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To: Mahone
You know yours isn't the only interpretation of eschatology, I held yours for many years until after much prayer and study I was convinced of the amillennial interpretation.

Well, it would help to see the four positions, charted out. The Amillennial, Post-Millennial, Dispensational Pre-Millennial and the Historical Pre-Millennial.

 

Amillennial

 

Post-Millennial

 

Dispensational Pre-Millennial

 

Historical Pre-Millennial

 

The STORY OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST

 


  Revelation 19:11-21 
      
  11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white 
     horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and 
     True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 
      
  12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His 
     head were many crowns. He had a name written that no 
     one knew except Himself. 
      
  13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and 
     His name is called The Word of God. 
      
  14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, 
     white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 
      
  15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that 
     with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself 
     will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads 
     the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of 
     Almighty God. 
      
  16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name 
     written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 
      
  17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he 
     cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds 
     that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather 
     together for the supper of the great God, 
      
  18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of 
     captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of 
     horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh 
     of all people, free and slave, both small and great." 
      
  19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and 
     their armies, gathered together to make war against 
     Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 
      
  20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the 
     false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by 
     which he deceived those who received the mark of the 
     beast and those who worshiped his image. These two 
     were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with 
     brimstone. 
      
  21 And the rest were killed with the sword which 
     proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the 
     horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.



  Revelation 20:1-15 
      
   1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, 
     having the key to the bottomless pit and a great 
     chain in his hand. 
      
   2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, 
     who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a 
     thousand years; 
      
   3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut 
     him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should 
     deceive the nations no more till the thousand years 
     were finished. But after these things he must be 
     released for a little while. 
      
   4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and 
     judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls 
     of those who had been beheaded for their witness to 
     Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped 
     the beast or his image, and had not received his 
     mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they 
     lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 
      
   5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until 
     the thousand years were finished. This is the first 
     resurrection. 
      
   6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first 
     resurrection. Over such the second death has no 
     power, but they shall be priests of God and of 
     Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. 
      
   7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan 
     will be released from his prison 
      
   8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are 
     in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to 
     gather them together to battle, whose number is as 
     the sand of the sea. 
      
   9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and 
     surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved 
     city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and 
     devoured them. 
      
  10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the 
     lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the 
     false prophet are. And they will be tormented day 
     and night forever and ever.  
      
  11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat 
     on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
     away. And there was found no place for them. 
      
  12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing 
     before God, and books were opened. And another book 
     was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead 
     were judged according to their works, by the things 
     which were written in the books. 
      
  13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and 
     Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in 
     them. And they were judged, each one according to 
     his works. 
      
  14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of 
     fire. This is the second death. 
      
  15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life 
     was cast into the lake of fire. 



   Revelation 21:1-8 
      
   1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the 
     first heaven and the first earth had passed away. 
     Also there was no more sea. 
      
   2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, 
     coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a 
     bride adorned for her husband. 
      
   3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 
     "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He 
     will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. 
     God Himself will be with them and be their God. 
      
   4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; 
     there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor 
     crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former 
     things have passed away." 
      
   5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I 
     make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for 
     these words are true and faithful." 
      
   6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and 
     the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of 
     the fountain of the water of life freely to him who 
     thirsts. 
      
   7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I 
     will be his God and he shall be My son. 
      
   8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, 
     murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, 
     and all liars shall have their part in the lake 
     which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the 
     second death."

 

And then on into eternity and more "ages" to come...

 

23 posted on 10/17/2001 2:22:56 PM PDT by Star Traveler
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To: Star Traveler
Nice charts. They seem to accurately capture the essence of the major Millenial viewpoints.

Even though I am a "Historical Premillenialist", I notice that you are missing one chart: The "Pan-Millenial" one. The one that states that it is going to "all pan out" in the end!

29 posted on 10/17/2001 2:35:10 PM PDT by Jerry_M
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To: Star Traveler
Excellent graphic presentation of the main schools of thought. I'm tending lately to lean towards the idea of the Rapture happening at the beginning of the 7 years of tribulations, but who knows. Only Christ so I guess we'll just have to wait, even though I know it will be a glorious day whenever it happens
38 posted on 10/17/2001 2:49:35 PM PDT by billbears
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To: Star Traveler
Thanks for the charts..I finally figured out what I am..Historical Pre-Millennial,nice to know I am not alone...that there are others *grin*
80 posted on 10/17/2001 6:05:36 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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To: Jerry_M; billbears; RnMomof7; The Grammarian
Here's an explanation about the FOUR VIEWS ON THE MILLENNIUM, for those who might want to look at them further (more so than what the charts indicate, which were posted above).

 

Home Page
 
 
Four Views on the Millennium
 Contents

 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, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

"Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

"When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever." (NASB)

Table of Contents
 Why Is This Millennium in Question?

Some see this as a future earthly theocracy by which Christ will rule over the nations for a thousand years. Others see it as a time during which Christ will rule earth from heaven through the life-changing power of the Gospel. Still others look at it in another way. And the multitude of others holds a multitude of other interpretations.

One's final interpretation of the thousand years from Revelation 20 depends more upon certain factors related to a Christian's hermeneutic than the strict text of the ten much debated verses. There are several ways in which orthodox Christians choose to come to Scripture (these are discussed in our FAQ explaining how to interpret Scripture) and depending on which of these methods is used, one's understanding of eschatological issues — and a host of others as well — will experience changes both significant and trivial. And since one interprets Scripture primarily through the filter of his understanding of other passages in the Word, one's millennial view does have an effect (whether great or small) on the way in which he lives his life.
Table of Contents

 

 The Views

Since space is limited, we are unable to treat all the current millennial views, but we do hope to give a brief, but accurate account of the main tenets of the four main existing viewpoints as well as some of the reasons — both Scriptural and interpretive — behind each view. These four main eschatological systems that we shall treat are as follows: dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Please realize that though these views differ significantly on the topic at hand, the Christians who disagree on these matters agree with each other on probably ninety percent of the rest of the Christian life.

Also, in coming to one's own view, there are certain poor arguments from which one should shy away. A couple of these are arguments from history and arguments from the deeds of those who are proponents of a given view. Arguments from history, while having some use, should generally be avoided for the simple fact that not only were the eschatological views of the early church largely undefined, but most of the Second and Third Century church fathers held to some beliefs that would today be considered odd or even unorthodox. Arguments against an idea from the "bad fruit" of that idea's proponents, while a popular form of argumentation, should be left behind; as it happens, every view has had its embarrassing supporters who claim to act from their beliefs but represent something altogether outside of Christianity. Amillennialists are accused because Nazis misapplied some of their beliefs. Postmillennialists are judged because some over-zealous rebels in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries misused their principles. Premillennialists come under attack because both a) the majority of Christian cults take up their ideas of end-times cataclysm and b) some of those who profess premillenialism get caught up in setting dates for Christ's return. With those cautions noted, we shall examine each of these four views individually.
Table of Contents

 

 Dispensational Premillennialism

Definition:
Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. After this period of fulfillment of divine wrath, He shall then return to rule from a holy city (i.e., the New Jerusalem) over the earthly nations for one thousand years. After these thousand years, Satan, who was bound up during Christ's earthly reign, will be loosed to deceive the nations, gather an army of the deceived, and take up to battle against the Lord. This battle will end in both the judgment of the wicked and Satan and the entrance into the eternal state of glory by the righteous. This view is called premillenialism because it places the return of Christ before the millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the doctrines of dispensationalism.

Features and Distinctions:

  • Favored method of interpretation: strict literal.
  • Israel and the church: views church and Israel as two distinct identities with two individual redemptive plans.
  • The rapture of the Church: The church is raptured before a seven-year tribulation (the seventieth week of Daniel - Daniel 9:24-27). This tribulational period contains the reign of the AntiChrist.
  • Millennium: Christ will return at the end of the great tribulation to institute a thousand-year rule from a holy city (the New Jerusalem). Those who come to believe in Christ during the seventieth week of Daniel (including the 144,000 Jews) and survive will go on to populate the earth during this time. Those who were raptured or raised previous to the tribulational period will reign with Christ over the millennial population.
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Higher degrees of interpreting present-day events in the light of end-times prophecy.
    • The Millennium will see the re-establishment of temple worship and sacrifice as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice.
    • From the millennium-ending "white throne" judgment (by which Satan and all unbelievers will be throne into the lake of fire) Christ and all saints will proceed into eternal glory.
  • Major proponents: John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Louis Sperry Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Norman Geisler, Charles Stanley, Chuck Smith, and Chuck Missler.
Synopsis:
View the visual interpretation
A strictly literal hermaneutic is foundational to the dispensational premillenialist viewpoint. Interpreting Scripture in this manner will in fact demand such perspectives unique to dispensationalism as:
  • an earthly kingdom of God from which Christ will reign
  • a future redemptive plan for national Israel
  • a seven year period of great tribulation
  • the rejection of prophetic idiom
Dispensational premillennialism holds that a seven-year tribulation (forseen in Daniel 9:27) will precede a thousand-year period (Revelation 20:1-6) during which time, Christ will reign on the throne of David (Luke 1:32).

Immediately previous to the time of great tribulation, all the dead saints will rise from their graves and all the living members of the church shall be caught up with them to meet Christ in the clouds (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17); this is known as "the rapture." During this time of tribulation, there will be three-and-a-half years of world peace under an AntiChrist figure (Daniel 7:8; Revelation 13:1-8) who will establish a world-church (Revelation 17:1-15), followed by three-and-a-half years of greater suffering (Revelation 6-18). At the end of this period, Christ will return (Matthew 24:27-31; Revelation 19:11-21), judge the world (Ezekiel 20:33-38; Matthew 25:31; Jude 14-15), bind Satan for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3), and raise the Old Testament and tribulation saints from the dead (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:4).

At this time, the millennial reign will begin and Christ will reign politically over the earth at this time from His capital in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). Throughout His reign, there will be no war (Isaiah 2:4) and even the natures of animals will dwell in harmony (Isaiah 11:6-9). At the end of this era of peace, Satan will be released and instigate a colossal (but futile) rebellion against God (Revelation 20:7-9). After this fated battle, Satan and the wicked are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), while the righteous proceed into their eternal state in the realm of the new heaven and the new earth Revelation 21:1ff).

Bibliography:
  • Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. (ISBN 0310308909)
  • Ryrie, Charles. The Basis for Premillennial Faith. New York: The Loizeaux Brothers, 1953. (ISBN 0872137414)
  • Walvoord, John. Every Prophecy of the Bible. Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1999. (ISBN 1-56476-758-2)
  • Walvoord, John. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966. (ISBN 0-8024-7310-5)
  • Blaising, Craig A. "Premillennialism." Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond. Ed. Darrell L. Bock. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,1999. (ISBN 0-310-20143-8)
Table of Contents

 

 Historical Premillennialism

Definition:
Historical premillennialists place the return of Christ just before the millennium and just after a time of great apostasy and tribulation. After the millennium, Satan will be loosed and Gog and Magog will rise against the kingdom of God; this will be immediately followed by the final judgment. While similar in some respects to the dispensational variety (in that they hold to Christ's return being previous the establishment of a thousand-year earthly reign), historical premillennialism differs in significant ways (notably in their method of interpreting Scripture).

Features and Distinctions:

  • Favored method of interpretation: grammatico-historical.
  • Israel and the church: The church is the fulfillment of Israel.
  • Kingdom of God: present through the Spirit since Pentecost - to be experienced by sight during the millennium after Christ's return.
  • The Rapture: The saints, living and dead, shall meet the Lord in the clouds immediately preceding the millennial reign.
  • The Millennium: Christ will return to institute a thousand-year reign on earth. The Millennium will see the re-establishment of temple worship and sacrifice as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice.
  • Major proponents: George Eldon Ladd, Walter Martin, John Warwick Montgomery, and Theodore Zahn.
Synopsis:
View the visual interpretation
The historical premillennialist's view interprets some prophecy in Scripture as having literal fulfillment while others demand a semi-symbolic fulfillment. As a case in point, the seal judgments (Revelation 6) are viewed as having fulfillment in the forces in history (rather than in future powers) by which God works out his redemptive and judicial purposes leading up to the end.

Rather than the belief of an imminent return of Christ, it is held that a number of historical events (e.g., the rise of the Beast and the False Prophet) must take place before Christ's Second Coming. This Second Coming will be accompanied by the resurrection and rapture of the saints (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18); this will inaugurate the millennial reign of Christ. The Jewish nation, while being perfectly able to join the church in the belief of a true faith in Christ, has no distinct redemptive plan as they would in the dispensational perspective. The duration of the millennial kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6) is unsure: literal or metaphorical.

Bibliography:
  • Ladd, George Eldon. A Commentary on the Revelation. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972. (ISBN: 0802816843)
  • Ladd, George Eldon. The Last Things: An Eschatology for Laymen. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
  • Ladd, George Eldon. The Gospel of the Kingdom. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1959. (ISBN: 0802812805)
  • Culver, Robert Duncan. Histories & Prophecies of Daniel. Winona Lake, Indiana: BHM Books, 1980. (ISBN: 0-88469-131-4)
  • Campbell, Donald K. and Townsend, Jeffrey L. A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus. Chicago: The Moody Press, 1992.
Table of Contents

 

 Postmillennialism

Definition:
The postmillennialist believes that the millennium is an era (not a literal thousand years) during which Christ will reign over the earth, not from an literal and earthly throne, but through the gradual increase of the Gospel and its power to change lives. After this gradual Christianization of the world, Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after judging the wicked. This is called postmillennialism because, by its view, Christ will return after the millennium.

Features and Distinctions:

  • Favored method of interpretation: covenant-historical.
  • Israel and the church: the church is the fulfillment of Israel.
  • Kingdom of God: a spiritual entity experienced on earth through the Christianizing affect of the Gospel.
  • The Millennium: a Golden Age previous to Christ's second advent during which Christ will virtually rule over the whole earth through an unprecedented spread of the Gospel; the large majority of people will be Christian.
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Higher degrees of interpreting First Century events in the light of prophecy; preterism often goes hand-in-hand with postmillennialism.
    • Of the several versions of postmillennial eschatology, the reconstructionist's seems to be gaining the most popularity in the world today.
  • Major proponents: Rousas J. Rushdoony, Greg L. Bahnson, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., David Chilton, and Gary North.
Synopsis:
View the visual interpretation
There are several different versions of postmillennialism, but one of the views gaining the most popularity, is that of the theonomists. Generally speaking, the postmillennial theonomist viewpoint holds to a partial-preterist interpretation of Revelation and the various judgment prophecies in the Gospels, believing that the majority of those prophecies were fulfilled in 70 A.D. at the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

The postmillennialist sees the millennial kingdom as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that he would become "a great nation" and that "all peoples on earth would be blessed" through him (Genesis 12:2-3). This holy reign will come about via gradual conversion (rather than premillennialism's cataclysmic Christological advent) through the spread of the Gospel — this incremental progress is drawn from many pictures found throughout Scripture (e.g., Deuteronomy 7:22 and Ezekiel 47:1-12).

Postmillennial optimism is also nurtured through many of prophetic psalmody. The Psalms often speak of all nations fearing Him, salvation being known among all nations, the ends of the earth fearing Him, et cetera (e.g., Psalms 2; 22:27; 67:2,7; 102:15; 110:1). Another passage that well feeds this earthly optimism is Isaiah 2:2-3 in which the nations will stream to the righteousness of God.

Bibliography:
  • Murray, Iain H. Puritan Hope. The Banner of Truth Trust, 1996. (ISBN: 085151247X)
  • Kik, J. Marcellus. Eschatology of Victory. Nutley: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1974. (ISBN: 0875523137)
  • Gentry Jr., Kenneth L. He Shall Have Dominion: An Eschatology of Victory. Institute for Christian Economics, 1992 (ISBN 0930464621)
  • Boettner, Loraine. Millennium. Presbyterian Reformed Publishing Company, 1992. (ISBN: 0875521134)
  • Mathison, Keith A. Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope. Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, 1999 (ISBN: 0875523897)
  • Gentry Jr., Kenneth L. "Postmillennialism." Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond. Ed. Darrell L. Bock. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,1999. (ISBN 0-310-20143-8)
Table of Contents

 

 Amillennialism
[ also termed nunc-millennialism or inaugurated millennialism ]

Definition:
The amillennialist believes that the Kingdom of God was inaugurated at Christ's resurrection (hence the term "inaugurated millennialism") at which point he gained victory over both Satan and the Curse. Christ is even now reigning (hence the term "nunc-millennialism" — nunc means "now") at the right hand of the Father over His church. After this present age has ended, Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after judging the wicked. The term "amillennialism" is actually a misnomer for it implies that Revelation 20:1-6 is ignored; in fact, the amillennialist's hermeneutic interprets it (and in fact, much of apocalyptic literature) non-literally.

Features and Distinctions:

  • Favored method of interpretation: redemptive-historical.
  • Israel and the church: The church is the eschatological fulfillment of Israel.
  • Kingdom of God: a spiritual reality that all Christians partake in and that is seen presently by faith, but will be grasped by sight at the consummation.
  • The Rapture: The saints, living and dead, shall meet the Lord in the clouds and immediately proceed to judge the nations with Christ and then follow Him into their eternal state.
  • The Millennium: inaugurated with Christ's resurrection. In an "already/not yet" sense, Christ already reigns over all and is already victorious over Satan.
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Higher degrees of interpreting prophecy in light of Christ's advent, death, resurrection, and glorification.
    • Relies heavily on a two-age theology.
  • Major proponents: Meredith Kline, Richard Gaffin, Robert B. Strimple, Gregory K. Beale, and John Murray.
Synopsis:
View the visual interpretation
Eschatology is the study of the eschaton; the eschaton is equated with "last things." While other views focus on the final days of humankind on earth, amillennialism sees "the last things" as having been initiated at Christ's resurrection and so, being applicable from the earliest days of the Christian church (cf. Acts 2:16-21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:1-2; and 1 Peter 1:20). The amillennialist perspective sees the whole of God's redemptive revelation as twofold - promise and fulfillment; it also emphasizes that a strict-literal interpretation of Old Testament is not necessarily the most accurate way of determining what the text means.

The amillennial perspective emphasizes that the coming of the Kingdom of God is a two-part event. The first portion dawned at Christ's first advent (John the Baptist proclaimed at this time, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" — Matthew 3:2). At the cross, Christ won final victory over death and Satan. And then He ascended to reign upon the throne of David forever (Luke 1:32-33; Acts 2:30-31). Now because we "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18) — because of this, the amillennialist sees the final things already accomplished, though not yet seen by sight, but by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

An important note is the amilleniallist's view of the church in this world: a role of suffering. The Christian will be hated by all, just as was Christ (Matthew 10:22), for a servant is not greater than his master. Seeing this as the church's role on earth — to suffer as did Christ — the amillenialist can hold no hope for an earthly exaltation and longs for the fulfillment of the second stage of the coming of the Kingdom.

This second stage of the amillennial perspective is the final consummation of all the heavenly promises. The Christian will no longer see by faith alone, but by sight. All the shadowy things will pass away and our eternal reign with Christ will begin. The amillennialist, expecting no earthly glory for the church, places all his hope on this heavenly glory.

Bibliography:
  • Hoekema, Anthony. The Bible and the Future. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994. (ISBN: 0802808514)
  • Hendrikson, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids: Baker Books-, 1939. (ISBN: 0801057922)
  • Beale, G.K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999. (ISBN: 0-8028-2174-X)
  • Strimple, Robert B. "Amillennialism." Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond. Ed. Darrell L. Bock. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,1999. (ISBN 0-310-20143-8)

    Extra Credit:
  • Vos, Geerhardus. The Pauline Eschatology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953.
  • Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953.
  • Ridderbos, Herman. The Coming of the Kingdom. Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, 1962. (ISBN: 0-87552-408-7)
Table of Contents

 

 Conclusion

So what should be concluded from all of this? Before coming to a dogmatic millennial perspective, the lone fact that so many well-intentioned and intelligent Christians believe so variously when it comes to Revelation 20 must give us pause. The Book of Revelation itself is probably the most curious and oft-debated piece of the canon. This ought to place us in a position of supreme caution when either accepting or dismissing another's interpretation. The members of the Blue Letter Bible team themselves hold to a variety of opinion on the matter and so our advice on the matter would be to go to the Bible itself — the best way in which to interpret the Word of God is to see what it has to say about itself. And if, in the final analysis, you are yet undecided, do not fear for no faith was ever built or broken on Revelation 20. Table of Contents

 

Thank you for your interest in the Blue Letter Bible and we hope that God will grant you continual blessing in your studies.
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Go Back to Theological FAQ Contents

120 posted on 10/18/2001 12:20:36 PM PDT by Star Traveler
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To: Star Traveler
have you looked at the situation and taken god OUT of the equation? Or do you view everything through a book of fiction?
150 posted on 10/18/2001 11:22:08 PM PDT by eeaaggllee11
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