Premillennialism

Go ahead ... say that five times fast. Better yet, close your eyes and try to spell it ... you know ... correctly. Okay, don't bother. It's not important. What is important is the idea. Today, with the recent (and foolish) "end of the world" prophecy in the news, I just wanted to take a brief excursion into the topic of eschatology.

Premillennialism is a view regarding the end of days with reference to the Millennium. What's that? Well, Revelation refers to a period of time -- 1,000 years (a millennium) -- in which Christ reigns on Earth (Rev 20:1-7). Premillennialism stands in contrast to a couple of alternate views on the subject -- amillennialism and postmillennialism. Note: All of these views include the return of Christ in the future. The difference is that each views the Millennium in different ways.

Premillennialism sees the Millennium as a literal 1,000-year period that follows the Church Age (we're in that now) and the Great Tribulation (we're not there yet). Amillennialism (the "A" in that word means "not") thinks the Millennium is not a literal 1,000 years, but a spiritual 1,000 years. At the end of this spiritual 1,000 years (signifying a long time) Christ will return and bring Final Judgment. (Classical amillennialism sees everything from Pentecost to the return of Christ as "the Great Tribulation", an equally spiritual event. Preterist amillennialism sees the time between Christ's resurrection and the destruction of Jerusalem as "the Great Tribulation" and our current time as "the Millennium" -- again, not a literal 1,000 years.) And then there is Postmillennialism. Some in this group see the Millennium as a literal 1,000 years and others think it is figurative, but we are past that point. The primary distinctive of the Postmillennial view is that Christ is reigning now and we are His representatives. They hold that Satan is being defeated and God's kingdom expanded on earth so that things get better and better. (This is, admittedly, a minority view. The wars of the 20th century almost put this one out of business, so to speak.)

But, according to the title, I'm writing about Premillennialism. Now, you would like to think that one of these views is the "literal view". It's the claim you most often see, and, in fact, it almost appears that I've made the claim (by saying that the other two views take the Millennium figuratively, not literally). Don't be fooled. Every view takes some biblical components figuratively, not literally. For those other two, it's the Millennium. For Premillennialism, it is the claims of Scripture of Christ's immediate return. So don't go there.

Let's look, then, at Premillennialism. This one is by far the most popular. Did you know, however, that it is not a monolith? Not all who are premillennial in their views agree on just what that view is. It turns out that there are actually two major premillennial views out there. The one most people are familiar with is the Dispensational Premillennialist view¹. In this view there will be "the Rapture" -- a "secret" return of Christ -- an event that occurs at the beginning of the Great Tribulation in which believers are taken to be with Christ followed by 7 literal years of tribulation. At the end of that, Christ returns publicly and reigns for 1,000 literal years. At the end of that, the Judgment occurs. That's basic Dispensational Premillennialism as put forth by Darby, Scofield, Ryrie, Geisler, and a host of writers and teachers like Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth) and Tim LaHaye (the Left Behind series). Dallas Theological Seminary hangs its hat on this view. John MacArthur laid down the gauntlet on this view suggesting that the only biblical view is the Dispensational Premillenialist view and any other view is heretical.

As it turns out, the oldest premillennialist view is Historic Premillennialism. It is the one held by Early Church Fathers such as Ireneaus, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and others. Amillennialism came about due largely to Augustine in the 4th century AD. Dispensational Premillennialism didn't come about until Darby in the late 19th century. This view includes the timing that places the sequence as 1) Church Age, 2) Great Tribulation, 3) Literal Millennium, and 4) Final Judgment, but they disagree on a few important points. Dispensational Premillennialism differentiates between the Church and Israel; Historic Premillenialism understand the people of God (Old Testament) to merge with the people of God (the Church -- New Testament). They do not agree that the Rapture will be at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. They largely hold to a "Post-Trib Rapture"², the return of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation where He retrieves His own and sets up His earthly millennial reign. In the Dispensational Premillennial view, the Millennium is marked by Old Testament temple worship and sacrifices; the Historic Premillennial view sees this as figurative with Christ's sacrifice on the Cross as sufficient.

Eschatology is a catchy and touchy subject. It is much more involved than many give it credit for. There is the question of Jesus's statements that His return was to be immediate. There is the Rapture (Matt 24:30-35; 1 Cor 15:51-52; 1 Thess 4:16-17). When does that occur (Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Pre-wrath, Post-Trib)? There is the Great Tribulation (Dan 9:24-27; Matt 24:15; Rev 6-18; Dan 12:1; Jer 30:7). When does that occur? There is the millennial reign of Christ (Rev 20:1-7). When does that occur? And how many of these things are literal or figurative? Lots of ideas. Lots of questions. What we do know is that it will all come to an end someday and that Christ wins. Perhaps this is not the kind of stuff that should cause division (at least, in most cases).
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¹ Dispensational Premillennialism is generally closely connected to Dispensationalism (versus other views like Covenentalism). Thus the name. It also explains the components of its Premillennialism that Historic Premillennialism rejects.

² There are a couple of other versions on the Rapture out there. There is the best-known "Pre-Trib", where Christ comes in the air to retrieve His own at the beginning of the Rapture, but there is also the "Mid-Trib" version that places His secret retrieval at the 3 1/2 year mark and even one that is referred to as "Pre-wrath" placing it just prior to the part of the Tribulation that is described as God's wrath being poured out. The last one I know of is the "Post-Trib". This one lacks the "secret" component and is simply Christ's public return at the beginning of His millennial reign.