Continuing our summary/review of Tom Wright and Marcus Borg's discussion... For other articles in this series visit http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/jc1.htm.

More from Tom Wright:

'The coming of the Kingdom of God was about Israel's story reaching its climax, about Israel's history moving toward its decisive moment' (p. 35)

'The Jesus I have been describing was a first-century Jewish prophet announcing and inaugurating the Kingdom of God, summoning others to join him, warning of the consequences if they did not, doing all this in symbolic actions, *and indicating in symbolic actions, and in cryptic and coded sayings, that he believed he was Israel's messiah, the one through whom the true God would accomplish his decisive purpose*' (emphasis Wright's, p. 50)

'If Jesus' death did accomplish the real defeat of the evil that had infected Israel along with the rest of the world - if, in other words his actions in Jerusalem did somehow accomplish the kingdom of God in the revised sense that he had been announcing all along - then this was good news not only for Israel but for the whole world.' (p.51).

More tomorrow...

-- Shalom! Rowland Croucher