The Kingdom of God in the Church and the Experience of Human History
Francis Appiah-Kubi & Isaac Osei Karikari
Issue: Vol.7 No.7 July 2021 Issue Article 1 pp. 97-106
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2021771 | Published online 30th July 2021.
© 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Understanding the idea of the reign of God in the affairs of humans must not only be envisaged or experienced by the ecclesiastical setting or arena. The hope in the existence of God’s kingdom transcends the spiritual emphasis to the socio-cultural and politico-economic realms. This article looks at the penetrating effects of the Christian principles and ideals of God’s kingdom envisaged in the Church and the human historical experiences which as the mouthpiece of the coming kingdom of God represents its message to the wider human sociality. Are there any socio-cultural, economic and political implications of reechoing God’s active role in making the life of the people become meaningful and peaceful? The study concentrates on the Kingdom of God in its relationship with human history. It focuses on some theological thoughts from both catholic and protestant perspectives. It elucidates the significance of the Kingdom of God in the transformation of human history by first considering the Universal Kingdom of God, as a symbol of hope for humanity and examining critically the socio-political implication of the Kingdom in the proclamation of Jesus the Christ.
Keywords: Kingdom of God, Political theology, Historical Experience, Socio-political, Social transformation.
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Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Francis Appiah-Kubi, Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and a former Head of the Department of the Religious Studies Department at the Faculty of Social Science in the KNUST. He is currently Chairman of Tender Evaluation Panel (Goods and Services –Procurement). He holds PhD degree from both Institut Catholique (2005) de Paris and Catholic University, Leuven and Master’s degree in Theology from Facultes Catholiques de Congo (1995). He thought in St. Peter’s Major Seminary from 2005-2011. He is immediate past President of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests’ Associations (NUGDPA) and at the same time a Parish Priest of St. Anthony Catholic Church, Kwamo. He is also a visiting lecturer to the St. Gregory the Great Major seminary Kumasi – Ghana and Ecumenical Institute Al Mowafaqa, Rabat Morocco. He equally works with other theological institutes such as San Francisco Theological Seminary in the USA and the Spiritan University College in Ghana. He is a Ghanaian Theologian specialized in Ecclesiology and studies in African Traditional Religions. He is a member of Comitheol at the service of Symposium of Episcopal Conference of African and Madagascar. Among his publications is the L’Eglise Famille de Dieu; Un chemin pour les Eglise d’Afrique, Karthala, 2008.
Rev. Dr. Isaac Osei Karkari, an ordained Minister of the Methodist Church Ghana obtained his PhD degree in Religious Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2019. His doctoral thesis was on “Towards the Praxis of Public Theology for the Contemporary African Church and Society: The case of Ghana.” He had his Bachelor of Divinity degree and Master of Theology in 2007 and 2013 respectively from the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Accra. His special research area includes ecclesiology and ethical issues facing Christian theology in African context. He is a member of the faculty of the theological education of the Methodist Church Ghana for the training of ministers; He is also a part-time lecturer in Philosophy and Christian Ethics at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon Accra.
Appiah-Kubi, F. and Karikari, I.O. “The Kingdom of God in the Church and the Experience of Human History” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 7 no.7 (2021): 97-106 https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2021771
© 2021 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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