The Two Kingdoms Begins with the Peaceful Subject

If Jesus embodies the Peaceable Kingdom and the Church is the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth, then the means and methods represented by swords and spears are to be replaced by the means and methods represented by ploughshares and pruning hooks (Is. 2:4). The people of God are to be about the work of cultivating and harvesting (the work of the ploughshare and pruning hook) new life in and for the Kingdom of God. Continue reading “The Two Kingdoms Begins with the Peaceful Subject”

Is the Kingdom a Present Reality? – The Meaning of “Forging Ploughshares”

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Micah 4:3

The key question concerning the peaceable kingdom portrayed in Micah and Isaiah is whether this Kingdom has become a reality in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The forging of swords into ploughshares describes a universal reality, that even in these pre-Christian passages, evokes a present tense walk: Continue reading “Is the Kingdom a Present Reality? – The Meaning of “Forging Ploughshares””