Interpretations of the Kingdom of God
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Being raised by a family with very little religious influence has led me to have many questions regarding my beliefs as a Lutheran, as well as basic information about the Bible and of Jesus. But, while searching for answers to these questions, I have come to realize that I am not the only person who is confused about these topics, because there are no set answers to be found. This is due to the fact that the Bible leaves room for much interpretation. The College Student's Introduction to Christology by William P. Loewe explains several of the interpretations of scholars who have been on a quest to find their own understandings of the subject.
Far before the time I was born, people like me began questioning the historical Jesus. Starting in the early 18th century, liberal theologians and other scholars began to interpret the Bible as a historical document, rather than as the inerrant Word of God. Thus began the search for the historical Jesus through the studying of the Gospels. The quests for the real Jesus can be divided into several time periods.
The first-quest period is often referred to as the "old" quest and grew out of a posthumous publication by Hermann Reimarus...