6.03.2008

Kingdom

These are thoughts from a few years ago...

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Church = Red

Kingdom = Black

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One circle, both red and black; representing the Church is the same as the Kingdom.

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Two separate circles, touching at one point where the Church will be replaced by the Kingdom, at the Return; the Church is separate from the Kingdom (and will someday be replaced by it)

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The Church is a manifestation of the Kingdom; the Church is a smaller circle inside the larger Kingdom circle.

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The Church manifests the Kingdom; the Church is a larger circle with the Kingdom inside it.

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The Church is a manifestation of the Kingdom, and also a catalyst for the Kingdom, expanding it; the Church is a smaller circle inside the larger Kingdom circle, but it is pushing forward, creating a bulge in the Kingdom, out into the World.

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The Church is the outer edge of the Circle of the Kingdom, with the center Being God/Heaven

The Church is the outer edge of the Kingdom, Heaven (God) is the Center, outside of the Kingdom is the Outer Darkness where ultimately no-thing exists; perhaps it is better to think of God as directly touching the outer darkness (by way of the Crucifixion) and the Church and the Kingdom also coinciding at that point. In one sense it is the absolute center, in another it is the utter edge.

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...probably none of these diagrams are anywhere near appropriate. The real questions are:

What is the Kingdom of God? What is the Church? How does the Kingdom relate to the Church? How does the Church relate to the World? How does the Kingdom relate to the World? What are some other possible Venn Diagrams we could posit? How does this help us to understand the Kingdom? The Churches' role in the World? ...?

2 comments:

David said...

I really like ven diagrams...especially when they have bits that overlap.

Sean said...

Uh...you're kinda' crazy, but fun.