In Scripture, the teachings of Jesus and those of His disciples revolve around the kingdom of God (Livingstone, 2000). There are many examples in the New Testament where the term “kingdom of God” is mentioned. For example, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them to pray to God for the kingdom to come. In the book of Luke, Jesus referred to the kingdom of God when he sent out his disciples to preach the gospel. He said to them: “Go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God…” (Luke 9:1-2). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul speaks of the kingdom of God in his preaching (Acts 20:25, 28:23, 28:31). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the book of Matthew, the term “kingdom of God” is referred to as “kingdom of heaven.” Religious scholars say that there is no difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. They argue that it was a common norm for Jews to use different words to replace divine words in their writings. Therefore, they replaced the word "God" with the word "heaven" simply for reasons of circumlocution and not for any other reason. However, other scholars argue that the kingdom of God is different from the kingdom of heaven citing that the kingdom of God is the present (already on earth) while the kingdom of heaven is the future (yet to come). The term 'kingdom' in general terms refers to government, kingship, rule or sovereignty. In the New Testament, Jesus' teachings regarding the kingdom of God imply that the kingdom of God already exists and is here on earth (Livingstone, 2000). Kingdom of God refers to the establishment of God's rule over the earth, through the destruction of all evil, resulting in the creation of world peace, health and happiness for humanity in the future. According to Browning (1997), the synoptic readings provide evidence that the kingdom of God was established during the time Jesus Christ was on the earth. This is because, in His teachings, Jesus would say that the kingdom of God was already in His ministry. A good example is found in the book of Luke, where Jesus said, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (11:20). Jesus said these words while cursing the demons by a dumb young man. In his parables, Jesus kept referring to the mysterious coming of the kingdom of God. For example, in the parable of the hidden treasure, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure. By referring to the kingdom of God as a hidden treasure, Jesus implied that the kingdom of God was already on earth (Browning, 1997). It was up to the people to seek this kingdom of God: abstaining from every kind of evil. In the New Testament it was mentioned that "there was one greater than Solomon" (Browning, 1997). This statement indicates that the kingdom of God, which was greater than the kingdom of man, was already on earth during the time Jesus Christ was on earth. To provide evidence that the kingdom of God is a thing of the future, Bradshaw (1991 ) refers to the parable of the mustard seed. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. In His parable, Jesus mentioned that a mustard seed is a very small, almost invisible seed. The seed is buried in the ground where it begins to sprout, resulting in a large tree, which continues to grow larger and larger as time passes. Just like the mustard seed, Jesus compares the growth of the kingdom of God to the growth of the mustard seed. In interpreting this parable, Bradshaw states that the kingdom of God began on earth when God sent Jesus Christ to earth (1991). The coming of Jesus Christ is compared to burying the mustard seed in the ground. While on earth, Jesus taught His own.