Bridge of Reason

  Image by Andrea Don, Pixabay When Jesus began his ministry it was the kingdom of God that formed the substance of his preaching. ‘ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.’ ( Mark 1:14, 15 ESV) In last week’s Watchtower Wednesday I drew attention to the Watchtower teaching on the Kingdom of God . They use this text to show they understand the good news Jesus preached was the good news of the kingdom. Nothing controversial in this, the message of the New Testament is a kingdom message. They say: 'Jesus Christ said that the Kingdom of God * was “at hand,” or had “drawn near,” because he, as the future King of that Kingdom, was present on the scene.’ The Kingdom The asterisk pulls up a box in which we find their definition of kingdom: ‘ The Kingdom of God is the government in heaven established by God to accomplish his will for the e...

  For Watchtower Wednesday on the Reachout Facebook page last week I pointed to an article on jw.org addressing this question. How do you understand the kingdom of God? How would you explain it to a Jehovah’s Witness? The Kingdom of Heaven It is always helpful to start with their understanding of kingdom. This puts them on familiar ground and gives you the chance to address specific ideas they hold to be true. The first thing of which they are sure is, ‘ The Bible identifies its true location by calling it “the kingdom of heaven.” ( Matthew 4:17 , King James Version )’ What jumps out at me immediately is their use of the King James Bible. Why not quote the N ew W orld T ranslation ? The KJV has Jesus refer to ‘the kingdom of heaven,’ a place, while their own NWT has Jesus refer to, ‘the kingdom of the heavens.’ ‘ Heavens’ translates the Greek ouranos which is anglicised to Uranus. It has the meaning of sky, air, firmament, any area above the earth; heaven(s), the place of ...