The Kingdom of God

John Bright's well written book, "The Kingdom of God," certainly is profound in the depth of its insight. For example, he says, "It must be underscored and underscored again that while there is not a sign of defeatism or of despairing passivity regarding its mission in the early church, there is in all the New Testament no brave talk of winning the world for Christ and of ushering in his Kingdom-not so much as one syllable!" I totally agree with him on this and almost every other point he makes in this excellent book. For to long, we have been fed a fear producing lie that if we do not get the gospel to the unreached the end won't come. Also, because of our sin, these pagans will go into a Christ less eternity.Yes, believers are to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. All Christians have a part to play in this endeavor. God loves us so much he wants to use us in carrying out his mission. But we can give, go to the mission field, etc, etc, etc when God hasn't called us to do so. What our Savior is most interested in is believers learning to hear his voice and walk in obedience to it. In short he wants relationship with his children.When describing the temple religion in Israel, Bright shockingly, but in my opinion accurately calls it a cult. While David, the man after God's heart, had some good points, he also had many flaws. For one he had many wives, which brought with them their pagan "cult" religions. He also was a man of war, who had done much killing. So much in fact, that because of this, God had Salomon build the temple. David covered up his murder of Uriah the Hittite for a full year. Only when confronted by the prophet did he repent.And while Israel under it's most Godly leaders had all the proper religious form in the temple ritual, its adherants usually lacked the love that is the heart of the law. For example, Soloman built his Eygptian wife, Pharoh's daughter a lawish palace with conscripted Israelite labor. His many other lavish building projects were carried out the same way. His lavish spending, which so awed the Queen of Sheba, put a severe strain on Israel's economy and caused the levy of high taxes on its citizens.Soloman like his father had many pagan wives, which enticed the Israelites to follow other God's, and led to their downfall. Rehoboam followed in his father's footsteps and spent lavishly. This, along with a desire to return to the old charismatic leadership found in the book of Judges, is what caused the ten nothern tribes to break of from the two southern ones. Yes, their leadership was no more righteous than that of David and his family.Throughout the book, Bright talks about the ancient paths. In our day, we are nastolgic about the past. What Bright is calling for isn't outward reform, but an inward change of heart. The ancient paths are from the beginning of time and are the Father God's paths of love and justice. People walking in the old or ancient ways see their sin for what it is. They see that apart from the Savior's empowering they are hopeless to walk in obedience to his commands, which are all based on love and not outward ritual. This book gave Scriptural backing for some beliefs of mine for which that was needed.

The author takes the reader who is unafraid to meditate on the pearls of Biblical truths on a journey of a lifetime. This has been one of the most enjoyable but challenging reads in my research on the Kingdom of God subject matter. But I humbly encourage any and all who dare take this journey so that they may come out at the end a soul even more ready and equipped to receive and enter Abba Yah's eternal Kingdom.

A very helpful book, especially as a resource for sermon preparation. It inspired me afresh. His method of presentation is very readable.

This book was written in 1953 so be aware of some cultural shift that has happened (the author uses male pronouns to include all). Beyond a little interpretation, however, this book gave a very good overview of the Kingdom of God throughout the whole Bible.

Just finishing my second reading of this fabulous book. Few books have taken me through the scriptures giving me such a great overview of what the Bible is all about, from beginning to end. And though the work was published about 60 years ago, its assessment of the religious scene is far from out-dated; it seems even prophetic. It shows that the challenges faced by the Church of today are challenges God's people have faced since the days of the patriarchs: not making our understanding of God's will and the organizations and programs we build around it a justification for the way we live, in place of walking humbly and steadfastly with our God. I highly recommend it!

I first read this book as required reading in Seminary (Old Testament studies). I've used it for many sermons and study topics! Loaned the first copy out and never got it back, so I decided to get the ebook copy.If you want to understand the Kingdom of God in our lives, and see it bridge across old and new testament to today's world, this is the book for you.

The most comprehensive book on the subject I have found. Very scholarly and well written.

Well written book that walks the reader through God's initiating a relationship with men and women...walking beautifully and understandably from the Old Testament through the New Testament. A masterpiece.