lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (05/19/84)
I'm pleased to find a point of agreement with Bob Brown, namely his assessment of the "now and then" nature of the "kingdom of God" and/or the "kingdom of Heaven" as presented in the Gospels. I think the "now" nature of it is the point emphasized by liberal theologians who wish to minimize eschatological thinking. Reverting to the more familiar ground of argumentation, I think that the point still stands that any reasonable interpretation of the Gospels indicates that the fruition of the kingdom of Heaven was predicted to be imminent. This is only reinforced by the observation that the ball was set rolling, so to speak, by Jesus's appearance on earth. Regarding the technical distinction between the kingdom's of God/Heaven. I note that the mustard seed is compared to the kingdom of God in Matthew, and the kingdom of Heaven in Mark (or was it Luke, also maybe vice versa.) Other such equivalences abound. Recall that Bob hung his hat on this distinction in order to squirm out (as I see it) of the implications of Mark 9:1. Regarding Bob's rejoinder that he was asking only for the benefit of the doubt in particular interpretations, and not asking to be granted the whole ball game, I reply that the only occasion for doubting the scholarly interpretations I have cited is in fact the conviction of Biblical inerrancy. Without this predisposition, such interpretations as "this present generation will live to see it all." are clear, plain, and consistent. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew