Originally Posted by grant:
Christ, on the other hand, was all "Only through me/my words shall ye achieve the Kingdom," (or whatever it was he said exactly). Which is a thought that really troubles me.
I've spent a little while looking, but still haven't been able to provide a scripture that exactly matches that. I haven't been exhaustive, but my search has been through materials that have focused exclusively on the theme of the Kingdom of God throughout the Bible. Chances are if Jesus had actually said this it would have been considered one of the key references.
The Kingdom of God is one of the most central themes throughout Bible, and is of particular importance in Jesus' teachings (it doesn't take much looking to find a reference in the Gospels: just look at the ampount of parables that are illustrative of the Kingdom). The Hebrew word used is malekut (based on the verb malak, meaning "to be king" or "to reign." It refers to a power, not a geographical area. A realm or sphere of influence). The Greek word is baileia (The position or power of the king. The office of king, kingly rule). The term usually means three things:
1 - God's reign.
2 - The realm into which Christians enter to experience the blessings of his reign.
3 - The future realm, the fulness of God's reign.
Like many Christian terms, there is a vital element of process built into the concept of the Kingdom. It is present now, and has been present from Creation, but it is not yet fully formed, and its complete aspect is yet to come. In this respect, it could be seen as the wider societal dimension of the individual Christian process. For the individual, becoming a Christian consists of the dual commitment of accepting Jesus as both "Saviour" and "Lord." The commitment, however, is both immediate and based in process, salvation and coming under lordship increasing throughout the remainder of the term of one's life. The term "Kingdom of God" covers a group of individuals committed to this process (although this isn't the extent of its meaning. One could do a fascinating study on the use of the term throughout the Bible. One thing I'd like to do for this thread over the coming couple of weeks is explore the theme of the Kingdom of God as it relates to "As above, so below").
Although the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are intrinsically linked as theological concepts, there is a distinction in that the Kingdom of Heaven has no implication of process. I don't intend to get into a lengthy description of the Christian take on the afterlife (although I probably will rise to the challenge if requested). What I do intend to point out is that there are a lot of people who term themselves as Christians who do not fulfil the two-step process described above, and therefore cannot be described as part of the Kingdom of God. Who those individuals are is not my place to say, but the dividing line is quite explicit - people who self define as Christian but the cap doesn't fit. On the reverse side of this, there is a theological precendent for people who wouldn't self define as Christian or as part of the Kingdom of God who may well be elligible under God's Judgement for the Kingdom of Heaven - you don't have to use the same linguistic terms as "salvation" and "lordship" to be under the same kind of processes. See for example the follower of Tash in C S Lewis' The Last Battle, who is welcomed by Aslan/Christ into Narnia's Heaven equivalent despite his self-definition as a worshipper of Narnia's Satan equivalent (in Aslan/Christ's eyes, they were worshipping him all along).
The two-step Christian process could be loosely defined as (using terms which do not make them exclusive to Christianity):
Salvation:
Recognising the mistakes of the past, atoning where necessary, and looking to use these to improve oneself in the future. A process of change and self growth in which we burn away imperfections and make peace with ourselves.
Lordship: More difficult to define in terms that are applicable to those who do not believe in Christ. In this case I'd refer back to the Biblical theme of inverted servanthood in the Bible (loosely touched on in this thread). Jesus came to serve Mankind (and Mr Socko) - he describes the joint most important commandments as "loving God and Man (your neighbour as you love yourself)." It follows that these two commandments are fundamentally linked, and that it is impossible to do the one without doing the other, and that serving/helping/loving Man could be an act of worship in the eyes of God regardless of the person's belief regarding Him.
So, to conclude, I'll give you Christian Theology's stock answer: God will judge all of us as individuals, and based on our heart and motives. Some who self define as Christians or as part of the Kingdom of God will not be elligible for either Heaven or Paradise (see Matthew 7:21), some who don't self-define as Christians or as part of the Kingdom of God may well be elligible. It is, however, not our place to judge. As for Heaven, Paradise, Purgatory, Hell, the New Earth... opinions vary as to what they are. This post is already too long, but I'll get to all that if you like.
There were a couple of scriptures that partially matched the troublesome stuff you mentioned, grant. The first that I found is this:
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
However, this may be qualified by the Trinity's deferring nature; one of the Holy Spirit's primary roles is to teach us about Jesus; who teaches us about the Father; who defers honour to the Spirit. The Persons of the Trinity live in a state of constant honour and love for each other, fictionsuits working in partnership to display the nature of God. The following scripture is illustrative of this:
Matthew 11:25
At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
Interesting that scripture states that it is impossible to state that Jesus is Lord apart from through prior action of the Holy Spirit. Implications!
There's also this section of John, which is pretty mysterious and upon which I'll meditate on later. Don't want to post before consideration...
John 3:1
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." |
