Models of the Kingdom

by Howard A. Snyder

Christians often misunderstand one another when they refer to the kingdom of God. They may Is it here on earth? In our hearts? In our churches? Over the years, best-selling author Howard Snyder has been helping pastors and church leaders understand kingdom terminology. Now he explains in eight models how the kingdom or reign of God has been and may be conceived. Snyder explains with biblical texts and illustrations from church history. If you are a pastor or church leader, you will find guidance for building new kingdom communities in your congregation as well as ways to relate kingdom theology to global crises with the environment and our economy.

Genres: Theology

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Howard A. Snyder serves as Professor of Wesley Studies, at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Previously he was Professor of the History and Theology of Mission in the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, 1996-2006. He has also taught at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, and pastored in Chicago, Detroit, and São Paulo, Brazil.

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snyder does a beautiful job of giving language to the conversation around 'what is the Kingdom of God?'. Although painting models as he admits is limited, the models he paints are extremely helpful to name the tensions we experience as we seek to be faithful disciples who 'seek first the kingdom of God'.

[Noemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting analysis of current methods of explaining the Kingdom of God. Snyder presents a spectrum of beliefs using polarities based on Kingdom verses found in the Bible. My only qualm with his perspective is his take on the Utopian kingdom. He appears to categorize all postmodern theologies into this Utopian model, probably because he might be unfamiliar with them, or because he does not fully understand them. I disagree with his placement of feminist theology and liberation theology into the Utopian kingdom model.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently re-read this one. It amazes me how many different views of the Kingdom of God (etc.) we have come up with over the past couple of thousand years, some based on pretty thin theological ice.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good jumping off point for critically examining the models of how we understand the reign and kingdom of God.