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Kingdom, Church, and World: Biblical Themes for Today

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Snyder provides a comprehensive and insightful view of not only the current and yet-to-come kingdom of God, but provides readers with thought provoking practical insights as well.

In the introduction to Kingdom, Church, and World, Howard Snyder begins with a paraphrase of Acts 1:1-8. For our purposes, I will lay out a synopsis of Snyder's paraphrase of Acts 1:6-8 over against the biblical text (using the NRSV), in order to compare and contrast what is said, and thus examine the directions of the two readings. Wrote Snyder, "Now after the resurrection, his disciples ask, `Are you finally going to set up you kingdom?' How does Jesus respond? He says, in effect, `The time for the full flowering of the new order still remains a mystery to you; it's in God's hands. But...the Holy Spirit will give you the power to live the kingdom life now. So you are to be witnesses of the kingdom and its power from here to the very ends of the earth'" (Acts 1:6-8 Snyder's paraphrase). The NRSV reads thus, "'[The disciples] asked [Jesus], "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth'" (1:8).

The question (Snyder: "Are you finally going to set up your kingdom?" NRSV: "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?") is critically important for understanding the context of this passage. The disciples were actually asking a misguided question. They still expected Jesus to establish a political kingdom on earth, and for them, it was exclusively the kingdom of Israel. Jesus was thus responding to their misguidance and redirecting them to himself. Hence, they would become primarily His witnesses, and subsequently witnesses of the kingdom. Snyder's account implies that there was nothing misguided about the question. In Snyder's account, they ask about the kingdom of God and he answers with reference to their question. In the Bible's account, they ask about the kingdom of Israel, and he answers with reference to himself.

The response: Snyder: "The time for the full flowering of the new order still remains a mystery... But ...the Holy Spirit will give you the power to live the kingdom life now. So you are to be witnesses of the kingdom...to the very ends of the earth. NRSV: "It is not for you to know the times or periods...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth." Suffice it here to point out just one of the contrasts between the NRSV and Snyder's paraphrase, which drastically changes the direction of the passage. In Snyder's bible, the Holy Spirit is given to empower Jesus' disciples to be witnesses of the kingdom of God. In the NRSV, the Holy Spirit is given to empower Jesus' disciples to be His witnesses, i.e. witnesses to Him. Snyder is using the kingdom of God synonymously with Jesus Christ. Does the book of Acts treat the two synonymously? If so, there should be a balanced number of usages in the proclamation of both in the book of Acts. So, did the disciples witness to the kingdom of God in the book of Acts? Yes. How many times? Five (at best! Three of the five usages are paired with the proclamation of Jesus Christ, e.g. "...the good news about the kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 8:12)). Did the disciples witness to Jesus Christ, the explicit name of Jesus Christ? Yes. How many times? About seventy.

This is vital because it seems to be that the kingdom of God can become a powerless moralization or social program (while there are indeed implications for both, such is not the essence of the Kingdom. The King is the essence of the kingdom!), instead of a divine reality inaugurated and established by Christ himself, and Christ alone. We cannot hasten the kingdom by what we do. Rather, the Church is called to operate under the rule of God as witnesses to an alternate reality present in Christ. It is not our task to 'build' the kingdom but to reflect it. We reflect the reality we believe will come in Christ at his return. Popular theology today, as exemplified in Snyder's book, seems to speak of the Kingdom as something that has seamless continuity with the eschaton. This is not faithful to Scripture. Indeed, there is continuity--for Revelation envisages heaven's incoming to earth, not souls floating away to heaven--but there is discontinuity as well--judgment and a Christ-alone-act-of-redemption. Yes, he calls the Church to operate within this reality, but not with the expectation that we alone will complete the redemptive process. When this happens (and it is happening!), the Church becomes to self-referential, and we fail to be faithful witnesses to Christ, hence this book. God's kingdom is a present reality, and when the Church is faithful to do His work and his will, we operate within and announce the kingdom of God by virtue of our obedience to the King. But our focus need not leave the King, lest we fall more in love with the ideal of a kingdom rather than the King himself, which is precisely what many of the Jews had done by the time Jesus came. And that is precisely why they had him killed.