Christian Worldview ICT PDF

 COURSE NAME: CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW  COURSE CODE: CWV1106  COUSE LECTURER: ATTLEE CHARLES M’BUKA BA, PDT, MTh, PhD (CANDIDATE) Lesson objectives: By the end of this lesson, you should be able to know the following: 1. The meaning of the term ‘worldview’ 2. The meaning of the term ‘Christian worldv...

 COURSE NAME: CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW  COURSE CODE: CWV1106  COUSE LECTURER: ATTLEE CHARLES M’BUKA BA, PDT, MTh, PhD (CANDIDATE) Lesson objectives: By the end of this lesson, you should be able to know the following: 1. The meaning of the term ‘worldview’ 2. The meaning of the term ‘Christian worldview’ 3. Formation of worldviews Worldview is: ❑A “view of the universe and theory of the cosmos” — G. K. Chesterton ❑“The whole manner of conceiving of the world and humanity’s place in it, the widest possible view which the mind can take of things.” — James Orr ❑A “life-system,” rooted in a fundamental principle from which was derived a whole complex of ruling ideas and conceptions about reality. — Abraham Kuyper ❑A “perspective on life, a whole system of thought that answers the questions presented by the reality of existence.” — Francis Schaeffer ❑“A comprehensive framework of one’s basic beliefs about things.” — Albert Wolters ❑“View of the world and the resulting way of life within it.” — David Naugle  What is Christian worldview? ❑ “A vision of God, the universe, our world, and ourselves rooted and grounded in the embodied human heart as the seat and source of our worship and spirituality, ideas and beliefs, loves and affections, and decisions and actions.” — David Naugle ❑ “How we view and interact with our environment in relation to how God wants us to live our lives.” – Attlee C. M’buka 1. Illustration of what a worldview is: lenses (glasses, sunglasses) a. A worldview is like lenses or a pair of eye glasses through which we look at the world. b. A worldview is like a pair of sunglasses or shades. They colour everything we see. c. A worldview is like contact lenses: they affect everything you see, but you don’t notice them. 2. Illustrations of what a worldview does a. A map and a compass (guides, directs, orients; where we are, where we are going, and how to get there, personally, culturally). b. Filter and framework (sifts and sorts, accepts and rejects, and gives context to life; it interprets, explains and imparts meaning to things — God, universe, our world, ourselves. It enlightens our minds about the world and our place within it.) II. Content and Character of the Concept of Worldview A. Narrative Every wv contains an irreducible narrative component at a minimum or even more, it constitutes the heart and core, the very matrix of a worldview, its very essence, content, structure and implications. WV’s are story-formed. A wv is a concentrated, life-shaping story. It consists of a basic story (the foundational myth) and offers multiple sub-stories that provide a whole way of understanding the cosmos and how to order our lives within it. Worldview narratives typically involve 1. a setting 2. characters, 3. Conflict 4. Resolution (Where are we? Who are we? What’s gone wrong? What’s the remedy?)  B. Big Questions  Out of its narrative resources, any worldview worthy of the name answers our deepest questions — philosophical, theological, religious, spiritual, social and cultural — about God, the universe, the world, about human existence and so on. Here are the big wv questions: 1. The theological question of the existence, nature, and works of God. Who is God and what is he like? 2. The metaphysical question about what is real and what is ultimately real, including the inquiry about the reality and nature of evil. What is real? 3. The epistemological question about the possibility, sources, nature, justification and goals of knowledge. What is truth? 4. The cosmological question about the origin, nature and destiny of the universe. Why is something here rather than nothing at all? 5. The anthropological question about the origin, nature and destiny of human beings. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? 6. The ethical question about an objective moral order, what we should be like as persons, and how we should live. What should I be? What should I do? How should I live? 7. The aesthetic question about beauty as it is displayed in the cosmos and expressed through human imagination, artistry and creativity. What is beauty? Why the arts? What role do they play in life and culture? 8. The historical question about the meaning and purpose of human history. Is history circular or cyclical and endlessly repetitive, or is it linear with a beginning, middle, end? 9. The timeless soteriological question about redemption, change, and hope, both temporal and eternal. How can I be saved?  Thursday, 14th September.  Period 1  TOPIC: CONTENT AND CHARACTER OF WORLDVIEW  LESSON: Content of worldview  OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, students should be able to do the following: 1. Discuss symbols as content of worldview 2. Discuss memory as content of worldview 3. Discuss ethos as content of worldview 4. Discuss vision as content of worldview  5. Practice as content of worldview  C. Symbols  The grounding narrative and the answers it supplies to the big question comes to expression in a variety of sacred symbols, which to challenge produces considerable fear and anger and backlash.  Symbols can be events, rites, people, places, or things. Some will be cultural in nature, some political, some religious, some personal, etc.  The following are examples of wv symbols:  Flags, coats of arms, seals, stamps, colors, animals, plants, flowers, trees, crosses, crescent, songs/anthems, temples, churches, mosques, buildings, statues, etc.  D. Memory This refers to a community or a culture's recollection of its basic story, and its response, through time, to the worldview questions it answers (who are we, where are we, what is wrong, and what is the solution?). A living memory is essential; if a story is to remain vibrant and formative, there must be a community of people capable of remembering and reinterpreting that story as times change. In a living story, people draw strength by remembering. A remembered story renders a community or culture capable of ordering their new experience in a manner consistent with the story, that is, with their essential worldview. (Duke University’s Stanley Hauerwas, A Community of Character, 1981: 54).  E. Memory  This refers to a community or a culture's recollection of its basic story, and its response, through time, to the worldview questions it answers (who are we, where are we, what is wrong, and what is the solution?).  According to Duke University’s Stanley Hauerwas a living memory is essential because if a story is to remain vibrant and formative, there must be a community of people capable of remembering and reinterpreting that story as times change. In a living story, Hauerwas maintains, people draw strength by remembering. A remembered story renders a community or culture capable of ordering their new experience in a manner consistent with the story, that is, with their essential worldview. (Hauerwas, A Community of Character, 1981: 54). E. Ethos The ethos of a culture, rooted in its WV narrative, its questions and answers, and its symbols denotes the fundamental and distinctive character of a group, social context, or period of time, typically expressed in attitudes, habits, and beliefs. Germans call it the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. Ethos is the animating spirit of a community derived from its overall worldview. It is the collective identity, personality and values of an historical epoch or social group.  This ethos embodies and expresses the uses of energy, talents and gifts of a people as directed by its overarching worldview.  A wv ethos constitutes a certain vision for the future and present form of daily life and practice, the last two items on our list of essential wv components.  F. Vision  Vision, as a perception or way of seeing, is derived from the depths of a worldviews story, answers to big questions, its memory and ethos.  Here the prescriptive character of a wv is central, for a wv not only describes how things are, but also how things should be, a vision or view of the world and a vision and view for the world. Things are not yet as they should or could be. A wv rooted vision gives people some idea of how things ought to be how and what they can do to actualize that future.  G. Practice  All these wv elements culminate in a particular way of life, a praxis, a way of being and living in the world. A WV entails a way of life … human action. It tells a people how they should then live.  Having defined a wv and illustrated it and given then these fundamental elements of a wv — its narrative, its answers to big questions, its expression in symbols, its memorable character, its ethos or spirit, its vision for the future, its way of life, we should examine the philosophic history of this concept ever so briefly. Thursday, 14th September. Period 2 TOPIC:. History of the Concept of Worldview LESSON: Origins and history of the concept of worldview OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, students should be able to do the following: 1. Explain the origin of the concept of worldview 2. List nineteenth century worldview philosophers 3. List twentieth century worldview philosophers 1. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) as the person who conceived worldview as a philosophy 2. Nineteenth Century worldview philosophers a. G. W. H. Hegel (1770-1831) b. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) c. Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) d. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) 2. Twentieth Century worldview philosophers a. Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) b. Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) c. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) d. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) e. Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) f. Michel Foucault (1926-1984)  C. History of the concept of worldview in the natural sciences  a. Michael Polanyi (1891-1976)  b. Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996)  D. History of the concept of worldview in the social sciences  A. Psychiatry/psychology  1. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)  2. Carl Jung (1875-1961)  B. Sociology  1. Karl Mannheim (1893-1947)  2. Peter Berger (1929- )  C. Economics  1. Karl Marx (1818-83)  2. Friedrich Engels (1820-95)  D. Anthropology  1. Robert Redfield (1897-1958)  2. Michael Kearney Philosophic Implications of Worldview A. Metaphysical implications (on the real): ▪ At its root, a worldview specifies what its adherents believe to be true about reality and being in all its aspects. ƒ ▪ They are metaphysical constructs, saying: this is reality, the way things really are. This is the nature of the universe and of human beings. ƒ ▪ They are ontologies (explanations of entities), saying this is what being is and what all beings are, the existence and nature of being and all beings. ƒFrom a worldview conviction about reality and being/s, there flow many implications for epistemology, for ethics, for aesthetics.  B. Epistemological implications (on the true)  1. Reason (Reason as that capacity that has distinguished us from animals) According to Blaise Pascal, man is a thinking reed; by means of thought he can comprehend the universe. ▪ What is the nature of rational thought and how does reason function? ▪ What is the relationship of reason and worldview, that is, between rationality and a particular conception of the universe? ▪ What influence does worldview have on reason, if any?  C. Ethical and aesthetic implications: on the good and beautiful  1. On the good: ƒ  Worldviews, given their particular view of reality, establish what its adherents would consider the highest or greatest good for human beings: in Latin, the summum bonum Who’s really well of, who’s got it good, who is living well, living nobly. Or it would suggest, given a particular view of reality, that there is no such thing, no greatest good, nothing ultimate toward which human beings ought to live their lives. Nihilism: no meaning of life. Existentialism: create meaning in life for yourself. ƒ Worldview, then, have profound ethical and teleological implications 2. On the beautiful: ƒ What is beauty? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? ƒ What is ugliness? Is what is ugly merely a personal opinion? ƒ Or is beauty objective, grounded in something higher than our private opinions and responses to apparent alleged instances of beauty? Are some things truly ugly? ƒ Worldviews, given their particular view of reality, establish a standard for beauty or for its absence. 2. On the beautiful: ƒWhat is beauty? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? ƒWhat is ugliness? Is what is ugly merely a personal opinion? ƒ Or is beauty objective, grounded in something higher than our private opinions and responses to apparent alleged instances of beauty? Are some things truly ugly? ƒ Worldviews, given their particular view of reality, establish a standard for beauty or for its absence.  Worldview Alternatives and Tests  A. Philosophical worldview alternatives ƒ ▪ Agnosticism/skepticism ▪ ƒAtheism/Naturalism ƒ ▪ Nihilism (the belief that nothing in the world has a real existence.)ƒ ▪ Secular Humanism ▪ ƒExistentialism (the philosophical belief we are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives. Our individual purpose and meaning is not given to us by Gods, governments, teachers or other authorities). ▪ Modernism (refers to a global movement in society and culture that from the early decades of the twentieth century sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life) ▪ ƒPostmodernism (rejection of concepts of rationality, objectivity, and universal truth. Instead, it emphasizes the diversity of human experience and multiplicity of perspectives)  B. Religious worldview alternatives ▪ ƒTheism ƒ ▪ Judaism ƒ ▪ Christian Theism ▪ ƒIslamism ▪ ƒBuddhism ƒ ▪ Taoism ƒ (an ancient Chinese philosophy and religion that instructs believers on how to exist in harmony with the universe) ▪ Confucianism (an ancient Chinese belief system, which focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality.ƒ ) ▪ Pantheism/Hinduism (the philosophical religious belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical to divinity and a supreme being or entity).  The nature and function of worldviews  Conflict of worldviews in society  Since our worldviews guide our basic approach and responses in life, shaping the way we live and the decisions we make, then because people hold different worldviews, there will inevitably be conflicts in society when our decisions and responses regarding specific issues lead in different directions.  Decisions guided by different worldviews lead to conflict because they indicate different understandings of right and wrong, truth and error, possible and impossible, the directions we should be heading. One way to understand the conflict of worldviews is to reflect on the experience of culture shock. Rapid immersion into a lifestyle shaped by a different world-view, or contact with immigrants who bring new and different worldviews with them, bring us up against other ways of doing things, arising from different ways of seeing the world around us. Conflicts between different worldviews will almost always arise because one worldview is dominant (held by the majority of people) while other worldviews are held by a minority. The dominant worldview in any society frequently will strive to become the exclusive worldview in that society, eliminating minority and dissenting views. This is done through pressure on minorities to abandon their distinctiveness and conform to the cultural norms of the dominant community  What is a Christian worldview?  A Christian worldview must be shaped and tested in subjection to the authority of Scripture, which will bring conflict with those whose worldviews are shaped at the root not by obedience to God but rebellion against him. Their respective worldviews or basic beliefs about the meaning and nature of things shape their lives in different ways and lead them in different directions.  As Christians we confess that the Scriptures have the authority of God which is supreme over public opinion, political agendas, media viewpoints, etc. which try to shape our views and lives. Religion in a Christian worldview Any worldview is primarily religious. It is not itself a religion, but it is religious in that it explains and interprets the basic nature of things and their relationships as understood in ordinary everyday experience A Christian worldview takes religion as the basis of human nature. That is, the most fundamental foundational deepest level of human being - is our relationship to God. As Christians we believe that the basic nature of all things is their creatureliness their allegiance to God and their dependence on God. What we think about things therefore is ultimately shaped by whether we relate to God in faith and obedience, or in unbelief and rebellion. What we think about things therefore is ultimately shaped by whether we relate to God in faith and obedience, or in unbelief and rebellion.  Religion shapes everything in which we are engaged: theology, philosophy, politics, education, economics, etc. The whole of life hangs together because it is all rooted in our religion.  Our worldview is the expression of that religious commitment, shaping the way in which we actually lead our lives, and thus how we do philosophy and theology, and how we express our religion  Myth and idolatry: substitute gods and substitute revelations. Myth and idolatry are mutually supporting phenomena.  Myth gives the basis for belief in an idol, while idolatry generates and sustains the myth. Without both functioning in peoples' lives, they lose their force and become merely cultural artefacts. Such is the case with the gods of Greece and Rome: there is no living cult sustaining the worship of these idols, and so the myths surrounding them are now merely cultural artefacts with no spiritual force. The idols themselves are now merely artistic representations, to be admired for the skill and beauty of the workmanship, but not revered or honoured as representations of the gods. However, that does not mean that idolatry is not a potent spiritual force within our society.  Philosophical Christian worldview  A. Metaphysics: God the trinity — Father, Son, Holy Spirit  God is infinite and personal (Triune),  Transcendent and immanent,  Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent,  Sovereign and supreme  Just and holy, loving and merciful The Rock! His work is perfect,  For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. — Deut. 32: 4  B. Cosmology: the universes and this world as God’s creation ƒ  God created the cosmos (universe or world) ex nihilo (= out of nothing), that is, not out of Himself, or out of some pre-existing matter, but simply by His spoken Word (per verbum). ƒ  Consequently, the universe consists of a uniformity of natural causes in an open system (= orderly but not determined). ƒ  In terms of its orderliness, it can be studied and known scientifically; in terms of its openness, it is susceptible to divine intervention and the miraculous.  ƒ  C. Anthropology: human beings as the image and likeness of God (imago Dei)  Human beings are created as the image and likeness of God and thus possess personality, self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, gregariousness and creativity.  This identity imparts value, dignity, significance, distinctiveness, and worth to all persons in all places at all times. Life is not cheap.  Gen. 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen. 1:27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1: 1  Is. 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, But formed it to be inhabited, "I am the Lord, and there is none else. Is. 45:19 "I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a waste place'; I, the Lord, speak righteousness Declaring things that are upright. — Isaiah 45: 19- 19  Psalm 8:4-6 4What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, D. Epistemology: divine revelation as natural and special and the God-given human capacity for knowledge  Human beings can know the world around them and God himself because God has built into them the capacity to do so and because he takes an active role in communicating with them through the following ways:  Human intelligence which is grounded in divine intelligence, esp. because we are made in the image of God who is the divine Word or Logos (John 1: 1-3)  General revelation (through nature—Ps. 19: 1-2; Rom. 1: 19-20) ¾ Ps. 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Ps. 19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.  Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  Special revelation (through Christ and the Bible)  Christ: John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  Bible: 2 Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Tim. 3:17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  E. Ethics/moral philosophy: objective moral order rooted in the character of God as love and justice and human beings as responsible agents  Ethics is transcendent and is based on the character of God as just and loving.  The character of God is the standard of human morality revealed to us in moral absolutes in the Bible (10 Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, St. Paul’s epistles).  Human beings are moral creatures and live in subservience to God’s moral ideals and laws that are more than cultural conventions (The laws are recorded in the Bible as the 10 commandments). Jesus Christ is the only perfect embodiment of the moral life Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. — 1 Peter 2: 21-22 E. Aesthetics: beauty rooted in the divine nature, displayed in the cosmos, and expressed through human imagination, artistry and creativity For as God is infinitely the greatest Being, so he is allowed to be infinitely the most beautiful and excellent: and all beauty to be found throughout the whole creation is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that Being who has an infinite fulness of brightness and glory. God is the foundation and fountain of all being and all beauty. — Jonathan Edwards, The Nature of True Virtue  We are made in the image and likeness of God with all of its implications on civilization, culture, and the arts. The fall into sin spoiled God’s original cultural and artistic purposes.  In Christ however our whole capacities as humans are restored including mind and body over which Christ is Lord. This includes our spiritual life, yes, but also the creative and imaginative activity of humans as well. The arts come under the redemption and lordship of Christ.  Hence, the arts have a significant place in Christianity and the Christian life- -they are not peripheral. Christians should have a deep interest in the arts, and use them to the glory of God and as things of beauty to the praise of God.  Date: 19th October, 2023  Lesson: Philosophical Christian Worldview  Objective: By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:  1. Discuss history one of the questions which the Philosophical Christian Worldview seeks to answer.  2. Discuss Sin and redemption as one of the questions which the Philosophical Christian Worldview wrestles with.  3. Answer the question of Life and Death in relationship to the Philosophical Christian Worldview.  4. BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW  History: linear with a purpose rooted in God and the themes of creation, fall, redemption, consummation  History is linear (it has a beginning—creation, middle— Christ's first coming, and end—Christ's second coming.  History is heading toward consummation and is not circular or cyclical)  History is teleological and has meaning (because God is behind all events in sustaining all things and in his providence over creation and all human history (Heb. 1: 3; Rom. 8: 28)  History is a form of revelation (Heilsgeschichte [an interpretation of history emphasizing God's saving acts and viewing Jesus Christ as central in redemption]) in which God does might deeds and makes Himself known, especially as creator, judge and redeemer of the whole world(Romans 8:28; Revelation 21:1-5).  Sin and Redemption: God brings salvation to the earth in the person and work of Jesus Christ as God in human flesh  God created us for a relationship with himself.  Sin separated us from God and resulted in true moral guilt and physical death.  The incarnation, life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as God in the flesh has accomplished redemption and restored us to God. The results are the following:  a. God’s kingdom has come and defeated evil  b. The gift of eternal life is given to those who believe.  c. Those who believe are declared righteous in God’s sight.  d. God’s anger is averted  e. We are redeemed by God  f. We are reconciled to God  g. We are forgiven for our sins  h. We are restored to the life and purposes God intended for us in the very beginning and are new creatures in Christ.  i. We have callings to fulfill on earth, a mission to share the gospel with others, and the hope of enjoying life with God forever in the new heavens and new earth. (Hebrews 2:3)  Death and the afterlife: eternity with or without God  Options on the afterlife include (1) personal extinction; (2) reincarnation (3) Heaven or hell (= the Christian view) ▪ Heaven (new heaven and new earth with God and his people forever in a glorified, perfected state) ƒ ▪ Hell (eternally separated from God in loneliness apart from love) For each person death is either the gateway to life with God and his people or the gateway to eternal separation from the only thing that will ultimately fulfill human aspirations.(Hebrews 9:27)  II. Biblical Christian worldview  Creation: where am I? who am I? why am I?  Fall: what's gone wrong?  Redemption: what's the remedy? A. Creation (Genesis 1-2) 1. Genesis 1-2: where am I?  Genesis 1: 31 — “very good”  A. Creation (Genesis 1-2)  1. Genesis 1-2: where am I?  Genesis 1: 31 — “very good”  2. Genesis 1: 26-28: Creation decree: Who am I and why am I?  a. Who am I?  It is the whole person that is the image and likeness of God. The bodyless, invisible God reflects and represents Himself in the created world by the uniting of body and spirit (a wholistic view of the human person) in man as male and female, God's symbols and images on the earth.  b. Why am I?  i. Spiritual purpose: relationship with God  “O Lord, you have made us for yourself and our spirits are restless until they rest in You.” St. Augustine, Confessions  ii. Social purpose: marriage and family, human relationships "Male and female He created them; and God blessed them and said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.“  iii. Cultural purpose: to establish culture and civilization for human welfare and the divine glory Men and women as the image of God, as caretakers or stewards, are to fill and form the earth, cultivate and preserve it, to creatively develop and open up the possibilities hidden in the womb of creation, both natural and human.  B. Fall of humanity into sin (Genesis 3) What has gone wrong? Why evil? Why the brokenness, suffering, pain, injustice, oppression, wickedness? 1. The rebellion of human beings against God (Genesis 3: 1- 7) 2. The consequences of the human rebellion against God (Genesis 3: 8-24) a. Theological: the separation/alienation of humanity from God (vv. 8-9) b. Psychological: the separation/alienation of persons from themselves (v. 10) c. Sociological: the separation of man from woman (v. 12) d. Spatial: the separation from Paradise (vv. 22-24)  3. The essence of the fall: In the decision to rebel against God, humanity sought to be autonomous, independent of God and self-legislating, resulting in vanity and futility in life without God.  C. Redemption (Genesis 3: 15-Revelation 22) What’s the remedy? Is there a solution to the human situation? How can we find hope? Is there any good news? Primarily, the Bible is the story and history of redemption 1. Old Testament: promise and covenants of a coming redemption for all people worldwide mediated through the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. 2. New Testament: fulfillment and completion of the promise of redemption in Jesus Christ who was not only Jewish, but also God in human form, called the incarnation, God in the flesh  a. Redemption "Already" (First coming of Jesus Christ) 1. Christ brings God’s kingdom to earth and enters into conflict with and emerges triumphantly over sin, Satan, and death (Matt. 12: 28-29; Mark 1: 14-15; Luke 11: 20; 17: 20- 21; Rom. 16: 24-27; Heb. 8: 6-13) 2. God’s kingdom expressed mysteriously in the cross and suffering of Jesus Christ —Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8; Romans 16; 1 Cor. 1: 18ff.) Through his death and resurrection, Christ rules over our enemies, atoning for sin, judging evil, and defeating death. 3. Consequences of Christ’s coming a. Judgment of evil b. Redemption and renewal of human beings c. Gift of the Holy Spirit d. Church as body of Christ with global mission  b. Redemption "Not Yet" (Second coming of Jesus Christ) 1. Final judgment and resurrection (Matt. 24- 25; Mark 13; Luke 21; Rom. 11) 2. All things new in heaven and on earth (Rev. 19-22)  D. Theological Summary: Our central thesis is that the Kingdom of God is the redemptive reign of God dynamically active to establish His rule among human beings, and that this Kingdom which will appear as an apocalyptic act at the end of the age, has already come into human history in the person and mission of Jesus to overcome evil, to deliver people from its power, and to bring them into the blessings of God's reign. The Kingdom of God involves two great moments: fulfillment within history [already], and consummation at the end of history [not yet]. —George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, p. 91.