Scot McKnight

I did a personal study of Scot McKnight starting at about 10pm one night and started up again about 4am. By 6:30 had listen to 3 hours of sermons and read many articles on him and his books and writings.

Bridging the gap between modern Church "thinking" and early Church "doing" is a very difficult task. We have minsters who are serving modern Christian churches and are faced with the difficulty of bridging that gap.

Are there other church ministers beginning to see the kingdom?

Scot McKnight is an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, theologian, speaker, author and blogger who has written widely on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, the emerging church and missional church movements, spiritual formation and Christian living. He is currently Professor of New Testament at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL.

McKnight is an ordained Anglican with anabaptist leanings, and has also written frequently on issues in modern anabaptism.

Scot McKnight’s proposals in his book "Kingdom Conspiracy" is that “the Kingdom is the church and there is no Kingdom (now)outside of the church.”

Scot's 15 theses start falling a part in some places if we look at the practical application and practices of the people of the early Church and kingdom. But he is looking at the gospel with clearer eyes than most modern Church ministers.

Scot McKnight's first session at the Mission of the Church in the 21st Century conference held at Laidlaw's Henderson campus on 7 May 2014. https://youtu.be/p2VSmCJEqdY

In Scot's “Kingdom Conspiracy” ch. 55, entitled “Kingdom is People,” and ch. 6. p.74: he says in the Bible, “the “kingdom” always refers to a people governed by a king.”

He is saying that the modern Christian does not understand this term "kingdom". He goes on to say that “kingdom” implies “a king, a rule, a people, a land, and a law.”

David Fitch states concerning Scot McKnight “ if what he says is true, then the present day church is a sad expression of the Kingdom. It bears little resemblance of the Kingdom described by Jesus.”

Scot McKnight believes Jesus was preaching a political Kingdom and the Church is that kingdom.

In my original post I meant to write "While I think he is on the right track" Scot falls short at this time for numerous reasons.

His hour long sermons are often laced with a sharp scholastic finger that pokes holes in modern false theology.

Most of the students he taught wanted to work for social justice with men of democratic government such as Mayor Daily and Barack Obama. He calls this skinny jean theology. Scot believes both Skinny jeans theologies and Pleated pants theology are deconstructing the Church and therefore the kingdom.

Skinny jeans equals social justice theories and liberation theologies of a kingdom. They imagine that when good people do good things in the pubic sector for the common good they are doing kingdom work. Scot does not.

Pleated pants kingdom vision asks when and where is the kingdom rather than who is the kingdom. They see the kingdom as both present and future, and the kingdom a rule but they make the kingdom so theoretical and abstract it is irrelevant except to personal redemption.

He also explains Paul better than most preachers today poking at the "doilies on your head" crowd and the law is done away with crowd. https://youtu.be/mMLtGow2mK0

Scot says "The gospel should never be reduced to simply a message of personal salvation." He even asks the questions "Why do you think so many are against a political reading of Jesus? Is it possible to say “kingdom” and not be political?"

Scot writes:

“This kingdom is both political and redemptive, it is both earthy and from God.”

“Anyone who wants a non-political kingdom message has avoided what the NT says; anyone who wants a non-political Jesus makes Jesus in their own image. The kingdom and Jesus are through and through political. A new kind of politics, to be sure, but still political. ...”

“The Bible’s story is often about God and the pagan powers and rulers and kingdoms: Babel, Egypt, Philistines, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome.”

I see that men like Scot McKnight may be able to help us bridge the gap between the modern Christian thinking and Christ's true teachings and His [gospel of the kingdom].

Scot McKnight

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