Kingdom Come

In recent years the theme of the kingdom of God has come to the forefront in the preaching, teaching, and popular writing of Christians of all theological persuasions. Any attempt to gain clarity on the biblical meaning of the phrase the ""kingdom of God"" must take the teaching of Jesus as its major point of reference; for the prominence of kingdom terminology today is directly attributable to the great frequency with which he appealed in his teaching to the notion of God's kingdom. In this little book, the author sets Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God against its Jewish background and discusses some of the characteristic emphases that appear in Jesus' message. He then identifies three broad ways in which God's kingdom operated in Jesus' ministry, which he suggests provide, at least in broad outline, an agenda for the Church today as it strives to bear witness to the ""gospel of the kingdom"" entrusted to it by its Lord. ""Dr. Marshall has written a short and simple introduction to the teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of God which will be welcomed by lay person and student alike for its clarity, force and expert scholarship. It will do much to foster a sound understanding of basic biblical teaching about the kingdom of God at a time when the centrality of the concept is once again being recognised but its significance not always rightly understood."" --Professor I. H. Marshall, University of Aberdeen ""This is a brief, simply presented book which makes accessible to beginners, especially those of limited previous education, the New Testament theme of the kingdom of God as understood in mainstream standard scholarship. In this aim it can be said to have succeeded. The scholarly backing is up to date and footnotes are useful but not oppressive. The point of view is clearly Christian but the material is presented with objectivity. It could be very useful for beginners' courses on Jesus and the Gospels."" --Professor J. L. Houlden, University of London ""Marshall has succeeded well in his project of writing on the kingdom of God in a format suitable for church leaders, informed lay people and college students rather than for specialists . . . As a BTh student, I'm thankful that I now have Kingdom Come on my bookshelf . . . However, along with Marshall, I hope that the book will find the wider readership that it deserves."" --Simon Crittle, Theological Student