We’re going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth. ~Barack Obama
Establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth always means rendering more to Caesar than what was originally due. ~Nick Gillespie
It is also, from the perspective of Christian orthodoxy, impossible to do and it is impious to believe that men can build the Kingdom. Also, chiliasm has long been regarded as a dangerous heresy. Christians are citizens of the civitas Dei, and we should live accordingly, but we cannot replace the earthly city. Christians are called to be the leaven in the world. They are not called to be utopians.
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October 8th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Antaeus
Exceedingly well put.
October 8th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
JT
I agree with your assessment of impiety. I don’t agree that chiliasm is a heresy. Many of the earliest church fathers were premillennialists and, more importantly, I believe it’s scriptural. The question is, Who is going to set up the Kingdom of God on Earth? Jesus Christ or the Democratic Party? Obama’s rhetoric is as empty as Bill Clinton’s “New Covenant” slogan or Hillary Clinton’s pretense of being a devout Methodist. I expect a 1,000 year reign of peace and justice on Earth, but it will be inaugurated and presided over by Christ, not by a bunch of two-faced politicians. In his pseudo-sermon, Obama sounded like a postmillennialist but to say that gives him credit for a sincerity and theological awareness which he probably does not possess. It’s just cynical campaign talk. Not heresy. Not theology. Just hot air.