So why do so many who identify as Christians today claim the “kingdom of God is within you,” when it is based on outdated* scholarship?
(*see part 1)
Might it be because it reduces the kingdom of God to a personal motto that otherwise allows the prevailing world to call the shots? Whereas, if the kingdom of God is “in your midst,” you begin to wonder what it wants. Meeting its requirements becomes more of a concern if it is “among you” in the person of Jesus.
Moreover, it is really only a kingdom of God that has authority (in your midst, among you—but not “within you” that can be said to trigger the turmoil of Psalm 2:
“The kings of the earth take their stand And high officials gather together as one Against Jehovah and against his anointed one. They say: “Let us tear off their shackles And throw off their ropes!” (verses 2-3)
What “shackles” or “ropes” are there when “the kingdom of God is within you,” making it just a personal code? But if it is a kingdom that right now has authority and right now directs people in what to do, the anti-c_lt movement can easily portray that as “shackles” and “ropes” that should be cast off.
The Witness organization in Russia was banned for exactly that reason. Again from the book ‘I Don’t Know Why We Persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses: Searching for the Why:’
“One month after the Court decision, Aleksandr Dvorkin, the anti-cult expert, crowed about the outcome he helped mastermind.13 After several years of maneuvering, the coordinating organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses would be shut down so as “to protect the civil rights of the members of this organization.” He was “absolutely convinced that after a few years, the number of members of the organization will decrease dramatically, two or three times, because, when one cuts off its financial foundation, its ability to freely, without hindrance, recruit other people, to rent large halls and so on, then, in fact, people will lose interest and will very quickly disperse and, in this sense, this decision is very correct and far-sighted.”
“When you cut off someone’s limbs, that person can be expected to die. He champions his role as protector of the individual Witness by severing ties to their organization of choice.”
How is this not “casting off shackles” and “throwing off ropes?” Where would be its counterpart to those who maintain the kingdom of God is “within you?”
****** The bookstore
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