There are many theological perspectives that could be constructed in order to frame, guide and inspire the work of chaplaincy. What I offer here is not meant, therefore, to be exhaustive or definitive. It is, however, a way of thinking that I have found consistently fruitful and suggestive. My own doctoral work was on the theology of Jürgen Moltmann. His theology has had a profound influence on my own thinking. But my persistence in eschatological ways of understanding has much to do with the practicable traction it provides for ministry. In short, I’ve found this way of thinking helps.
Chaplaincy serves the interest of Jesus Christ in the University. This I assume must be the essence of any defining mission statement for our work. What this rather stark assertion means can be richly unfolded in relation to Jesus’ mission, particularly as this is presented by the Synoptic Gospels, by focussing attention on Jesus’ announcement and anticipatory realisation of the kingdom of God.
Precisely what the Kingdom of God means is explored on another page, but it is worth setting out briefly here why it turns out to be such a comprehensive guide to action.
- Any worthy, scholarly account of the historical Jesus will demonstrate that the ‘Kingdom of God’ was at the very centre of Jesus’ mission: see, for example, E P Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (1993) or Geza Vermes, The Authentic Gospel of Jesus ([2004] 2009). The Kingdom then is anything but a peripheral motif; it gets to the heart of what Jesus was about.
- The Kingdom provides a framework within which to understand more than simply an individual’s relationship with God (the focus of so much contemporary Christian reflection). It reaches to encompass communities and society. It stretches to include the material world (matter and bodies) and extends to the ecological nexus of life. Thus when, following the temptations in the desert, we read in Mark’s Gospel that “Jesus was with the wild beasts” (Mk 1:13) this is surely a reference back to the messianic vision of the living world at peace offered by Isaiah (11: 6-9).
Most fundamentally, the Kingdom is not an alternative to this present world of experience; it is not its replacement. It is rather this world renewed and perfected. It is this which gives Kingdom of God theology its relevance and purchase upon all aspects of everyday experience.
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