The kingdom of God (Greek: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, Basileia tou Theou; Latin: Regnum Dei ) or kingdom of Heaven (Hebrew: מלכות השמים‎, Malkuth haShamayim; Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ουρανῶν, Basileia tōn Ouranōn, Latin: Regnum caelorum) is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The term "kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles. The Gospel of Matthew uses the phrase "kingdom of Heaven" more often, perhaps to avoid offending Jews in the early church or perhaps simply a translation of the rabbinical expression "Malkut Shamayim". The term is also found in various writing styles such as parable, beatitude, prayer, miracle story and aphorism.

The related phrase in the Hebrew Bible, "kingdom of Jehovah," is usually rendered "kingdom of the LORD" in English translations of the Bible.Jehovah and LORD are two ways to express the Tetragrammaton.

In the synoptic Gospels, Mark and Luke use the Greek term "Basileia tou Theou", commonly translated in English as "kingdom of God." Matthew, on the other hand, employs the Greek term "Basileia tōn Ouranōn" (Βασιλεία τῶν Ουρανῶν),^[Mt 13:45] which is translated as "kingdom of Heaven" 31 times and "kingdom of God" only 6 times, with "the kingdom" with no qualifier appearing a further ten, and "in my Father's kingdom" once. Some Biblical scholars^[who?] speculate that the Matthean text adopted the Greek word for "heaven" instead of the Greek word for "God" because, unlike Mark and Luke, it was written by a Jew for a Jewish audience. It is a Jewish practice to avoid using God's name as an act of piety. In Matthew, "heaven" stands for "God."

Graham Norman Stanton (9 July 1940 – 18 July 2009) was Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University. Stanton's special interests were in the Gospels, Paul's letters, and second century Christian writings.

For the year 1996-97, Stanton was the President of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (Society for New Testament Studies - SNTS), a society of New Testament scholars. For nine years he was Editor of the journal New Testament Studies and of the associated monograph series, and was a General Editor of the International Critical Commentaries.

For his contribution to biblical studies in the UK, Stanton was awarded the Burkitt Medal by the British Academy in 2006. He was honored with a Festschrift to mark his sixty-fifth birthday in 2005: The Written Gospel eds. M. Bockmuehl and D. Hagner, Cambridge University Press.

Dallas Albert Willard (born September 4, 1935) is an American philosopher also known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation. His work in philosophy has been primarily in phenomenology, particularly the work of Edmund Husserl. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at The University of Southern California.

Willard attended William Jewell College, and later graduated from Tennessee Temple College in 1956 with a B.A. in Psychology, and from Baylor University in 1957 with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion. He went to graduate school at Baylor University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy with a minor in the History of Science in 1964.

Willard taught at the University of Wisconsin in Madison from 1960–1965. Since then he has taught at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he served as Director of the School of Philosophy from 1982–1985. He has also held visiting appointments at UCLA (1969) and the University of Colorado (1984).

John Paul Jackson is an author, teacher, conference speaker and founder of Streams Ministries International. Jackson often focuses on supernatural topics like dreams, visions, and dream interpretation as found in the Bible. He has developed a number of prophetic training courses. He is also a recurring guest on many shows that include The 700 Club, Sid Roth's It's Supernatural!, and Benny Hinn's This Is Your Day program, among others. He was a member of the controversial Kansas City Prophets, whose practice and doctrine came under fire in the 1980s and '90s. He is the founder of Streams Ministries International, a Christian group that deals especially with the practice known as prophecy. Jackson's career has spanned more than 20 years. He served as the senior pastor of two churches, and he has also served on the pastoral staff at the Vineyard Movement's Christian Fellowship in Anaheim, California (with John Wimber) and at the former Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri (with Mike Bickle).