Duling Kingdom Of God Analysis

Duling cites six different criteria for validity in Jesus’ sayings (pgs. 520-522). These criteria are Distinctiveness, Multiple Independent Attestation, Coherence, Cultural Environment and Language, and Embarrassment and/or Contradiction. As we learned in class, Jesus’ “Kingdom of God” sayings meet several of these criteria. Firstly, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the criterion of Cultural Environment and Language immediately stands out, as the Samaritans of that time were considered outsiders, and undesirable. This parable also has the criterion of Multiple Independent Attestation. According to Duling, the story of the Good Samaritan has a parallel in loving one’s enemies, (such as in Matthew 5:44). The Good Samaritan comes from the book of Luke, which was written around 80-110 AD. The nature of Kingdom of God for this parable is that anyone from any place can enter as long as they believe. In the post-Easter church, emphasis was/is placed on the authenticity of Jesus as the Messiah, so this parable becomes a symbol of Jesus’ welcoming attitude into the Kingdom of God.

One interesting case is the non-canonical parable of the Assassin from the Gospel of Thomas, (written approximately around 100 AD). As discussed by Duling, it fits the criterion of Coherence simply because it is consistent with

Like the Parable of the Sower, it is found in multiple books, so it falls under the criterion of Multiple Independent Attestation. In Matthew, who historicizes the story, has it fall under the criterion of Cultural Environment. The “Kingdom of God” lesson from this parable is that the kingdom has been displaced from the ordinary place of Earth up to heaven, as according to our class lectures. In the post-Easter church, this lesson is simply re-affirmed, as Jesus ascended up to this replaced