The Kingdom of God Concept as a Political Category in the World Council of Churches’ Activities
Abstract
The image of Kingdom of God is often used in many theological interpretations and practical activities of the World Council of Churches. The way of using this category by the biggest ecumenical organizations reflects various theological orientations embedded in Protestantism, particularly in the Social Gospel theology. The Kingdom of God is being identified with an ideal political and social formula, for which striving is proclaiming to be a task to Christians. This provokes many observers to the sharp criticism. They accuse the Genevan institution of reducing Christianity to an ideological vision. The article presents the historical sketch of interpretations of the image of Kingdom of God in selected examples of the Protestant theology, it discusses the way how the World Council of Churches interprets this image, furthermore, it displays the basic motives of criticism concerning this interpretation.
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