This paper examines metaphors used to describe the Kingdom of God, drawing on Kathryn Tame's 2005 article in Expository Times as well as biblical imagery. It analyzes Tame's college metaphor — in which admission, instruction, and graduation parallel entry into, growth within, and departure to God's Kingdom — and evaluates its strengths and limitations. The paper then presents the marriage relationship as a personal metaphor, grounded in Ephesians 5, arguing that the union between husband and wife mirrors the relationship between Christ and the Church. Together, these metaphors illustrate how familiar human experiences can make theological concepts more accessible and meaningful.
The Bible contains many metaphors describing how the Kingdom of God will appear and what characteristics God displays within it. The essay "And Finally…The Kingdom of God is Like…" by Tame (2005) offers several contemporary examples of what people have perceived of the Kingdom and its inhabitants — including, for instance, the Holy Spirit as a guiding star. This paper examines one of the metaphors from Tame's essay and also presents a personal metaphor for the Kingdom.
Metaphors are meant to provide a familiar picture that helps people understand something they wish to grasp more fully. They are, by nature, approximate: they resemble the thing they describe without being identical to it. With that in mind, two metaphors are considered here — the college and the marriage — each illuminating a different dimension of life in God's Kingdom.
Tame (2005) discusses the college as a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, or at least for entry into it. In the United States, anyone may attend college, just as anyone may enter the Kingdom of Heaven — but there is a meaningful difference. To enter the Kingdom of God, a person must accept the offer freely and willingly. Earning a full-ride scholarship to college, by contrast, requires exceptional academic or athletic ability. No such prerequisite exists for the Kingdom of God. The college metaphor speaks to the fact that qualified students — those who have accepted the offer of admission and embraced its conditions — are freely admitted, and they are received by faith through grace (Tame, 2005).
The college is filled with people who are able to teach new students and help them grow. The metaphor works well up to a point, though it does raise the issue of students who fail the curriculum and are dropped from the college. As a metaphor for the Kingdom, this element does not hold: no one would ever be removed. People may, however, achieve different levels of growth as they navigate the mistakes and lessons of life. Once a person enters the college — that is, once they enter the Kingdom — no one ultimately fails, because they are already a part of it.
"Instructors and peer learning within the Kingdom metaphor"
"Death as graduation and entry into God's presence"
The most fitting personal metaphor for the Kingdom of God — and for the relationship between a Christian and Christ — is that of marriage. According to the Bible, a man and a woman become one as they mature together. Christ is understood as the head of the Church and as the husband of the bride. In this biblical metaphor, the husband is the head of the family and is responsible to God for his household. The wife is a "helpmeet," called to support and uphold her husband. The husband's primary duty is to love his wife; the wife's chief response toward her husband is respect. This does not mean a husband need not respect his wife or that a wife need not love her husband — but according to Scripture, these are the defining duties of each.
The marital relationship is, as biblical scholars affirm, a type of the relationship between Christ and the Christian. A husband and wife are to treat each other as Christ treats the Church — He "loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Eph. 5:25). The metaphor extends further in that the couple is meant to grow together, just as the Christian is meant to grow in the knowledge of Christ so that the relationship deepens over time.
There are myriad different metaphors that can be used for both the relationship Christ has with His people and for the Kingdom of God, but each should be one that people can relate to and understand. The metaphors Tame employs in her piece about the Kingdom of God are fitting because they offer distinct ways of perceiving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the Bible remains the best source of metaphors for the Trinity and their Kingdom. The comparison of the relationship between Christ and His bride is meant to be mirrored in the marital relationship between a man and a woman, making it one of the most theologically rich and personally resonant metaphors available to the Christian believer.
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