HTB’s Graham Tomlin as its Principal.[52]
New Wine envisions “nations changed through Christians experiencing the joy of worshipping God, the freedom of following Jesus, and the power of being filled with the Spirit”, and “churches renewed, strengthened and planted, living out the word of God in every aspect of life, serving God by reaching the lost, broken and poor, and demonstrating the good news of the Kingdom of God to all.” What is added to Vineyard’s original vision - or at least more emphatically expressed - is “ to care for the poor and to bring justice to our homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces and nations”. In other words, “social justice” is added to “healing, deliverance and prophecy”.
The vision statement speaks balanced of both the “natural & supernatural”, and both the “now & not yet” of the Kingdom. New Wine envisions,
“every Christian using all the natural reason, wisdom and skill that they can, while also learning to operate in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit to minister to others in love and power as Jesus did.”
“We want to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God and to see that confirmed by miraculous signs and wonders, while also ministering grace to all, knowing that suffering will be part of life until Jesus returns and makes all things new.”
Typical for the New Wine vision is what director John Coles writes in his book Learning to Heal, as he encourages his readers to engage in the ministry of healing. The point of departure for his argument is that to be a Christian involves becoming more like Jesus, and that this is a process that involves not only “developing the type of relationship with God that Jesus had”, and “having our lives transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we increasingly reflect the qualities of purity and holiness that characterized Jesus’ life”, but also “learning to minister to others with the same love and power in which Jesus ministered.” He then goes on to explain this in terms of “authority” and “power”. When Christians are to be involved in healing ministry they need to understand that God gives them authority to carry out this ministry, and that it is the Holy Spirit who empowers them for this ministry.[53]
The Westminster Theological Centre offers BA- and MA-programs in inaugurated Kingdom-theology, stating that,
“at the heart of our study is the belief that Jesus came proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he has brought the reality of the Kingdom to this world. Our study of theology means engaging with a Kingdom that is powerful and transformational. God's kingdom means hope for humanity and the earth in salvation, healing, freedom from oppression, reconciliation in relationships, joy, peace, creativity, and untold blessing. The Kingdom touches all aspects of life, and invites us to reimagine our life, work, and mission”(italics are mine).
Notably, the “good news of the Kingdom of God” is perceived here in an even more holistic way, comprising not only “humanity” but “the earth” (referring to ecology?), and not only “healing” but also well-being in societal, economic, and political terms, and overall integrity and fulfilment of life.
WTC clearly envisions an active, enacting involvement of church leaders in proclaiming this salvation of the Kingdom, as their theological training seeks to “transform, heal and release God’s people into His purposes for them”, in dependence on “the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
Next episode: Pannenberg & the "presence of the future"
Footnotes
[1] Derek J. Morphew, Breakthrough. Discovering the Kingdom (Cape Town: Vineyard International Publishing, 1991), 84.
[2] Most publications expressing this view are practical in focus, providing Scriptural references but hardly any systematic theological reflection. The only comprehensive systematic theology within this strand of charismatic theology would probably be Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), but his approach to theology appears to be too much just a restatement of the neo-evangelical legacy of Carl F.H. Henry and Millard J. Erickson to face the current challenges for theology (see Stanley J. Grenz, Renewing the Center. Evangelical Theology in a Post-Theological Era (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006).
[3] Christiaan Mostert, God and the Future (London: T&T Clark, 2002), 76.
[4] Christoph Schwöbel, ‘Wolfhart Pannenberg’, in: David F. Ford and Rachel Muers (eds.), The Modern Theologians (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2005, 3rd ed.), 134.
[11] Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom (Kampen: Kok, 1950) and George E. Ladd (Crucial Questions About the Kingdom of God, 1952; updated in The Presence of the Future. The Eschatology of Biblical realism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996, revised edition).
[12] This term actually was coined by New Testament scholar N.T. Wright.
[13] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 112 (italics are mine).
[14] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 114.
[15] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 118, 120. See also Anthony Buzzard, who writes: “We are indebted to Ladd for his emphasis on the 'two ages' scheme which certainly underlies Jesus' thinking, and his conclusion that the dynamic reign of God invades the present age ‘without transforming it into the age to come.’ With this insight he holds present and future in tension without losing sight of the time-rooted future” (Anthony Buzzard, ‘The Kingdom of God in the Twentieth Century Discussion and the Light of Scripture’, Evangelical Quarterly 64:2 (1992), 99-115).
[16] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 120.
[17] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 121. Much of what Ridderbos and Ladd stated in the 1950s, is now held by many leading NT-scholars of divergent backgrounds, agreeing that the eschatological message of the Kingdom of God was central to Jesus’ ministry (both his teaching and his works), and agreeing that in Jesus’ own understanding this Kingdom had arrived and was yet to come. For instance James D.G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament (London: SCM Press, 2006), 13-16, 347-352 (two ages; present yet imminent and apocalyptic), 351-352; G.R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986); Donald A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Leicester: Apollos, 1991), 256; Bruce Chilton, Pure Kingdom: Jesus’ Vision of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996); Bruce Chilton, Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (Leiden: Brill, 1994); Thomas P. Rausch, Who is Jesus?(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003); N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996).
[18] Kingdom of God, in Greek: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, Basileia tou Theou; or Kingdom of Heaven, in Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ουρανῶν, Basileia tōn Ouranōn, in Hebrew: מלכות השמים, Malkuth haShamayim.
[19] Ladd The Presence of the Future, 122-123.
[20] Ladd The Presence of the Future, 128, 130, 133.
[21] The Kingdom of God has been interpreted solely as realm, perceiving Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher announcing the imminent arrival of this realm, by for instance Albert Schweitzer, inevitably leading to the conclusion that Jesus was victim to a delusion. See Albert Schweitzer, The Quest for the Historical Jesus. A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1911), translated from its German original, 1906.
[22] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 128.
[23] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 136.
[24] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 139.
[25] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 139.
[26] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 149.
[27] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 151.
[28] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 154.
[29] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 157.
[30] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 158.
[31] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 178-179.
[32] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 188.
[33] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 188, 189.
[34] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 205.
[35] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 208.
[36] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 209.
[37] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 212.
[38] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 217.
[39] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 262-269. See Ridderbos, arguing that the ecclesia is the fruit of the revelation of the basileia, while conversely the basileia cannot be envisioned without ecclesia; basileia and ecclesia go together inseparably without coinciding. The basileia is the divine work of salvation in Christ; the ecclesia is God’s chosen people, sharing in the salvation of the basileia (Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, 307). To bring this further under formula might just be impossible, Ridderbos says. However, he argues that the ecclesia is the community of those who expect and anticipate the salvation of the basileia but no less the place where the gifts and powers of the basileia are given and received (308).
[40] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 268, 269.
[41] Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 298.
[42] Derek J. Morphew, Breakthrough. Discovering the Kingdom (Cape Town: Vineyard International Publishing, 1991), 12. See also Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 125, 149, 157, 166, 257.
[43] Morphew, Breakthrough, 66, 83-84, 87. See also Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 149, 268.
[44] Morphew, Breakthrough,103.
[45] Morphew, Breakthrough, 65-66, 81-84. See Ladd, The Presence of the Future, 298.
[46] Morphew, Breakthrough, 84.
[47] Morphew, Breakthrough, 94, 105.
[48] Morphew, Breakthrough, 99.
[49] See also Derek J. Morphew, The Implications of the Kingdom, Kingdom Theology Series (Bergvliet, South Africa: Derek Morphew Publications, 2009).
[50] Morphew, Breakthrough, 66-67.
[51] Morphew, Breakthrough, 84. See also Derek J. Morphew, The Implications of the Kingdom (2009).
[52] See www.new-wine.org; Pete George, The Origins of the New Wine Movement. An examination in to the origins of the New Wine Movement in the UK and how its original objectives compare to those of the movement today (unpublished paper), Westminster Theological Centre, 2013; and www.wtctheology.org.uk.
[53] John Coles, Learning to Heal, 3. See my paper Anointed to Proclaim Good News. The Baptism of Jesus: Authority and Power (VU University Amsterdam, 2013).
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