The Kingdom Reformation

The Kingdom Reformation is the third in a trilogy on the kingdom of God: the mission and message of Jesus. The other two publications are Breakthrough: Discovering the Kingdom (a biblical theology) and Demonstrating the Kingdom (a practical theology). The trilogy forms the core of a larger project on kingdom theology which Derek Morphew has been developing over decades. It traces the roots of kingdom theology to four key factors that have emerged in the post Second World War era. They are, 1.The discovery and availability of the literature of Second Temple Judaism (the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1947).2.The post holocaust review of Protestantism and the emergence of a Jewish-Christian dialogue.3.The shift from modernism to postmodernism, leading to a review of the historical method as applied to the New Testament.4.The consensus position of inaugurated eschatology, namely that Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was both future (apocalyptic, or end of the age) and present in his ministry.These four factors have led to the emergence of a fresh departure in the long history of Christian theology, which is so fundamental (like a Reformation) that everything must be reviewed. To rediscover Jesus is to review the entire history of theology, including orthodoxy and the Reformation, without rejecting either of them. While this fresh departure is growing and widely represented today, applying kingdom theology to mission and praxis has taken place particularly in the post-Wimber charismatic or “third wave” tradition, in a number of young and growing missional and church planting movement.