Talk:Kingdom of Heaven

Hello? Is anyone going to actually explain what this is? Something like "The Kingdom of Heaven is..." and an explanation of what exactly we're talking about. It seems to be a random collection of Bible quotes. I'll wait a while to see whether anyone wants to discuss it, then list it for cleanup. Dr Zen 06:16, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Is the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God" actually used in Jewish eschatology as a term for the Messianic age, or is this merely a projection of Christian terminology onto a similar Jewish concept? Shimmin 04:07, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC)

M'lakoth HaShmyim
Never heard this phrase in my life - please sir it not rabbinical or biblical Mike33 23:28, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

You have actually written Many Kings of the Heavens. In Judaism no need to worry about whether king or not. He is always - L-rd of Heaven and Earth.

Please cut the hebrew words unless you can prove that you have heard them before. Regards Mike33 23:46, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

I cut the hebrew because it was never substantiated... Glenn4pr 04:51, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Ambiguous sentences
In the section "The Kingdom in Islam", I see the sentences:

Islam holds a great estimation as the location of many events associated with the life of Jesus. From that day, Jerusalem has had a very important spiritual meaning for Muslims, not only being the first Qibla but also the mystical experience of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's ascension to heaven (Isra).

I can't make out a clear meaning here. "estimation" seems to be being used in a form that could be replaced more readably with "esteem", but I thought Islam was a religion, not a location in the sense used here. "From that day" is also ambiguous: from what day? These should be clarified.

Also, regarding this sentence:

Muslims believe that by name Jerusalem suggests "a place of peace" [&#8230;]

I replaced "by" with "the", which seems to me to keep the semantics the same while aiding readability: a place suggesting something by name I interpret to be the same as the name suggesting it. If this is wrong, revert it and tell me why.

--Drake Wilson 00:01, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom

 * Luke 17:21 the kingdom of God is within [or among] you.

Kingdom is entered through understanding, acceptance with humility, spiritual rebirth, and doing the will of God

 * Mark 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
 * Mark 10:15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
 * John 3:5 no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit
 * Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Kingdom is peopled by the righteous

 * 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Kingdom contrasts the kingdom of Satan
Note that this is not hell since hell is not the domain of Satan, but the dungeon for him.
 * Luke 11:18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?
 * 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement

--Heptazane

Presenting Multiple Viewpoints
This article treads on belief issues, so it seems we need to try to present both viewpoints in a balanced way. My edit attempts that, however, I believe the intro still needs work to maintain NPOV. Glenn4pr

OK, I think I've improved the NPOV from my earlier edit. Now the only question is the order of the major sections. I'm not going to fret over that. I could be persuaded that the evangelical viewpoint has roots in restorationist and millenialist thought -- any experts aware of the historical roots of these concepts in fundamntal and evangelical movements? Glenn4pr