ADVANCING THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The document argues that “advancing the kingdom of God” is a slippery modern phrase: it can be used in a biblically faithful way (meaning the kingdom becomes more visible and confessed through gospel proclamation, church gathering/edification, and Spirit-wrought fruit), or it can become a slogan that quietly makes the kingdom feel like a human-managed project pushed forward by technique, money, and institutional “machinery.” It insists the biblical “grammar” should stay straight: God advances His reign; we witness to it, announce it, and live as its citizens, rather than speaking as if we’re the engine moving God’s kingdom forward.

On historical usage, it distinguishes between the exact English phrasing and the older semantic idea. It claims an early Latin equivalent (“promovere regnum Dei”) appears in Polanus (attested in print by 1610), while clear English “advance the kingdom of God” examples show up by the mid-1600s (John Cotton, 1656; John Corbet, 1667). It then traces how Baptists inherited “kingdom advanced” wording through Reformed catechetical tradition—especially Westminster’s catechism language about praying that “the kingdom of grace may be advanced,” and later Baptist catechetical reuse (Keach’s/Baptist Catechism). The key shift, it argues, is that older usage tends to be devotional/prayerful (“God advance…”) while later usage can become managerial/programmatic (“we will advance…”).

From an Old School/Primitive Baptist angle, the document says the phrase typically triggers suspicion because it often functions as code for means-religion—boards, campaigns, centralized societies, and the assumption that human organization “enlarges” Christ’s kingdom. It presents Beebe and the Black Rock Address as representative: not anti-preaching, but sharply opposed to extra-church machinery and any framing that attributes spiritual success to human levers. The same section emphasizes the nuance: Old School Baptists could tolerate the phrase if it’s tethered to God’s action and providence, but they resist it when it implies the kingdom scales like a business.

To show how the modern slogan works in practice, the document lists contemporary evangelical examples where “advance the kingdom” is attached to giving campaigns, strategic plans, partnerships, training programs, and denominational cooperation, noting how easily the phrase becomes a bridge from our programs → God’s kingdom supposedly “advances.” Finally, it names Baptists historically associated with the explicit “use means” posture—Carey and the 1792 missions circle (Fuller, Sutcliff, Ryland Jr., Pearce), American mission-board developments (Judson, Rice), and later SBC mobilizers (Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong)—as examples of the “human efforts” framing becoming institutional and culturally loud in Baptist life.