Amillennialism
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Amillenialism [A, Latin meaning "in" (rather than the commoner "none"), and Millennialism, referring to the binding of "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan" for 1,000 years as described in Revelation chapter 20 verse 2] (also nunc-millennialism or positively realized millennialism) in Christian eschatology is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees the "1000-year reign" of Christ as having already begun.
This obviously holds that the kingdom is not a physical reign.
Teaching
Amillennialism teaches that the Kingdom of God will not be physically established on earth throughout the "millennium", but rather
- that Christ is presently reigning from heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father,
- that He will remain with the Christian church until the end of the world, as he promised at the Ascension,
- that at Pentecost, the millennium began, as is shown by Peter using the prophecies of Joel, about the coming of the kingdom, to explain what was happening,
- and that, therefore the Christian church and its spread of the good news is Christ's kingdom.
In particular, they regard the thousand years references as a figurative expression of Christ's reign being perfectly completed, as the "thousand hills" referred to in Psalm 50:10, the hills on which God owns the cattle, are all hills, and the "thousand generations" in 1 Chronicles 16:15, the generations for which God will be faithful, refer to all generations.
Amillennialism is most often associated with Idealism as both teach a very symbolic and spiritualised understanding of many of the prophecies of the Bible and especially the Book of Revelation.
Amillennialism also teaches that the binding of Satan in Revelation has already occurred; he has been prevented from "deceiving the nations" by preventing the spread of the gospel. This is the only binding he will suffer in history: the forces of Satan will not be gradually pushed back by the Kingdom of God as history progresses but will remain just as active as always up until the second coming of Christ, and therefore good and evil will remain mixed in strength throughout history. This has lead some Postmillennialists to accuse Amillennialists (and Premillennialists) of being "pessimillennialists". Amillennialists have countered that the parable of the wheat and tares and the parable of drawing in the net show that the good and evil will be sorted out only at the end of the world
Proponents
Amillennialism was taught by St. Augustine in the fourth century and was a widely held view among Christians throughout Church history. Justin Martyr was himself a premillennialist, but in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, in Chapter 80, he put in his own mouth, "I admitted to you formerly, that I and many others are of this opinion, and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise."[link] Amillennialism has been widely held in the Roman Catholic Church; while it has not been officially defined, the Holy Office has said that premillennialism is not safe to teach[link]. Amillennialism is also often associated with more conservative Protestants such as those in the Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican churches. Many, but not all, Partial Preterists are Amillennialists. Protestant Amillennialists (and Idealists) have from time to time been accused of over spiritualizing parts of the Bible and have been seen by some who take a literal view of much of the Bible as being too "liberal."Amillennialism stands in contrast to postmillennialism and premillennialism in that some from the former see the "millennium" as literal and others do not, but in the latter almost all see the "millennium" as literal.
References
- [Catholic Answers on "The Rapture"]
- Currie, David B., Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, Ignatius Press, San Francisico,
See also
- Summary of Christian eschatological differences
- Christian eschatology
- Christian theology
- Covenant theology
- Dispensationalism
External links
- [Catholic Encyclopedia "Millennium and Millenarianism"]
- [Blue Letter Bible summary]
- [A Defense of (Reformed) Amillennialism]
- ["Catholic Answers" report on the "Left Behind" series: includes explanation of RC doctrine on the millennium]
- [LCMS FAQ: Left Behind Series]
- [End-Time Forum discussing Amillennialism]
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