Last Wednesday Dr. Bolger presented us with an outline of “Kingdom Perspectives on Mission.” Essentially it was a list of key things that characterize the Kingdom. And he asked us to think about how these characteristics could develop in the contexts of our case studies. One question that the class had was on the difference between this model of mission, a Kingdom-driven model, and a trinitarian model for mission. Dr. Bolger said that they essentially led to the same conclusions, but a Kingdom model might be more didactic than a trinitarian model. Jesus describes the Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount and so he is teaching us something whereas a trinitarian model seems more concerned with form than content. That is, because there is only so much we can say about the Godhead, the metaphors we use for it are restricted to imagining how the three persons in the trinity interact with eachother in mutuality and love. Jesus, however, told us some more specific things about the Kingdom like “love your enemies.” I think that it’s important to hold onto both these models as ways to think about mission. Although, as Lohfink discussed, the Kingdom of God implies that there is only ruler and therefore all exist in egalitarian relationships under God, the way that Kingdom language is sometimes taken does not always promote an egalitarian structure. Or, at least, that’s an internal criticism that lots of Catholic theologians level against their church. The idea of the church as a sacrament of the Kingdom led pre-Vatican II church leaders to adopt a hierarchical model. And so, in thinking about the structure of the church, we should perhaps take our cue more from a trinitarian model, but in thinking about what should happen within that structure, a Kingdom model can be more informative.
Class Reflection for Wednesday of Week 7
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