(Matthew 6:10).

In the battle for the city we need a theology that gives reason, motivation and passion for the long hard days of building. We also need a theology for the transformation of the city if we are to be motivated by the end results. If we seek unity, a theology of brokenness, restitution and reconciliation is needed, and a theology of the church as the Body of Christ working in the city. If there is no theological underpinning, no biblical mandate from God, then many will see no point for beginning the struggle.

Among city planners there is a great debate about the purpose and nature of cities and the "transformations" or processes that lead to such goals. Such ethical debate requires an ethical authority. Biblical principles provide this authority, as they were applied to diverse urban situations over more than a millennia.

By a "good" city I would initially suggest from the scriptures that we mean a city where all people, structures and their interrelationships reflect and are subject to the values of the Kingdom of God. "In the beginning God," states his prior rights to rule, while his creative activity defines ownership and authority. While that Kingdom is first seen in a garden in Genesis, it is fully revealed as the great city of God, in Revelation.

"In the beginning..." defines a sense of time, of progression through time and carries with it the implication of an ending. It defines a directional historical process in contrast with Hinduistic or animistic thought which are essentially fate - defined and non-linear. The biblical city is time-focused. The fruitfulness and multiplication of life indicates a process of growth. The concept of Biblical rest indicates a seasonal process rather than an American perspective of purely linear growth. The periodic emergence of new life forms and structures in the Genesis account indicate the periodic quantum leaps of new growth.

Biblical history begins with a garden and ends with a garden in the center of a cubic city. Cities need space, and people need connection to the dust from which they have come and all the beauty God has made.

The city is also relational. In the garden there are some clearly defined relationships. The relationship of the infinite king with his subjects, the relationship between his subjects and the forms of life around them and the relationships between the subjects themselves. The first two relationships are 'vertical', that is they are based on an authority - submission / caring - dependent structure. While the third relationship is horizontal, a relationship based on equality and social responsibility.

The biblical city is structured. The structures God begins with in the garden are time, space and relationship oriented. For in the first three days in Genesis, God creates form out of formlessness and emptiness, then he fills the form with life. He then commands mankind to manage it in his stead. City planning, the creation of city structures and city management should be man's reflection of that godly activity, as are those activities in the city that create, sustain and extend life within those structures. Man's management involves the naming and categorizing and the enabling of the life in the city to be fruitful and to multiply or, in modern phraseology, the city is to be based on productive growth.

The city is to be aesthetically pleasing, just as the garden was good, felt good and was seen as good. It is to be ecologically integrated with humans giving management to the integration.

Our question is about the "goodness" of a city. Good and godly are not dissimilar. The garden is a place for the King to walk. The city of Revelation is centered on the King and His light-giving, watered by the life-giving Holy Spirit. Thus one aim of developing a city in which the church is growing, is for its worshipping nature to become illuminating and life-giving to all other city systems.

We may add the theme of justice. Two overarching goals are aiming for a city that is both good and just. Justice gives that sense of rightness and fairness that all humanity seeks. Justice is made up of many right actions, done at the right time in the right way with the right people. The theme of justice leads us to a definition of a city that in all its incremental changes is just over time, both in space and in its use of resources. Justice in the use of resources may be considered in terms of the fairness in using resources for the greatest good for the greatest number. Justice is a balance of many principles, maximizing different principles at different times. Justice is often related to a sense of fairness of distribution. But it also must consider issues of right use of resources, and right management of resources in the context of managing the whole earth in relationship to other ecosystems.

The extent to which a city comes under the above principles of the Kingdom is a measure of its goodness. "Transformation of a city" is a phrase many Christians use to describe the process of bringing these Kingdom principles to bear on the life and decision-making in the structures and society of a city. Their perception is that the Kingdom is not just evident in the church where people live under the reign of God, but is like salt and light as it impacts society itself outside of the church as well. Other Christians feel strongly that the church should not be involved in impacting society but simply save individuals from the world. Meshing leaders from across the spectrum gives a strength to the church of the city on each of these fronts.