As an Anglican priest I attended one of those tiresome clergy conferences and some fellow named Russell in a blue clerical shirt was up front going on about \u2018the commonwealth of God.\u2019 He couldn\u2019t bring himself to say \u2018kingdom of God.\u2019<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t politically correct.<\/p>\n
So over dinner I made a point of sitting by him and asking him about this novelty.<\/p>\n
\u201cHi Russell, Mind if I sit here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRussell, I kept hearing you say, \u2018commonwealth of God\u2019 during your talk. What did you mean by that exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see, Jesus spoke of the \u2018kingdom of God\u2019 and that is not a term which is readily understood by modern people today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we live in England. Surely everyone here knows what a monarch is don\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n
Patronizing smile: \u201cYes, but the Queen\u2019s power is negligible. She\u2019s just a figure head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe, but even so, she holds pretty much power doesn\u2019t she just because of who she is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in a democracy and Jesus and his disciples did not understand democracy. That\u2019s why he used language about a king and kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHang on a sec. The people of ancient times understood democracy didn\u2019t they? I mean it wasn\u2019t exactly like ours, but only a few years before Jesus\u2019 time Rome was a Republic, and isn\u2019t \u2018democracy\u2019 a Greek word? I thought they understood democracy too. So Jesus and his disciples would have understood democracy, but he chose to use the image of kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another polite smile, \u201cPerhaps, but you see, that\u2019s really beside the point because we live in a democracy today and medieval terminology about kings is degrading to modern people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel degraded by it. It inspires me. I do, however, feel degraded by \u2018the commonwealth of God.\u2019 It makes me feel like a Bolshevist comrade in arms. But anyhow, does it really matter whether the king was medieval or ancient or modern? The idea of a king and kingdom really is very different from that of a commonwealth or a democracy, and Jesus must have chosen the king and kingdom imagery for a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but modern people don\u2019t relate to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI relate to it, and I\u2019m an American. Can\u2019t get much more modern than that!\u201d<\/p>\n
Smile turns to teeth baring grin and menacing chuckle, \u201cYes, well you Americans do sometimes have quaint ideas about our Queen and the monarchy. I suppose you\u2019re also somewhat of an antiquarian. Love the Dark Ages do you? Spanish Inquisition and all that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it happens I do love the Middle Ages. Apart from the plumbing and dentistry, there\u2019s a lot that was better in the Middle Ages. Especially kings and castles and knights and monasteries and gothic cathedrals and all that. Say, Russell, have you ever thought what sort of person you\u2019d be in the Middle Ages? I\u2019ve always thought I\u2019d be either a Benedictine monk or a court jester. What kind of person do you see yourself as in the Middle Ages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever given it much thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201d I know! I could see you as one of those guys who pushes the cart through the \u00a0streets during the Black Death yelling, \u2018Bring out your dead!!\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cHow amusing. I think I\u2019ll go get some dessert.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As an Anglican priest I attended one of those tiresome clergy conferences and some fellow named Russell in a blue clerical shirt was up front going on about \u2018the commonwealth of God.\u2019 He couldn\u2019t bring himself to say \u2018kingdom of God.\u2019 It wasn\u2019t politically correct. So over dinner I made a point of sitting by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n