Outline studies of the growth of the kingdom of God

Foreword

There is nothing more striking in the history of the world than the indisputable fact that the Kingdom founded by Jesus has lasted through the centuries and is now still spreading over the earth. Since his day, empires have risen and fallen, philosophies have waxed and waned, sciences have totally changed. The Kingdom founded by Jesus is the only institution that has successfully bridged the flood of years.

Like every living thing, it has made for itself a body, has developed an organization; and, like every living thing, that organized body has been conditioned or modified by its surroundings, its environment.

Without asking now how truly modern Christianity contains or represents the teaching of Jesus, if we only inquire how widely the mere name of Jesus is reverenced, and how many peoples profess to be Christian, we come upon an astonishing fact. Christianity is to-day the accepted and only religion of all the leading nations of the world. Not only are England and the United States Christian, but every country of Europe, and of North and South America. Churches bearing the name of Christ and the symbol of his suffering exist by the hundred thousand. His professed followers are counted by the hundred million. Millions of persons who reject church organizations and church creeds, still revere and love the name of Jesus. Sacred and secular history alike date their events from that central fact, the birth of Jesus Christ.

No Christian who would be intelligent can afford to be ignorant of the main steps by which this progress has been made. He should know the chief forms in which the Christian religion exists to-day, and the reasons why and how they have attained their present forms.

To study the history of the influence of Christ on men only as it is given in the New Testament, as is commonly done, is as unreasonable as for a botanist to study the roots of a plant without considering the stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit for which the roots exist. So an intelligent Christian ought to be able to judge whether and how far the churches as they exist to-day represent and correspond to the teachings of Jesus. Above all should the man who would be serious and earnest with himself and with Jesus ask himself the following questions: (i) Just what was the Kingdom founded by Jesus? (2) Does that Kingdom exist in the modern churches or denominations? (3) Am I myself a true and faithful member of that Kingdom?

It is the belief of the authors of these Outline Studies that, in spite of many appearances to the contrary in the past history of Christianity, and in the present conduct of so-called Christian nations, Christian churches, and of individuals who call themselves Christian, the Kingdom established by Christ is still growing and will continue to grow till it has covered the earth. The purpose of these Studies is to point out some of the main steps in that growth in the past, and the main evidences of that growth in the present.

In our survev of the growth of the kingdom of God, it will be convenient to make five principal divisions as follows :

I. Growth in Understanding.

II. Growth in Numbers.

III. Growth in Practise.

IV. Growth in Influence.

V. A General View.

"Eighteen hundred years ago there lived, among a despised nation and in a remote country, a man by the name of Jesus, a carpenter's son, who had no political power, no social position, no secular learning or art, no wealth, no shelter to call his own, and who after a very brief public career was crucified in his youth by his own countrymen as an impostor and a blasphemer. Yet this humble Rabbi, by the force of his doctrine and example, without shedding a drop of blood, save his own, has silently accomplished the greatest moral revolution on record, founded the mightiest spiritual empire, and is now recognized and adored by the civilized nations of the globe as the Son of God and the Saviour of mankind." — 'Philip S chaff.

Napoleon is reported to have used the following words about Christ:

"Everything in him astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. Between him and whoever else in the world there is no possible term of comparison. He is truly a being by himself. His ideas and his sentiments, the truths which he announces, his manner of convincing, are not explained either by human organization or by the nature of things. . . . Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him."

"Now here we see a young man but little more than thirty years old, with no advantage of position ; the son^ and companion of rude people ; born in a town whose inhabitants were wicked to a proverb; of a nation, above all others distinguished for their superstition, for national pride, exaltation of themselves, and contempt for all others; in an age of singular corruption, when the substance of religion had faded out from the minds of its anointed ministers, and sin had spread wide among a people turbulent, oppressed, and down-trodden. A man ridiculed for his lack of knowledge, in this nation of forms, of hypocritical priests and corrupt people, falls back on simple morality, simple religion; unites in himself the sublimest precepts and divinest practices, thus more than realizing the dream of prophets and sages; rises free from all prejudices of his age, nation, or sect; gives free range to the spirit of God in his breast; sets aside the law, sacred and time-honored as it was, its forms, its sacrifices, its temple and its priests ; puts away the doctors of the law, subtle, learned, irrefragable, and pours out a doctrine beautiful as light, sublime as heaven, and true as God." — Theodore Parker.

[Note. — These "Outlines" are based upon, and in the latter portions largely drawn from "The Growth of the Kingdom of God" by one of the present authors, published in 1897. The statistics given in them have been brought down to the latest feasible date. Many concrete illustrations of our discussion have necessarily been omitted from them which were given in that work. It is accordingly recommended as one of the books of reference.]

OUTLINE OF COURSE

LESSON PAGE

I. The Seed and Its Early Growth i

II. The Apostolic Period 7

III. The Apostolic Period (Continued) 13

IV. The Greek Period 19

V. The Roman Period 27

VI. The Period of the Reformation 37

VII. Christian England 47

VIII. The United States 57

IX. General Review 69

X. World-wide Christianity jy

XI. Growth of Protestantism 85

XII. Christianity a Moral Life 95

XIII. Forms of Beneficence 103

XIV. Forms of Beneficence (Continued) in

XV. Forms of Beneficence (Concluded) 121

XVI. Christianity a New Life of Service 131

XVII. Christian Truth Generally and Widely

Known 139

XVIII. Christian Morality 149

XIX. Philanthropy, Democracy and Liberty 161

XX. The Work of the Public Conscience 171

XXI. Influence of Christianity, the Sabbath,

White Cross, etc 181

XXII. Review 193

XXIII. Significance of the Growth of the Kingdom 201

XXIV. Problems and Prospects 211

LESSON I

THE SEED AND ITS EARLY GROWTH

1. The Kingdom, by George Dana Boardman, 1899. Chapters 2-7. Scribner's.

2. The Next Great Awakening, by Josiah Strong, 1904. Chapters 3-6. Baker & Taylor Co.

3. Kingdom of God, by J. Orr in Dictionary of the Bible, 1900. Vol. II. p. 844.

4. The Teaching of Jesus in article, "J esus Christ," by W. Sanday, in Dictionary of the Bible, 1900. Vol. II. pp. 616-624.

5. Kingdom of God, by G. H. Gilbert, in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, 1906. Vol. I. pp. 932-935.

6. The Teaching of Jesus, by G. B. Stevens, 1901. Chapter 5. Macmillan.

7. The Political and Social Significance of the Life and Teachings of Jesus, by J. W. Jenks, 1908. Y. M. C. A. Press.

8. Studies in the Teaching of Jesus and his Apostles, by E. I. Bosworth, 1907. Y. M. C. A. Press.

9. Christianity in the Modern World, by D. S. Cairns, Chapter 4. A. C. Armstrong.

10. The Kingdom of God, by A. B. Bruce, 1896. Scribner's.

11. The Teaching of Jesus, by Robert Horton, 1897. Part I. Dodd, Mead & Co.

I

12. Jesus' Way, by W. DeW. Hyde, 1902. Chapters 1-3. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

13. The Kingdom of God and the Church, by Geerhardus Vos, 1903. American Tract Society.

I. Preparatory Suggestions.

1. Before studying the lesson try to state your idea of the Kingdom, and afterwards observe whether it has been modified or clarified.

2. Look up all the references to the Gospels.

3. Look out for any instances of misunderstanding of the nature of the Kingdom on the part of early Christians.

4. Consult as far as possible the chapters referred to in the Bibliography.

II. Lesson Outline.

The distinction between seed and soil, germ and environment.

Christ's parables of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom defined by the method of exclusion.

The Kingdom defined positively.

Jesus' teaching concerning himself.

The earliest stage of the Kingdom.

The first Christian communities, their names, theit significance.

III. The Seed — The Teaching of Jesus.

1. The growth of every living thing depends on two elements or factors : — ( 1 ) On the original life within it, the seed or germ, and (2) on the nature of the surroundings or environment in which it lives and from which it draws its nourishment. In the case of the kingdom of God, the germinal seed is the teaching of Jesus. Of the two elements,, the seed is the more important. Life is the cause of the growth. Environment helps or hinders, turns in one direction or another, or it may even utterly destroy life. A hasty review of the teaching of Jesus — already taken in detail in the various courses of Sunday-school studies — is important in order that we may gather up and fix in mind the chief characteristics of those teachings so that we may bear them in mind throughout this study and see how they have been growing in the world.

2. Read rapidly the parables illustrating the nature, value and methods of the Kingdom (John 18:36; Matt. 13: 24-30, 44, 45, 46, 47-50; 11: 11, 12; 13: 31-33; Luke 17: 20, 21).

3. Negatively. In general we may say: Jesus did not teach that the Kingdom consists of a particular form of government, of church or state; that it covers any particular territory; that it has any officers, army, code of laws, courts, or any of the organization or machinery of government. In contrast to the Jews of his time, probably even to John the Baptist, and to his own disciples until after the resurrection, Jesus did not think of the Kingdom as temporal, or as coming into necessary opposition to the civil powers or governments; neither did he think of it as consisting of sacrifice, rituals, ceremonials, fastings or asceticism.

4. Positively. To Jesus, the kingdom of God is wholly a matter of the heart (cf. Luke 17:20, 21) ; to enter the Kingdom repentance is necessary (Matt. 4:17; 18:3); the blessings of the Kingdom are spiritual and eternal, and may bring even much of temporal and earthly pain, persecution, conflict, loss and death (Matt. 16:24; Luke 18 : 29 ; Luke 9 : 23 ; Matt. 5 : 29, 30 ; Luke 14 : 26) .

The essence of the Kingdom is God's rule (Matt. 7: 21 ; 12 : 50) ; which is not to be established by force of any kind, but by the free consent of the subject who comes to God in love (Matt. 4:3-11). Membership in the Kingdom shows itself outwardly in deeds of love and kindness (Matt. 5:43-48), in purity (Matt. 5:27-32), peacefulness, freedom from anger (Matt. 5:21-24), love of truth, devotion to Jesus and his cause above every earthly cause or relation (Matt. 10:28-39). The righteousness of the Kingdom is not a matter of external conduct or appearances, but wholly of sincerity of heart (Matt. 5:20; 7: 15-22).

5. In addition to Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom he talked with his inner circle of disciples about himself: who he was (Matt. 16: 13-17), his relation to God (Matt. 21:23-32), the meaning of his death (Matt. 20:20-28; 26:26-28).

Were we taking up in these studies the history of Christian doctrine, it would be important to consider more carefully this aspect of the truth taught by Jesus. For although the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, which give us the oldest records of the teachings of Jesus, report only a few conversations in which Jesus spoke directly about himself and about his relations to God, yet much is implied in his teaching about the Kingdom, as much perhaps in his manner of teaching (Matt. 7 : 29) as in what he actually said. Jesus is evidently conscious of a unique authority which puts him by himself, above even Moses and Solomon (Matt. 12:42; 19:7-9).

6. Such, in briefest outlines, is the kernel of truth planted by Jesus. The kingdom of God consists in God's fatherly sway over the hearts of his children, made manifest by their love both for him and their fellow men.

7. In Sunday-school, classes have studied (1) the preparations for this Kingdom in the Old Testament times and the religious experiences of the Jews; (2) the teachings of Jesus himself in the Gospels, and (3) the very earliest stage of the foundation of this Kingdom in the Acts and the Epistles. In this last period we see a few scattered communities of those who have made Jesus their Master. The Book of Acts brings us down to a date not much later than thirty years after the death of Christ; more exactly to a period not long before the death of Paul (probably between 62 and 65 a. d.).

8. The little communities of Christians were far separated and without any political or other kind of earthly power, but full of a life which was destined to fill the world. The chief communities were hardly to be called churches in our sense of the word; they probably had no buildings, no New Testament, no regular ministry, no systematic organization, little ritual for worship, and probably almost nothing in the way of creeds or written confessions of faith.

9. The number of the communities at the time of the end of the Acts and of Paul's letters is uncertain. We know the names of the towns and cities where the most important ones were located, namely, Jerusalem, Joppa, Antioch (Syria), Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea, Corinth, Rome, one or more in Galatia, Ephesus and vicinity, Smyrna, Colossae, Laodicea, Antioch (Asia Minor), Tconium, Lystra, Alexandria.

So weak and insignificant was the Christian movement that the historians of Rome knew practically nothing of it. Josephus (about a. d. 95), Pliny the younger (a. d. 113), and Tacitus (after a. d. 117) make only the slightest allusion to it. In its effect on the world at the time of the close of the New Testament, Christianity was insignificant indeed.

IV. Resurvey.

i. What are the two essential elements of life and growth ?

2. In what does the germ of Christianity consist?

3. Did Jesus write a book of theology, organize a church, establish a ritual, found a state?

4. Where does the kingdom of God exist?

5. What is its essence?

6. What kind of righteousness does it require?

7. What did Jesus say of himself, of his relation to God and of his death?

8. What relation exists between the Acts and the Epistles?

9. Describe the early Christian communities. 10. Name and locate them.

V. Topics for Class Discussion.

1. What modern social or religious movements are in their seed stage?

2. What advantage has the parabolic method of teaching?

3. Are there any parts of present church organization and worship that are not essential to the Kingdom as explained by Christ?

4. What has been the really vital thing that has preserved the Church for nineteen centuries?