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The community of faith as dwelling-place of the Father : « Basileia tou Theou » as « household of God » in the Johannine farewell discourse(s)

1991; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

2518-4628

Ashley Oliver, W.H. Van Aarde,

Byzantine Studies and History

Jesus' viewpoints did not always conform to the prevailing ideas of the day. Instead, he had his own ideas regarding the kingdom of God, which were far from the prevailing idea of 'king' and 'subjects'. In this paper it is argued that Jesus introduced a specific relationship between God and the believers, namely that of 'father' and 'children', derived from the analogy of his own relationship with God. Should the above-mentioned statement be true, then it is possible that Jesus constituted the 'Basileia tou Theou', not in terms of a king and his subjects, but in terms of a patron, the father - and his clients, the children. Although the phrase 'Basileia tou Theou' does not occur in the Johannine farewell discourse(s), implicit references to it indicate that it can be interpreted as 'dwelling-place of the Father', and thus as 'household of God'.