Jesus Seminar - the theological concept of the end of 20th century. The Kingdom of God according to Jesus Seminar
Abstract
Starting its research in the 1980s, the Jesus Seminar radically transformed perspectives on Jesus of Nazareth and the methodology of his study. They rethought the attitudes of researchers of The New Quest who viewed Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet and which were based on statements about the "Son of God" and "the kingdom of God".
The meaning of "the kingdom of God" remains an object of speculation among researchers, as the concept is ambiguously employed in the New Testament. Equally, the moment of the coming of the kingdom of God is left uncertain.
Made explicit is the juxtaposition of the kingdom of God with "the earthly kingdom", whose values differ greatly from those of the kingdom of God. How does the researchers of Jesus Seminar perceive the kingdom of God, and how is their approach distinct from those of contemporary researchers? On what are their conclusions based? The researchers reporting to Jesus Seminar changed perspectives of eschatology, the apocalyptic, and the temporal situation of the kingdom of God.
Although when viewed side by side with continental, particularly German, research, the conclusions of the Jesus Seminar could arguably be seen as reductive, they nonetheless offer new approaches and interpretations not only of the concept of the kingdom of God, but also of the figure of the historical Jesus.