Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Plough Quarterly • Spring 2016 49 What was unique with Jesus was that the kingdom of God he proclaimed was coming – not just soon or in the near future – but now. Jesus said: in the mighty deeds that I am doing in the power of God, the kingdom is already here (Luke 11:20; 17:21). Already now it is transforming the people of God unstoppably, step by step, and through the people of God, it is transforming the world. The kingdom is so near that Jesus’ hearers need to repent now. There is no longer any time for postponing repentance. Now, today, Jesus’ hearers need to decide to accept the kingdom in faith and to become active in its power. They need to make a decision. Once again, then, I pose the question: Did the early church follow Jesus in this matter as well? Were they faithful to him here too? This question cannot be asked superficially. That is, we should not ask: Did the early church adopt and preserve the schema of imminence in time? Instead we should ask: Did the early church understand, adopt, and live out the heart of what was meant by imminent expectation? Did it grasp the presence of the kingdom? Did it grasp that the decisive thing is already happening – that liberation and sal- vation are already here? And did it grasp the urgent nearness of the kingdom, which leaves no time to postpone repentance? Aristarkh Lentulov, The Belfry of Ivan the Great, 1915 24 Eusebius, Church History VII, 22:7–10; trans. Robertson-Donaldson. 25 Julian, Epistola Nr. 39, in B. K. Weis, Julian: Briefe (Heimeran: 1973). 26 Julian, Epistola 48, 305 C.