Origins
The name is found in various forms in scripture: King (John 18:36-37), King eternal (1 Timothy 1:17), King of Israel (John 1:49, Mt. 27:42, Mark 15:32), King of the Jews by Romans and Magi (Mt. 2:2, Mt. 27:11, cf. John 18:33-37), King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16), King of the ages (Book of Revelation 15:3) and Ruler of the kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5).
Christ's kingship was addressed in the encyclical Quas Primas of Pope Pius XI, published in 1925, which has been called "possibly one of the most misunderstood and ignored encyclicals of all time." The Pontiff's encyclical quotes with approval Cyril of Alexandria, noting that Jesus' kingship is not obtained by violence: "'Christ,' he says, 'has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature.'" Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King in 1925 to remind Christians that their allegiance was to their spiritual ruler in heaven as opposed to earthly supremacy, which was claimed by Benito Mussolini.
Pope Benedict XVI has remarked that Christ's kingship is not based on "human power" but on loving and serving others. The perfect exemplar of that acceptance, he pointed out, is the Virgin Mary. Her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will in her life, the Pope noted, was the reason that "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth."
Read more about this topic: Christ The King
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)