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Originally Posted by
JoeT777
It's not hubristic pronouncing the Kingdom of God.
No, what's hubristic is trying to limit and circumscribe and contain the Kingdom within the confines of a particular religious institution, and to label all other manifestations of it as heresies and delusions. That's hubristic.
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You might recall John the Baptist, as foreseen in Isaiah's prophesies, heralded the coming of the Messiah.
Yes, the very same John the Baptist who said:
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8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?" 11 He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Luke 3:8-11
The similarity with this experience early in Jesus' public ministry is striking:
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16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, F29 To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." F30 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" 23 He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, F31 do also here in Your country.' " 24 Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, F32 in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." 28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. Luke 4:16-30
In both cases, the clear message is that being a member of the "chosen people" is neither necessary nor sufficient to secure favor with God.
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Is our Christ so cruel that he would send his children out to seek that which can't be found?
Of course not, the Kingdom is easy to find if we look in the right place.
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20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' F116 For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21
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The Kingdom is the Church today
Nope, sorry, I'm still not buying it.
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Kingdoms have heads of state, various princes of state; its rule is generally autocratic by nature. As an example, the Roman Catholic Church is such a Kingdom having landed boundaries, elected patristic ruler the Pope, and a College of Cardinals, commissioned by Christ to teach the Word of God.
Yes, earthly kingdoms go to great lengths to be dominant and obvious. Not at all like "leaven hid in three measures of flour", or "a treasure hid in a field", or "a pearl of great price".
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If, just suppose if, Christ's mission was for each man to be sole arbiter over his faith, then how many different faiths would we have? Instead of One Catholic Church, wouldn't we have several, more than several tens of thousands, or how about some 30,000 Protestant free thinking Churches.
Given that so many others do exist, I don't see how this little rhetorical gambit helps to make your case.
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5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:5-8
This doesn't sound like a teaching intended to promote good order and discipline in towing the party line. Notice also the lack of any mention of an institutional role in bringing about the new birth in the Spirit.
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So you see O'guy I wasn't being hubristic at all, just True to my faith.
To set the record straight, no righteousness was claimed for myself just for the Church as the Kingdom of God.
I have no ability or desire to judge whether you personally in your innermost heart of hearts are guilty of spiritual pride. But the doctrine and teaching of the Catholic Church, and many other religious organizations, both Christian and non-Christian, do often seem to engender it in their adherents. But of course that's just my opinion and I have no pronouncements by Bishops or Cardinals or Popes to back me up, so those of you who put great stock in such things are free to disregard it if you like. I'm OK with that.
