Program / Course 10: Salvation and Eschatology / Lesson 8.2
What you will learn
- Read Revelation 20:1-6 and state the question it raises about the thousand years.
- Describe the premillennial view and its early church witnesses.
- Distinguish historic premillennialism from dispensational premillennialism, including the idea of a rapture.
- Explain why Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed confessions have rejected or avoided premillennialism, and how Wesleyans and evangelicals have divided.
The big idea
Revelation 20 speaks of a thousand years in which Satan is bound and the martyrs reign with Christ. Premillennialists hold that Christ will return before this thousand years, will reign on earth for it, and that the final judgment and new creation will follow. Two main forms exist. Historic premillennialism, found among some early Christians and in modern times, expects the church to go through the tribulation. Dispensational premillennialism, developed in the nineteenth century, distinguishes Israel from the church and expects a rapture before a seven-year tribulation. Other major traditions have taught different readings.
Key terms
- Millennium
- From Latin for ‘thousand years.’ The period described in Revelation 20:1-6. The Greek-derived word chiliasm means the same.
- Premillennialism
- The view that Christ will return before the millennium and establish his reign on earth for a thousand years.
- Historic premillennialism
- The form of premillennialism associated with some early fathers and, in modern times, with writers such as George Eldon Ladd. It places the church in the tribulation.
- Dispensationalism
- A system that divides history into periods (dispensations) and distinguishes God’s purposes for Israel from those for the church. It was developed by John Nelson Darby in the nineteenth century and spread by the Scofield Reference Bible.
- Rapture
- The teaching, based on 1 Thessalonians 4:17, that believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Its timing relative to the tribulation is debated.
- Tribulation
- A period of distress before the end, drawn from Daniel, Matthew 24 and Revelation. Its length and timing are debated.
- Antichrist
- A figure or power opposed to Christ. The word appears in 1 and 2 John, and related ideas are found in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13.
Background
Revelation 20:1-6 describes an angel binding Satan for a thousand years, thrones with those given judgment, souls of those beheaded for their witness who “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” and the “first resurrection.” Then “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” After the thousand years Satan is released for a short time, defeated, and the final judgment follows. This is the only passage in the Bible that mentions a thousand-year reign explicitly, which is why its interpretation has been so important and so debated.
Premillennial means ‘before the thousand years,’ referring to Christ’s return. Postmillennial and amillennial views, the topic of the next lesson, read the passage differently. This lesson presents premillennialism as its holders do, and then notes how the other traditions have responded.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The premillennial reading of Revelation 20
Premillennialists read the passage in the order in which it is written. First comes Christ’s return (Revelation 19), then the binding of Satan and the reign, then the release of Satan, then the final judgment and new heavens and earth. They take the two resurrections in chapter 20 as two actual resurrections, the first of the righteous and the second of the rest. They say that in the book’s plain order the thousand years follows Christ’s return.
They also appeal to Old Testament prophecies of a kingdom of peace on earth, such as Isaiah 11 and 65, which they hold are only partly fulfilled now. The millennium is, for them, the time when these are fulfilled before the final state.
Step 2: The early church
Several second-century writers held a form of premillennialism, also called chiliasm. Papias, as reported by Irenaeus, described a time of abundance. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, says that he and many other Christians expect a thousand years in a rebuilt Jerusalem, while acknowledging that other pious Christians do not. Irenaeus taught it, and so did Tertullian. In the third century, Origen and others opposed this literal reading as crude, and in the fourth and fifth centuries Augustine, who had once held the view, taught that the thousand years refers to the present age of the church. His interpretation became standard in the West.
Some modern scholars stress that early premillennialism was strong in some regions and was never condemned as heresy by an ecumenical council. Others point out that it was soon displaced. It reappeared among some Protestants in the seventeenth century, and became widespread in the nineteenth.
Step 3: Historic premillennialism
Modern historic premillennialists hold that the church will go through the great tribulation and that Christ will return openly after it to defeat the Antichrist, raise the righteous dead, bind Satan and reign for a thousand years. They see the church as the people of God now, the heir of Israel’s promises, though some also expect a future turning of Jewish people to Christ (Romans 11:26). The view was defended by George Eldon Ladd in the twentieth century. It is sometimes called post-tribulational premillennialism.
Step 4: Dispensational premillennialism
Dispensationalism was shaped by John Nelson Darby, of the Plymouth Brethren, in the 1830s, and popularized in the United States by the Scofield Reference Bible (1909) and the Dallas Theological Seminary. It holds that God has dealt with humanity in successive dispensations, and that Israel and the church are distinct peoples with distinct promises. Classic dispensationalism teaches that the church will be raptured before a seven-year tribulation, drawn from Daniel’s seventieth week (Daniel 9:24-27), during which God will again deal with Israel. Christ will then return with the church, defeat the Antichrist and establish an earthly kingdom centered in Jerusalem.
Dispensationalists differ among themselves on the timing of the rapture, with pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and pre-wrath positions, and in recent decades a movement called progressive dispensationalism has softened the separation of Israel and the church. Critics say that the doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture is a late development, that the distinction of Israel and the church is not found in the New Testament, and that it has influenced popular prophecy beyond what the text can support. Defenders reply that it takes the Old Testament promises to Israel seriously and reads Scripture literally.
Step 5: Responses of other traditions
The Augsburg Confession (Article 17) rejects those who spread Jewish opinions that before the resurrection of the dead the godly shall take possession of the kingdom of the world. The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter 11) rejects the ‘Jewish dream’ of a millennium. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (676) says the Church has rejected even modified forms of the falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the political form of a secular messianism. The Orthodox Church has not made premillennialism part of its teaching and generally follows the older interpretation of the present age.
Premillennialism, especially dispensational, has been strong among American evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals and some holiness churches. Not all evangelicals hold it, and many Reformed and Wesleyan churches hold amillennial or postmillennial views.
- Why do premillennialists say that the order of chapters 19 and 20 matters?
- What is the significance of ‘first resurrection’ for this view?
- Why did the interpretation change so much between Irenaeus and Augustine?
- What is the difference between historic and dispensational premillennialism on the church and Israel?
- What might be the strengths and weaknesses of taking the Old Testament prophecies of a kingdom literally?
- How should a student treat popular books and films about the end?
Examples
Justin’s candor
Justin Martyr wrote that he and other fully orthodox Christians expect a thousand years in Jerusalem, but he admits that many good Christians do not share this view. This shows that in the second century, the question was open, and that the lines were not drawn as sharply as they later were. A student of church history can use this to remind modern debaters of the range of early opinion.
A timeline on a chart
A Bible class uses a large chart showing the dispensations, the rapture, the tribulation and the millennium. A visitor asks where each stage appears in the Bible. The teacher finds that some elements come from single texts and others from combining several. Students then discuss how to distinguish the text from the framework used to organize it. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Historic premillennial
Christ will return visibly after the tribulation, raise the righteous, and reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment. The church is the true Israel, and the tribulation is endured by the church. This view appeals to the early fathers and to the order of Revelation.
Dispensational
God has separate plans for Israel and the church. The church will be taken up before a seven-year tribulation, after which Christ will return and reign for a thousand years, fulfilling the Old Testament promises to Israel. This view claims to read the prophecies literally.
Catholic and Orthodox
The Catholic Church rejects millenarianism in its political and secular forms, and teaches that Christ’s kingdom is inaugurated and will be fulfilled at his return. The Orthodox generally follow the interpretation of the thousand years as the present age. Neither makes premillennial doctrine part of its teaching.
Lutheran and Reformed
The confessions of both traditions reject a literal earthly kingdom before the final resurrection. They read the thousand years as the present age or as a symbol of the church’s victory. A number of Reformed individuals have been historic premillennialists.
Arminian and Wesleyan
Wesleyan churches hold a range of views. Wesley followed Bengel’s historicist reading. In the twentieth century many Holiness, Pentecostal and Wesleyan churches adopted dispensational premillennialism, while others maintained amillennial or postmillennial views.
Why it matters
Premillennialism has shaped popular religious culture, politics and foreign policy views in some countries. Knowing its origins helps a student to see which of its claims come from the Bible, which from tradition and which from nineteenth-century system building. It also helps in conversations with neighbors who hold different views of the end, and in distinguishing between disagreement about secondary matters and the shared creedal hope that Christ will return.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Premillennialism is the oldest Christian view of the end.
Correction: It was held by some in the second century, but others held different views. Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century development.
Misunderstanding: The word rapture appears in the Bible.
Correction: The word comes from the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The doctrine of a rapture before a tribulation is a modern teaching, though the verse itself is accepted by all.
Misunderstanding: All evangelicals are dispensationalists.
Correction: Many are not. Evangelicals include amillennial, postmillennial and historic premillennial Christians.
Misunderstanding: The creeds teach premillennialism or its rivals.
Correction: The creeds confess Christ’s return, resurrection and judgment, but say nothing about the millennium.
Knowledge check
What is premillennialism?
It is the view that Christ will return before a thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20, and will establish his kingdom on earth for that period. After it come Satan’s release, the final judgment and the new creation. Premillennialists read the two resurrections in chapter 20 as actual events in sequence.
Who held premillennial views in the early church?
Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian expected a thousand-year kingdom on earth. Justin acknowledged that other orthodox Christians did not. Later, Origen and Augustine opposed or reinterpreted it, and Augustine’s reading of the millennium as the present age of the church became standard in the West.
How do historic and dispensational premillennialists differ?
Historic premillennialists expect the church to go through the tribulation and see Christ return after it, and they treat the church as the people of God. Dispensationalists distinguish Israel from the church, expect the church to be raptured before a seven-year tribulation, and expect an earthly kingdom centered on Israel.
How did the Reformation confessions respond to millenarian ideas?
The Augsburg Confession (Article 17) and the Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter 11) rejected Jewish opinions of an earthly kingdom before the final resurrection. They had in mind radical groups of their own day. The Catholic Catechism similarly rejects political forms of millenarianism.
Think it through
- What is the difference between being sure that Christ will return and being sure of a particular timetable?
- How would you explain the rapture debate to a friend who has never heard of it?
- What would you need to know about a teacher’s system before trusting its prophetic claims?
Independent assignment
Reading Revelation 19 and 20
In your notebook, write 400 to 600 words. Read Revelation 19:11 to 20:15 slowly. List the events in the order they appear. Then write a paragraph explaining how a premillennialist would read the order, and a paragraph noting two questions the text leaves unclear, such as who reigns and where. Do not judge. Note the phrases that a reader of another view would emphasize.
Further study
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies Read Book 5 for the early premillennial view.
- Justin Martyr, The First Apology Read the First Apology for Justin’s wider thought. His teaching on a thousand-year reign is in a different work, the Dialogue with Trypho, which this entry does not cover, so look for that separately.
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Read Book 20, chapters 6 to 9, where Augustine explains why he rejected a literal thousand years.
- Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches Read the Augsburg Confession, Article 17, and the Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter 11.
- Revelation 20:4 They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Caught up together with them in the clouds.
- Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people.
- Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved.