IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST?

The relationship between the Kingdom of God and the Church is quite often misunderstood. A majority of Christians speak as if the Kingdom of God will be just another name for the Church of Christ. In fact they are relatively different from each other1. The theme of the Kingdom of God is essential to a correct understanding of the genesis, nature and mission of the Church, because the Kingdom of God is a much wider concept than the Church, which is an Divine and human communion. It is therefore necessary to take a closer look at its most salient features in the Old and New Testaments, in writings of the Apostolic and Church Fathers and then compare them to the relevant elements of the Church. The intention of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the Church. Its aim is to show the similarities and differences between the Kingdom of God and the Church, especially that they have been understood as synonyms by the ecclesiology. Patristic philosophy, both Greek and Latin, united these concepts very strongly, describing the Church as part of the Kingdom of God. In the majority of the Fathers of the Church texts we can easily find that they prove not only the existence of many elements common for those two realities, but also their clear identification. This state lasted almost until the Second Vatican Council.