To Jewish theology, the "kingdom of God" is most frequently only Judaism itself--the true religion, the monotheistic worship, piety.[4] In the later periods of his life, Jesus believed that this reign would be realized in a material form by a sudden renovation of the world.

But doubtless this was not his first idea.[5] The admirable moral which he draws from the idea of God as Father, is not that of enthusiasts who believe the world is near its end, and who prepare themselves by asceticism for a chimerical catastrophe; it is that of men who have lived, and still would live.

"The kingdom of God is within you," said he to those who sought with subtlety for external signs.[6] The realistic conception of the Divine advent was but a cloud, a transient error, which his death has made us forget.

The Jesus who founded the true kingdom of God, the kingdom of the meek and the humble, was the Jesus of early life[7]--of those chaste and pure days when the voice of his Father re-echoed within him in clearer tones.

It was then for some months, perhaps a year, that God truly dwelt upon the earth.