# Presence of the Future (Ladd)



## RamistThomist (Apr 9, 2015)

This is Ladd's introduction to "already/not yet" biblical theology. He shows how the kingdom came in Jesus' person and work yet is also waiting for the end.

In the Old Testament "Malkuth” refers to the dynamic aspect of ruling (Ladd 46). It is primarily “reign” and only secondarily “realm.” In the Psalms creation responds with joy to God’s reign--not merely the fact that God is sitting high in the heavens, but that he is reigning now: he will bring his judgment to earth.

It is God’s sovereignty, God’s rule (132). It exists de jure over heaven and earth; de facto in this age only when men submit themselves to the divine rule.

In the New Testament, and in Jesus' person, Ladd suggests a "fulfillment without consummation." 

The Kingdom: Reign or Realm

The kingdom promised is royal rank (p. 136; Luke 22:29). “It is an act of God resulting in the eschatological order of the new age.”

central thesis: before the eschatological appearing of God’s Kingdom at the end of the age, God’s Kingdom has become dynamically active among men in Jesus’s person and mission” (139). Further, “God is about to act in a work of salvation and judgment which is not the apocalyptic manifestation but which is a necessary precedent to it” (146).

The Kingdom Present as Dynamic Power

an inescapable element in the biblical concept of redemption is that man must be saved from spiritual powers which are beyond his ability to conquer” (151). 
The kingdom of God has invaded Satan’s realm and dealt him a preliminary but decisive defeat.

The Fall of Satan

“The Kingdom of God is dynamic power, and it must “come” because there are real spiritual enemies which oppose it, both human and superhuman” (155). John Wimber, call your office.

The Dynamic Working of the Kingdom

The gospel is the visitation of God to bring to his people the messianic salvation (165). Matthew 11 these elements include: the blind see, the deaf here, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them. The message makes possible the signs of the Kingdoms.

The kingdom is preached AND the kingdom exercises its power convey the same idea: the dynamic presence of the kingdom in the words of Jesus (166). 

The Kingdom and the Church
(This is Ladd's view, not necessarily mine)
The kingdom cannot be identified with the church, because: a) the kingdom is the sphere in which the rule of God is experienced. b) the kingdom is never identified with its subjects; c) the kingdom is the rule of God; the church is the society of men (262). 
1. The first missionaries preached the kingdom of God, not the church (Acts 8:12; 19:8).
2. The kingdom creates the church. Men respond to God’s dynamic rule (aka the kingdom) and the result of that response is the church. But the response is never equated with God’s rule. 
3. The church witnesses to the kingdom. 
4. The church is the instrument of the kingdom. The church brings men into the kingdom. 
5. The church is custodian of the kingdom. 

Conclusion

Much of this book is dated. You can probably skip the first hundred pages if you have read Carson, Wright, Blomberg, Vos, Kline, or any other modern author. I suppose Ladd broke new ground when he wrote it.


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## DMcFadden (Apr 9, 2015)

When Ladd wrote it PhDs were not a dime a dozen among evangelicals. Ladd stood out like a sore thumb among the libs. His Harvard PhD gave him cred with the academy. He was a brilliant man and an impressive teacher (since he was near the end of his teaching career, I only took two classes from him in seminary).


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## RamistThomist (Apr 10, 2015)

DMcFadden said:


> When Ladd wrote it PhDs were not a dime a dozen among evangelicals. Ladd stood out like a sore thumb among the libs. His Harvard PhD gave him cred with the academy. He was a brilliant man and an impressive teacher (since he was near the end of his teaching career, I only took two classes from him in seminary).



I figured that his "already not yet" argument broke new ground. Have you read the recent biography on Ladd, _A Place at the Table_?


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## DMcFadden (Apr 10, 2015)

No.


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