Page 22 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

Evangelical theologians recognize that there is some truth in each of
these teachings about the
kingdom of God. Nevertheless,
they ultimately rejected the
Jesus spoke of both a teachings since both are one-

present and a future sided and ignore an important
part of Jesus’ teaching on the
coming of the Kingdom. subject. Studies by evangelical

scholars, such as Herman
Ridderbos and George E. Ladd,
show that Jesus spoke of both a present and a future coming of the
Kingdom. According to Ladd:

For Jesus the kingdom of God was the dynamic rule of God which
had invaded history in His own person and mission to bring men
in the present age the blessings of the messianic age, and which
would manifest itself yet again at the end of the age to bring this
same messianic salvation to its consummation. (1964, 303)

This is the view of the kingdom of God taught in this book. It is the view
held by most contemporary Pentecostal scholars. Pentecostals, however,
emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in the kingdom of God more than
non-Pentecostals, as is later explained in this book.

Pentecostal Thought on the Kingdom of God

Early Pentecostal Thought

Early Pentecostals had little to say about the kingdom of God. This
is because much of their eschatology was influenced by dispensational
writers. Dispensationalism is the teaching that God deals with mankind in
different ways during different eras of sacred history, called dispensations.
Among other things, non-Pentecostal dispensationalists teach that God no
longer works miracles today as He did in New Testament times. Pentecostal
teachers such as Ralph Riggs, Frank Boyd, Finis J. Dake, and John G. Hall
taught that salvation history consisted of seven distinct dispensations:
Innocence, Human Government, Law, Grace, Tribulation, Kingdom, and
Eternity. In this way of thinking, the kingdom of God was thought of as
being mainly in the future. It was mostly related to the millennial reign of
Christ. The present reality of the Kingdom was barely noticed.

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