Kingdom Vision
in the Writings of Paul L. King
1. Introduction: Rediscovering Simpson’s Eschatological Imagination
Among the many threads of A. B. Simpson’s theology, few are more vital—and more overlooked—than his doctrine of the overlapping of the ages. Within his broader Fourfold Gospel (Jesus our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King), Simpson saw history itself as a dynamic intersection between two ages: the present order, marked by sin and suffering, and the dawning age of Christ’s reign, already breaking into human experience through the Spirit.
Paul L. King, historian and theologian of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), has done more than any contemporary scholar to recover this eschatological vision. Through works such as Genuine Gold: The Cautiously Charismatic Story of the Early Christian and Missionary Alliance, Nuggets of Genuine Gold, and numerous essays hosted on paulkingministries.com, King positions Simpson as a bridge between classic evangelical holiness and modern pneumatological renewal. At the center of this synthesis lies the conviction that believers live in the borderland between the present evil age and the age to come—a conviction Simpson captured in the evocative phrase, “the overlapping of the ages.”
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2. Paul King’s Recovery of Simpson’s Kingdom Theology
In his essay “Essentials, Distinctives, Open Questions—The Three-Tier Alliance Hermeneutic,” King situates Simpson’s theology of the kingdom within the broader Christian debate about realized eschatology.
He writes:
“Simpson taught the principle of the ‘kingdom here now, but not yet,’ calling it the overlapping of the ages.”¹
“Simpson taught the principle of the ‘kingdom here now, but not yet,’ calling it the overlapping of the ages.”¹
King emphasizes that Simpson’s eschatology cannot be boxed into any single millennial system. While he affirmed the future, visible reign of Christ (a premillennial conviction), Simpson also insisted that the powers of the age to come were already operative in the present life of the believer. King calls this dual emphasis “an amillennial premillennialism”—a paradox that reflects the spiritual tension between what is and what will be.
This insight undergirds King’s broader project: to recover a balanced Alliance theology that is simultaneously Spirit-empowered, Christ-centered, and missionally urgent. For King, Simpson’s doctrine of overlapping ages legitimizes both the Church’s expectation of future glory and her call to embody that glory now through healing, sanctification, and evangelism.
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3. Simpson’s Primary Voice: Living in the Border Zone
King’s citations from Simpson’s own sermons and writings illustrate this experiential eschatology vividly:
King’s citations from Simpson’s own sermons and writings illustrate this experiential eschatology vividly:
“We may press forward to His coming by anticipating already in some measure the millennial life. Even here and now we may receive a foretaste of the coming kingdom.” ²
“God permits us to live under the powers of the age to come and come into the border zone.” ³
“As in the past God was always overlapping the coming age, so is He today overlapping the next age.… All this is the overlapping of the millennial day.… We shall find nothing awaiting us yonder that we have not begun to find in our experience here.” ⁴
“Let us begin the millennial life here if we expect to enjoy it by and by.” ⁵
For Simpson, this “border zone” was not an abstraction but a mode of discipleship. The believer who walks in the Spirit already participates in the realities of resurrection life. Healing is a sign of that overlap; holiness is its moral expression; missionary zeal is its outward movement.
King interprets this as Simpson’s corrective to two extremes: the passivity of pure futurism and the triumphalism of realized eschatology. Simpson neither postponed the kingdom to an indefinite future nor collapsed it entirely into the present. Rather, he envisioned a progressive advance of the powers of the coming age—a theology of participation that harmonized sanctification, mission, and eschatological hope.
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4. Theological Implications: Already and Not Yet
King’s reading of Simpson aligns with modern discussions of the already/not yet tension in Pauline theology. Yet Simpson anticipated this vocabulary by nearly half a century. Long before Oscar Cullmann or George Ladd systematized the concept, Simpson was preaching it to congregations hungry for both power and purity.
King’s reading of Simpson aligns with modern discussions of the already/not yet tension in Pauline theology. Yet Simpson anticipated this vocabulary by nearly half a century. Long before Oscar Cullmann or George Ladd systematized the concept, Simpson was preaching it to congregations hungry for both power and purity.
King notes that Simpson’s overlapping of the ages “enables us to understand how the reign of Christ is manifested in the church now, while awaiting its final consummation.” ⁶ This kingdom vision, therefore, functions as a hermeneutic of hope: believers live not at the end of history but within history’s convergence, where the Spirit’s presence makes the future palpable.
For Simpson, this overlap also redefined mission. If the kingdom is already advancing in spiritual power, then evangelism and healing are not mere preliminaries to the Second Coming but foretastes of it. The Great Commission becomes participation in the inbreaking reign of God, not merely preparation for it. In this way, Simpson transformed eschatology from speculation into vocation.
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5. Comparison with Pauline Eschatology
King’s retrieval of Simpson resonates deeply with Paul’s depiction of the believer as one who has already “tasted the powers of the coming age” (Heb 6:5). Both see the Holy Spirit as the agent of overlap—the arrabōn, or down payment, of the inheritance yet to be revealed (Eph 1:14).
King’s retrieval of Simpson resonates deeply with Paul’s depiction of the believer as one who has already “tasted the powers of the coming age” (Heb 6:5). Both see the Holy Spirit as the agent of overlap—the arrabōn, or down payment, of the inheritance yet to be revealed (Eph 1:14).
Simpson’s border zone corresponds to Paul’s language of living “between the times,” where the old creation groans and the new creation emerges. King’s articulation of this dynamic reflects a covenantal realism: Christ’s lordship is both inaugurated and awaited, and believers are ambassadors of a kingdom that is simultaneously present and future.
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6. Missional Consequences: Living the Millennial Life Now
The ethical and missionary dimensions of Simpson’s theology, as King highlights, are inseparable from this eschatological overlap. Simpson wrote:
The ethical and missionary dimensions of Simpson’s theology, as King highlights, are inseparable from this eschatological overlap. Simpson wrote:
“To each of us, like Esther, God has given a kingdom of influence and power…. Our King has given to each of us a trust to occupy.… Have you claimed all your kingdom?” ⁷
King interprets this as Simpson’s call to “begin the millennial life here,” embodying Christ’s authority in daily service. This anticipatory obedience transforms mission from a human initiative into participation in God’s advancing kingdom.
Thus, in Simpson’s eschatology—unlike later dispensational schemes—the kingdom is not delayed until after Christ’s return but presses forward through the Spirit’s presence in the Church. King recovers this dynamic as the theological heart of Alliance identity: Christ’s coming motivates mission, but His present reign empowers it.
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7. Conclusion: Simpson’s Continuing Voice
Paul L. King’s writings remind the contemporary C&MA that Simpson’s eschatology was never escapist. It was covenantal, incarnational, and Spirit-driven—a theology of overlap rather than flight. To live in “the overlapping of the ages” is to inhabit the tension between longing and realization, to anticipate the world’s renewal by living its first fruits.
Paul L. King’s writings remind the contemporary C&MA that Simpson’s eschatology was never escapist. It was covenantal, incarnational, and Spirit-driven—a theology of overlap rather than flight. To live in “the overlapping of the ages” is to inhabit the tension between longing and realization, to anticipate the world’s renewal by living its first fruits.
For today’s global church, Simpson’s vision remains prophetic: we are called not merely to wait for the King, but to live His kingdom now.
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Endnotes
1. Paul L. King, “Essentials, Distinctives, Open Questions—The Three-Tier Alliance Hermeneutic,” paulkingministries.com. 2–5. Ibid. (citations from Simpson compiled by King).
1. Paul L. King, “Essentials, Distinctives, Open Questions—The Three-Tier Alliance Hermeneutic,” paulkingministries.com. 2–5. Ibid. (citations from Simpson compiled by King).
2. Paul L. King, Alliance Studies Reader (Ambrose University course notes, 2018).
3. Simpson quotation in King, “Essentials, Distinctives, Open Questions.”
