Imminent Domain: The Story of the Kingdom of God and Its Celebration

by Ben Witherington III

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2009

Overview

What is the kingdom of God? Where is it? How should the church celebrate the coming of the kingdom? In this popularl level study Ben Witherington addresses these and various other questions about the ever-elusive kingdom of God. Clearly defining the kingdom in terms of God’s dominion, Witherington discusses both its present (“already”) and future (“not yet”) dimensions, and he brings out at length the implications of kingdom thinking for theology, ethics, and worship. Filled with practical wisdom on the kingdom of God and how to celebrate it faithfully, Imminent Domain consists of six short chapters, each of which ends with several questions for reflection and discussion, making the book ideal for church classes and study groups.

Key Features

• Presents theological explorations of Christian living
• Addresses major questions in practical theology

Contents

• Preface: Whatever Happened to Kingdomtide?
• Introduction: The Borders of the Realm

Part One: The Powerful Presence

• The Design of the Domain
• The Place of the Presence
• Taking the Presence Personally

The Glorious Future

• “Thy Kingdom Come”
• “Thy Will Be Done”
• “On Earth as It Is in Heaven”

Appendix: Celebrating the Dominion in Kingdomtide

Top Highlights

“God’s design was to begin the renewal of the world by re-creating human beings in the divine image, by saving and transforming human lives one after another.” (Page 11)

“While such a reaction is understandable, it fails to come to grips with the fact that most of the major problems human beings face in life originate in the human heart. Whether we think of war, murder, adultery, drug addiction, theft, idolatry, or racist or sexist acts, all these horrors ultimately originate in the human heart. Jesus understood this and at one point condemned the lusts of the heart (Matt. 5:27–28). God’s saving Dominion comes to deal with the primary source of human social maladies, not simply to deal with the social effects or communal expressions of such maladies, though responding to the latter is also important.” (Page 14)

“God’s Dominion is a larger concept than either the church or Israel.” (Page 5)

“Church folk are apt to mistake the Dominion for the church.” (Page 3)

“‘Just Say No.’ The assumption was that better informed young people and sufficient exhortation should give them the gumption to reject turning to drugs. The problem with this assumption is that information without inner transformation will not and cannot finally solve the problem. The human heart must be changed if people are really to be different.” (Page 15)

Product Details

• Title: Imminent Domain: The Story of the Kingdom of God and Its Celebration
• Author: Ben Witherington III
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2009
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 93
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Kingdom of God
• ISBNs: 9780802863676, 0802863671
• Resource ID: LLS:MMNNTDMNTCLBRTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-19T17:10:49Z

About Ben Witherington III

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prominent evangelical scholar, he is also on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Witherington has written over forty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. His other works include The Indelible Image, Women and the Genesis of Christianity, The Gospel Code, A Week in the Life of Corinth and commentaries on the entire New Testament. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications and is a frequent contributor to Patheos and Beliefnet. Witherington is an elected member of the prestigious Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. He is a John Wesley Fellow for Life, a research fellow at Cambridge University and a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Society of Biblical Literature, Society for the Study of the New Testament and the Institute for Biblical Research. He previously taught at institutions like Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. An ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church and a popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings around the world. He has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible and is known for bringing the text to life through incisive historical and cultural analysis. Along with many interviews on radio and television networks across the country, Witherington has been seen in programs such as 60 Minutes, 20/20, Dateline and the Peter Jennings ABC special Jesus and Paul—The Word and the Witness