The Encyclopedia of World Religions

kingship and religion S 255

Christians have identified this kingdom with the church. Protestants in the United States, like Chris tians everywhere, have been inspired by the ideal of the kingdom to work for many social reforms.

At the end of his life he was reaching out to the disadvantaged of all races. In April 1968 he trav eled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of a strike by sanitation workers. There, on April 4, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on a hotel balcony. King’s contribution to contemporary American culture is immense. In recognition of his leadership and achievements, every state in the United States observes Martin Luther King day on the third Mon day in January. Further reading: Lewis V. Baldwin, There Is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991); ———, To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992); Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, eds., A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Warner Books, 2001); Richard Deats, Martin Luther King, Jr., Spirit Led Prophet: A Biography, foreword by Coretta Scott King (New York: New City Press, 2000). kingdom of God A Christian term for the ideal society and world. As presented in the B IBLE , the kingdom of G OD is a central element of J ESUS ’ teaching. According to the G OSPEL of Mark (1.15), Jesus taught, “The kingdom of God has come near.” (The gospel of Matthew speaks of the king dom of HEAVEN .) Many of Jesus’ parables tell about the kingdom. His sayings talk about entering the kingdom. The L ORD ’ S P RAYER teaches Christians to pray, “Your kingdom come.” For most Christians, the kingdom of God is coming in the future. C HRISTIANITY teaches that Jesus will return. When he does so, he will judge human beings. He will also usher in the kingdom of God. The book of R EVELATION in the N EW T ES TAMENT presents a highly picturesque account of what will happen. At the same time, Christians look upon the kingdom of God as a present reality—in imperfect form. According to Luke, Jesus taught, “The king dom of God is among you” (Luke 17.22). Many

kingship and religion The religious role and significance of traditional sacred rulers. In many traditional societies the king is more than just the ruler of the state. He also has qualities of a priest and even a god. History tells us of such figures as the pharaoh of Egypt ( see E GYPTIAN RELIGION ), the emperors of China and Japan ( see C HINA , RELIGIONS OF and J APANESE RELIGION ), and the maimed king in the Holy G RAIL stories of King Arthur, whose land withered as the monarch fell wounded. The basic idea is that the king and the land are bound up together, and the king faces heaven on behalf of the land. He is the mediator between HEAVEN and Earth. Sometimes the sacred king has this function because he himself is believed to be virtually divine. The pharaoh in ancient Egypt was thought to be identical with the god H ORUS , and would become O SIRIS , lord of life and death, after his own death. The Chinese emperor was called son of heaven, and the Japanese ruler was said to be descended from A MATERASU , the sun GODDESS . Beliefs like these gave the king legitimacy in the eyes of heaven as well as of his subjects, and made his laws, ideally, enactments of the will of heaven. Western MONOTHEISM , in J UDAISM , C HRISTIAN ITY , and I SLAM , could not exactly identify the king with God, since for monotheism there was only one God and that God was in heaven, but kings were sometimes given titles that evidenced a close rela tionship. The caliphs in Islam were called “Shadow of God,” and for many centuries, Christians talked seriously about the “divine right of kings.” Of course, such an exalted position also had its disadvantages, as the maimed king learned, for heaven could hold the king responsible for what happened in the lands entrusted to him and judge how well he executed his charge. The kings of ancient Babylon had to confess their SINS with tears before the gods on New Year’s Day if they hoped to continue as heaven’s viceroy on Earth ( see