What did Jesus mean by the Kingdom of God, and how do scholars interpret the meaning of his death and resurrection?
Paper 3 Texts and interpretation of the Kingdom of God and the death and resurrection of Jesus: the parables and ethics of the Kingdom, its present and future dimensions, and interpretations of the crucifixion and resurrection.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 3 (New Testament Studies) guide to the Kingdom of God and the death and resurrection of Jesus. Covers the parables and ethics of the Kingdom, the realised, futurist and inaugurated eschatology debate (Dodd, Schweitzer, Jeremias), and interpretations of the crucifixion and resurrection (Wright, Bultmann), with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel Paper 3 (New Testament Studies) studies the Kingdom of God at the heart of Jesus's teaching and the death and resurrection at the heart of the Gospel. You must know how the Gospels present the Kingdom (its parables, ethics and timing) and how the crucifixion and resurrection have been interpreted. The exam rewards close work with the text and the named scholars, and an evaluation of the major debates (the timing of the Kingdom, the nature of the resurrection).
The answer
The Kingdom of God: parables and ethics
The timing of the Kingdom
This is the central scholarly debate, and Paper 3 expects all three positions:
- Futurist (consistent) eschatology (Albert Schweitzer): the Kingdom is wholly future and apocalyptic; Jesus expected it to arrive imminently through God's dramatic intervention.
- Realised eschatology (C H Dodd): the Kingdom is already present in Jesus's own ministry, healings and exorcisms ("the Kingdom of God has come upon you"); the decisive event has happened.
- Inaugurated eschatology (Joachim Jeremias, the "already and not yet"): the Kingdom is both present (begun in Jesus) and future (to be consummated), holding the texts together.
The "delay of the parousia" (Jesus's return not coming as expected) is a key problem for a purely futurist reading.
The death of Jesus: theories of atonement
The resurrection
Examples in context
A model resurrection essay sets Wright's historical case against Bultmann's demythologising, weighs the empty tomb, the appearances and the rise of the Church against the discrepancies in the accounts, and judges whether a bodily resurrection is required.
Try this
Q1. Evaluate the view that the meaning of Jesus's death is best explained by penal substitution. [20 marks]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 essay explaining penal substitution alongside the ransom, Christus Victor and moral influence theories, weighing their strengths and the objections (justice, the character of God), and concluding with reasons.
Q2. Explain Dodd's theory of realised eschatology. [8 marks]
- Cue. The Kingdom of God is already present and active in the ministry of Jesus, especially his healings and exorcisms, so the decisive eschatological event has already happened ("the Kingdom of God has come upon you") rather than lying wholly in the future.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 201820 marksEvaluate the view that the Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus is entirely future.Show worked answer →
A Section C extended essay marked mainly on AO2. The levels reward weighing the scholarly positions with textual evidence and a justified conclusion.
Explain. Futurist (consistent) eschatology (Schweitzer) holds the Kingdom is wholly future and apocalyptic, expected imminently; realised eschatology (C H Dodd) holds it is already present in Jesus's ministry ("the Kingdom of God has come upon you"); inaugurated eschatology (Jeremias, the "already and not yet") combines both.
Evaluate. Cite parables and sayings on each side, and assess which best fits the range of Gospel evidence; note the problem of the delayed return for a purely futurist view.
Judge whether the Kingdom is future, present or both, and conclude with reasons.
Edexcel 202120 marksAnalyse the claim that the resurrection of Jesus must be understood as a physical, bodily event.Show worked answer →
A Section C essay testing AO1 understanding of the resurrection accounts and AO2 evaluation.
Explain. The Gospels and Paul (1 Corinthians 15) present the empty tomb and bodily appearances; N T Wright argues the bodily resurrection is the best historical explanation of the empty tomb, the appearances and the rise of the Church.
Challenge. Bultmann demythologises the resurrection as the rise of faith in the disciples, not a physical event; others propose visions or a "spiritual" body; the accounts contain discrepancies.
Evaluate the historical and theological arguments and judge whether a bodily resurrection is required, or whether a non-physical interpretation suffices, with reasons.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies (9RS0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)
- Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Anthology (New Testament extracts) — Pearson Edexcel (2016)