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[Author’s note: Many have requested that Bibliotheca Sacra publish a series of articles dealing with the contemporary discussion of the millennial issue in theology. Beginning with this Number, this series will be undertaken. It is the desire of the author to be constructive, not controversial; but due note will be taken of the many recent books which have appeared bearing on this subject. The author will welcome suggestions from readers.] The events of the last quarter of a century or more have had a tremendous impact on the thinking of the scholarly world. In philosophy there has been a trend...

If we stand within the field of prophetic vision typical of Israel’s prophets after the exile and captivity, and with them we look to the future, what do we see? Israel’s prophets clearly anticipate a time when Israel will be restored to its former greatness. But will that restoration of the nation of Israel to its former glory mirror the days of the monarchy? Or does the monarchy itself point us to the monarch? Such a prophetic vision includes not only the nation, but the land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem, the throne of David, as well as the...

“Amillennialism” comes from a term that means, literally, “no thousand years”. Thus, it is essentially a way of interpreting Revelation 20, which six times mentions a period of a thousand years, during which Satan is bound and believers reign with Christ. Amillennialists believe that there will be no future thousand-year period of time when the Kingdom of God will be visibly flourishing in the world, and the whole earth will be fruitful and at peace. Speaking symbollically like the rest of Revelation, the millennium is simply a figurative way of speaking of a long period of time that is taking...

Four Views on the Millennium Contents What Is The Millennium in Question?Why Is This Millennium in Question?The ViewsDispensational PremillennialismHistorical PremillennialismPostmillennialismAmillennialismConclusion What Is the Millennium in Question? When Christians discuss their millennial views, they are speaking of their interpretation of the much debated passage in Revelation 20:1-10. "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss,...

David Brog has written Standing with Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State. The ten reviews I read on Amazon were quite favorable, and it is being advertised on WorldNetDaily. The fact that the Foreword was written by John Hagee, author of Jerusalem Countdown, From Daniel to Doomsday, Beginning of the End, and Final Dawn over Jerusalem, is a clear indication that the book’s thesis fits with the modern-day prophetic system known as dispensational premillennialism. I doubt that the book covers what this article reveals. In my debate with Tommy Ice at American Vision’s Worldview Super Conference (May 26, 2006),...

Premillennialisin is so clearly taught in Revelation 19 and 20 that it is hard to understand how anyone can think otherwise without realizing honestly that they are going against the Biblical text. A kingdom reign of the Messiah was just as clearly taught in the Old Testament. Jesus and His Scripture-writing disciples also support the notion of an earthly kingdom headed by the Messiah. Such clearness in the Bible provides the likely reason why the early church fathers who spoke on this matter were all premillennialists. THE FIRST PREMILLENNIAIJSTS The first premillennialists were those who received God's revelation and wrote...

While it is true that the millennium (that is, one thousand years) is found only in Revelation 20, the belief in the Messianic Kingdom does not rest on this passage alone. In fact, it hardly rests on it at all. The basis for the belief in the Messianic Kingdom is twofold. First: there are the unfulfilled promises of the Jewish covenants, promises that can only be fulfilled in a Messianic Kingdom. Second: there are the unfulfilled prophecies of the Jewish prophets. There are numerous prophecies of the Old Testament that speak of the coming of the Messiah Who will reign...

IMPACT OF PLATONISM ON ESCHATOLOGY Randy Alcorn has specifically addressed the impact of Platonism on Christian eschatology. In doing so he has coined the term, Christoplatonism. As the title suggests, Christoplatonism is a philosophy that “has blended elements of Platonism with Christianity.”46 But as he points out, this merger is not a good thing since this mixture of Platonism with Christianity “has poisoned Christianity and blunted its distinct differences from Eastern religions.”47 According to Alcorn, Christoplatonism’s pervasive influence 41 Blaising, “Premillennialism,” 162. 42 Russell D. Moore, “Personal and Cosmic Eschatology,” in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel L. Akin...

Discussions about eschatology and millennial views are sometimes dogged by questions about their importance and practical relevance.1 Yet early church history shows that belief in a particular millennial view, in this case premillennialism, was no small thing. In fact, it was a major weapon in the early church’s battle against the greatest enemy to Christianity of that era— Gnosticism. Donald Fairbairn argues this point in his article, “Contemporary Millennial/Tribulational Debates.”2 Fairbairn is a professor of historical theology at Erskine Theological Seminary and earned his doctorate in patristics from the University of Cambridge. I would like to summarize some of Fairbairn’s...

I. The Basis for the Belief in the Messianic Kingdom Premillennialists have often been criticized for basing their belief in a Millennium entirely on one passage of Scripture, Revelation 20. Because it is found in a book well noted for its high use of symbols, they say it is foolish to take the one thousand years literally. But that is hardly a valid criticism. To begin with, while it is true that the Book of Revelation uses many symbols, it has already been shown that the meaning of all those symbols is explained either within the Book of Revelation itself...

Because of the problem of evil and apostasy during the millennial age, premillennarians must attempt to deal with this problem by contending that the final judgment does not take place until after the thousand years have passed. In passages such as Matthew 25:31-46, where it is explicitly taught that the final judgment occurs when our Lord returns, premillennarians instead argue that there is a gap of one thousand years between our Lord’s return and the final judgment. But recall that premillennarians often insist that they are so, precisely because of the literal interpretation of the Scriptures and a reluctance to...

Pre-Millennialism and the Early Church Fathers by Bob DeWaay In this paper, I will show that the earliest fathers of the church (before 300 AD) primarily believed in a literal millennium. This will be accomplished by consulting the primary sources, the fathers themselves, and other writings about the views of the early fathers. Those early fathers who wrote about this issue will be dealt with one at a time. Papias The fourth century church historian Eusebius considered Papias to be a primary source for the millennial views of early fathers. He wrote: In these [Papias' accounts] he says there would be...

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1 [Discusses Sovereign Election, Israel, and Eschatology] by John MacArthur Copyright 2007, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Selected Scriptures Now I’ve been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get in to the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. We’ve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes. And we have covered a lot of ground, but we now come to the doctrines that relate to the end times. And in line with that, I want to try...

THE PRE-TRIB RESEARCH JOURNALS Premillennialism: The Second Foundationby Thomas Ice The second foundation stone supporting the pretribulational rapture of the church is the biblical doctrine known as premillennialism. Premillennialism teaches that the second advent will occur before Christ's thousand-year reign from Jerusalem upon earth. In the early church, premillennialism was called chiliasm, from the Greek term meaning 1,000 used six times in Revelation 20:2-7. Charles Ryrie cites essential features of premillennialism as follows: "Its duration will be 1,000 years; its location will be on this earth; its government will be theocratic with the personal presence of Christ reigning as King;...

What do you do with a future National Israel in the Bible?by Thomas Ice I suspect that most of you have been at a theological crossroad at least once in your Christian life. I have stood at several over the years. Let me tell you about one such instance, since it is one that many have faced down through church history. It involves the question of "What do you do with a future national Israel in the Bible?" The decision one makes about this question will largely determine your view of Bible prophecy, thus greatly impacting your view of the...

General Information Introduction In recent years there has been a rise in what has become known as Progressive Dispensationalism (PD) (Other labels for PD include "revised," "reconstructed," or "new" dispensationalism.). Adherents to PD see themselves as being in the line of normative or traditional dispensationalism, but at the same time, have made several changes and/or modifications to the traditional dispensational system. Thus, PD adherents view themselves as furthering the continual development of dispensational theology. It is also true that progressive dispensationalists seek a mediating position between traditional dispensationalism and nondispensational systems. The meaning of progressive According to Charles Ryrie, the...

The Premillennial Deception Chiliasm Examined in the Light of Scripture By: Brian Schwertley Premillennial Contradictions The predominant eschatological view among Bible-believing Christians in the twentieth century is premillennialism. Premillennialism is the view that after His second coming, Jesus Christ will rule the earth for 1000 years. Thus Christ’s second coming is before the millennium (premillennial). Premillennialists teach that at the second coming of Christ, the living saints are raptured and the dead saints are raised from the dead. All these saints are given glorified, immortal bodies. They meet Christ in the air and return to rule with Him on earth...

"The sixty-year period following the War Between the States was a noteworthy period of doctrinal decline. This segment of American history witnessed a cultural and doctrinal shift from Calvinism to pietism, from the church to the parachurch, from optimism to pessimism, and saw biblical worship erode into a free-for-all of sentimentalism, retreatism, and anti-intellectualism. The next several "Eschaton" articles will address the subject of how Christianity changed from 1865-1925, why Christianity changed, and how that doctrinal shift affects the Church today. They will seek to explain the events that led to the development of the modern and unbiblical phenomena of...

The Dispensational Originsof Modern Premillennialism by Jack Van Deventer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The twentieth century has seen a dramatic paradigm shift in prophetic perspectives,first away from and now back toward its historic roots. This shift away from historic Christianity stemmed from a novel approach to Bible interpretation called dispensationalism which was developed in the 1830s and popularized with the 1909 publication of the Scofield Reference Bible. Dispensationalism, with its unique brand of premillennialism, has been thoroughly pervasive, being prominent in many churches, in bookstores, and among radio Bible teachers. The distinguishing features of dispensationalism are a rigidly applied literalism in the interpretation...

The Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of God Knowing the doctrinal difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" is the key to understanding the complete timeline of Biblical history, past, present, and future, the proper place of the Church, and the prophetic future of Israel. The Bible is about the struggle for a Kingdom; the Kingdom of Heaven, a Kingdom on this earth. Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah when He first came because Israel was looking for a political King, and for this King to make Israel the world ruling kingdom...