Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Different Views of the Millennium
I've posted this from a friend's email message. I hope you learn from it. Steve
Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,
The Lord richly bless you! The response to my "End of Days" article was overwhelming. Some were upset, some were thankful, some became hysterical, and others are contemplating before God the merits or demerits of what was presented. My decision to send it out was to prayerfully stimulate thought and a desire to inspire the Church to study the word of God more fervently.
The Church for the last several decades have only been privy to basically one view of the End Times. My purpose in writing the article was to demonstrate that in Church history there are other views that have been hidden in recent times. To my way of thinking, this has hurt the vision, mission, and effectiveness of the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth. There have been primarily four different views of the End Times that the Church has adopted through the years. All of them based upon the Church's interpretation of Scripture. The following is just a finger nail sketch of these differeing views. To learn more about these views, there is an excellent book written by Loraine Boettner called "The Millenium." He faithfully presents all sides and perspectives to this topic, but he himself holds to a Postmillennial view.
Traditionally there have been great men of God and theologians that have advocated these different views of the Millennium throughout Church history. And while they may disagree to the manner and time of Christ’s return, they all agree that Christ will return personally, visibly, and with great glory. They also agree that at His coming the dead are raised, judgment is executed, and eventually an eternal state will be established.
Amillennial
Amillennialists do not hold to a literal “one thousand year reign of Christ on earth” interpretation of Scripture. There will be according to this system of thought no worldwide peace, either before Christ returns (Postmillennialism) and since they reject the literal Premillennial reign of Christ, there will be no thousand year rule of Christ seated in Jerusalem over the world either.
Amillennialism believes that there are two parallel kingdoms, the Kingdom of God (a present reality) and the kingdom of darkness that run side by side until the second coming of Christ. No one kingdom shall dominate the other until Jesus returns to break up the fight. At the second coming of Christ the resurrection and judgment will take place. The eternal order and the absolute Kingdom of God will then be established in perfection. There will be the cessation of all sin, suffering, and death, the final enemy, will be conquered once and for all.
The main Scriptures the Amillennialists derive their doctrine comes from Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom parables, specifically, the parable concerning the Wheat and the Tares. For your own personal study read Matthew 13 to glean the Amillennial position.
Premillennial
This view teaches that there will be a period of world-wide peace and righteousness for a literal thousand years. The second coming of Christ triggers His millennial reign upon earth at Jerusalem and will extend in real time to the end of the world. There are varying views even within the Premillennial camp that concern the order of events that lead to Christ’s millennial reign. Regardless, they all agree in holding to a literal thousand year reign of Christ after he returns to the end of the world and the eternal state.
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism, is one of a few theological strains that flow from the Premillennial view of the end times. J. N. Darby and the Schofield Reference Bible popularized this particular interpretation of Scripture starting in the 1830s. It seeks to divide God’s covenantal dealings with mankind in history into seven distinct periods or “dispensations.” According to this view God deals with mankind based upon one specific principle during each period.
This view places great difference between Israel and the Church and tends to pit the law against grace, to the point that they are mutually exclusive principles. One of the main differences that separates dispensationalism from the historic Premillennial position is their teaching that the Church will not go through the “Tribulation.” This runs contrary to the historic Premillennial view that teaches the Church will go through the “Tribulation.”
According to the Dispensational view of the end times, the Church will be raptured out of the world, quite possibly within our generation. This will mark the beginning of a period of seven years in which the first half will be defined by the Jews becoming involved in a covenantal relationship with a future “Antichrist,” a literal human being possessed by Satan himself, and the last half of this period marked by the Jews enduring terrible persecutions under the same “Antichrist.”
At the end of this period, Christ returns physically to earth, annihilates the Antichrist, and establishes His reign in Jerusalem. The Jews at this point return to God’s special position of favor and are to remain a distinct body from the Gentiles throughout eternity.
Another novel feature of Dispensationalism is its doctrine that when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ’s offer of the Davidic Kingdom, God allegedly withdrew the offer to a future period. Since Christ had come for that purpose and supposedly the Jews had thwarted that purpose, the Lord created a contingent plan called the Church. The Church became a temporary substitute, a parenthesis period, during which God deals with man through the Church until the rapture. Once the Church is taken away God reverts back to His original dealings with the Jews in a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, where, once again, animal sacrifices are offered up to Christ who is seated upon the Davidic throne.
Postmillennialism
This view holds that the Kingdom of God is a present reality similar to the Amillennial view. It extends throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit. Under this system of theology, the world will eventually become Christianized. The return of Christ will occur only after a long period of righteousness and peace.
It is interesting to note that only the Postmillennial position allows for the Great Commission to be fulfilled in time and history (Matthew 28:18-20). Premillennialism and Amillennialism both view the great Commission as a mere witness to the nations. Only Postmillennialism holds to the view that the Church must “disciple the nations.”
This view does not hold that there will ever be a time on this earth where every person will be saved and sin abolished. It does hold, however, that evil in its destructive forms will be curtailed and the Christian worldview will dominate the nations before Christ returns.
IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,
Rusty
Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,
The Lord richly bless you! The response to my "End of Days" article was overwhelming. Some were upset, some were thankful, some became hysterical, and others are contemplating before God the merits or demerits of what was presented. My decision to send it out was to prayerfully stimulate thought and a desire to inspire the Church to study the word of God more fervently.
The Church for the last several decades have only been privy to basically one view of the End Times. My purpose in writing the article was to demonstrate that in Church history there are other views that have been hidden in recent times. To my way of thinking, this has hurt the vision, mission, and effectiveness of the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth. There have been primarily four different views of the End Times that the Church has adopted through the years. All of them based upon the Church's interpretation of Scripture. The following is just a finger nail sketch of these differeing views. To learn more about these views, there is an excellent book written by Loraine Boettner called "The Millenium." He faithfully presents all sides and perspectives to this topic, but he himself holds to a Postmillennial view.
Traditionally there have been great men of God and theologians that have advocated these different views of the Millennium throughout Church history. And while they may disagree to the manner and time of Christ’s return, they all agree that Christ will return personally, visibly, and with great glory. They also agree that at His coming the dead are raised, judgment is executed, and eventually an eternal state will be established.
Amillennial
Amillennialists do not hold to a literal “one thousand year reign of Christ on earth” interpretation of Scripture. There will be according to this system of thought no worldwide peace, either before Christ returns (Postmillennialism) and since they reject the literal Premillennial reign of Christ, there will be no thousand year rule of Christ seated in Jerusalem over the world either.
Amillennialism believes that there are two parallel kingdoms, the Kingdom of God (a present reality) and the kingdom of darkness that run side by side until the second coming of Christ. No one kingdom shall dominate the other until Jesus returns to break up the fight. At the second coming of Christ the resurrection and judgment will take place. The eternal order and the absolute Kingdom of God will then be established in perfection. There will be the cessation of all sin, suffering, and death, the final enemy, will be conquered once and for all.
The main Scriptures the Amillennialists derive their doctrine comes from Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom parables, specifically, the parable concerning the Wheat and the Tares. For your own personal study read Matthew 13 to glean the Amillennial position.
Premillennial
This view teaches that there will be a period of world-wide peace and righteousness for a literal thousand years. The second coming of Christ triggers His millennial reign upon earth at Jerusalem and will extend in real time to the end of the world. There are varying views even within the Premillennial camp that concern the order of events that lead to Christ’s millennial reign. Regardless, they all agree in holding to a literal thousand year reign of Christ after he returns to the end of the world and the eternal state.
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism, is one of a few theological strains that flow from the Premillennial view of the end times. J. N. Darby and the Schofield Reference Bible popularized this particular interpretation of Scripture starting in the 1830s. It seeks to divide God’s covenantal dealings with mankind in history into seven distinct periods or “dispensations.” According to this view God deals with mankind based upon one specific principle during each period.
This view places great difference between Israel and the Church and tends to pit the law against grace, to the point that they are mutually exclusive principles. One of the main differences that separates dispensationalism from the historic Premillennial position is their teaching that the Church will not go through the “Tribulation.” This runs contrary to the historic Premillennial view that teaches the Church will go through the “Tribulation.”
According to the Dispensational view of the end times, the Church will be raptured out of the world, quite possibly within our generation. This will mark the beginning of a period of seven years in which the first half will be defined by the Jews becoming involved in a covenantal relationship with a future “Antichrist,” a literal human being possessed by Satan himself, and the last half of this period marked by the Jews enduring terrible persecutions under the same “Antichrist.”
At the end of this period, Christ returns physically to earth, annihilates the Antichrist, and establishes His reign in Jerusalem. The Jews at this point return to God’s special position of favor and are to remain a distinct body from the Gentiles throughout eternity.
Another novel feature of Dispensationalism is its doctrine that when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ’s offer of the Davidic Kingdom, God allegedly withdrew the offer to a future period. Since Christ had come for that purpose and supposedly the Jews had thwarted that purpose, the Lord created a contingent plan called the Church. The Church became a temporary substitute, a parenthesis period, during which God deals with man through the Church until the rapture. Once the Church is taken away God reverts back to His original dealings with the Jews in a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, where, once again, animal sacrifices are offered up to Christ who is seated upon the Davidic throne.
Postmillennialism
This view holds that the Kingdom of God is a present reality similar to the Amillennial view. It extends throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit. Under this system of theology, the world will eventually become Christianized. The return of Christ will occur only after a long period of righteousness and peace.
It is interesting to note that only the Postmillennial position allows for the Great Commission to be fulfilled in time and history (Matthew 28:18-20). Premillennialism and Amillennialism both view the great Commission as a mere witness to the nations. Only Postmillennialism holds to the view that the Church must “disciple the nations.”
This view does not hold that there will ever be a time on this earth where every person will be saved and sin abolished. It does hold, however, that evil in its destructive forms will be curtailed and the Christian worldview will dominate the nations before Christ returns.
IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,
Rusty
posted by Steve Harris, 6:57 PM
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