Renewing the Narrative of the Age to Come: The Kingdom of God in NT Wright and John Zizioulas

• Main Author: Geoffrey Ready
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: Orthodox Christianity; liturgical theology; kingdom of God; narrative; critical realism
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/7/514

This paper makes use of leading New Testament scholar NT Wright’s presentation of the biblical understanding of the kingdom to assess—on the basis of Orthodox Christian theologian John Zizioulas’ own critique—the Orthodox liturgical enactment of the kingdom and age to come. We will explore how Wright and Zizioulas describe the principles of a properly kingdom-oriented worship. Finally, we will examine Wright’s critical realism as a potential model for understanding how enacting the age to come in worship could shape the kingdom narrative of its participants. Thus, while Wright’s immediate goal in his engagement of the theme of the kingdom of God may be to correct a longstanding misreading of the New Testament, his teaching ultimately enables us to propose a way of accomplishing Zizioulas’ hope of renewing the full narrative of the age to come in Orthodox worship.