The ‘Kingdom of God’ is a bad translation of the Greek basileia tou Theou. It comes with too much baggage and not enough emphasis on the counter narrative embedded in the phrase.
Jesus’ kin-dom is both ‘not of this world’ and completely un-like the kingdoms of this world.
I look forward to your comments, questions and concerns.
I was in the pulpit this last Sunday at Westwood UMC and I chose to preach on John 3. It was the first time I have ever engaged that text outside of an evangelical environment.
You can take a listen here [link]. It works to stream it, download it, or get it on Itunes.
I began by addressing an awkward pairing:
– On the one hand, the phrase ‘born again’ has fallen into disrepute and disuse among many believers.
– On the other hand, Jesus is pretty clear that we ‘must be born again’.
Two other aspects that I attempt to overcome with this approach are:
A) We too often read both John 3:3 and 3:16 through a lens of individualism.
B) We have been taught to think of ‘eternal life’ as life after you die.
In order to correct these severely limited and limiting readings, I look at 5 key words/concepts.
Continue reading “Liberal & Conservative Christians Must Be Born Again”
Bo Sanders: Public Theology 