Editor Introduction: The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme
Have you ever read something that gave expression to a number of thoughts you have had? When I first met David Burns and begun discussing with him his concept of Kingdom of God theology, I had that experience. Although a brief article cannot give full explanation to either David’s Biblical theology or any of ours, I would like to introduce this subject to you as something that may provide a new way of approaching God’s Word.
First of all, I want to reiterate that David’s Kingdom theology is in no way connected to what is called Kingdom Now theology. Please see his endnote on that subject.
Secondly, Biblical theology is something that I believe has been neglected by a large portion of Pentecostal/charismatic ministers. Well, what is Biblical theology? Biblical theology (not to be confused with the Biblical theology movement of the 1940s-60s) is a system of studying or investigating the Scripture by looking at themes that reach through all of God’s Word. One way of doing Biblical theology is by looking at the themes and theologies specific to certain authors like Peter (Petrine theology), Paul (Pauline), or John (Johannine) and understanding the motifs and recurring concepts that make their writings unique and yet unified with all of Scripture. David is presenting a new approach to Biblical theology by calling the kingdom of God the meta-theme of Scripture.
Understandably, you may not agree with everything that David presents here. Not only the readership of the Pneuma Review, but also the editorial committee have diverse views on eschatology, which is something this article touches on. This article is included in this journal for the primary purpose of engendering discussion and further thought.
—Raul Mock, Executive Editor
From the Winter 2001 issue of Pneuma Review
From the Spring 2001 issue of Pneuma Review
Category: Biblical Studies, Winter 2001
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