A-Millennium - Like the post-mil view, the amillennial doctrine does not believe that the
thousand years is literal, but unlike the post-mil view, Amillennialists do not believe that
the thousand years described in Revelation 20 indicates the rule of Christ on earth.
Rather, those who have died in Christ, saved through His righteousness, reign with him in
heaven, and finally in perfection after the Resurrection and the final judgment.
Amillennialism was not recognized as a distinct position until around the turn of the
twentieth century. Until now, amillenarians called themselves postmillennial because
they believed Christ would come back after the millennial age, but they were different
from traditional postmillennians in that they did not believe in an earthly millennial age
yet to dawn. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) a Dutch statesman and theologian may have
been the first person to use the term amillennial.
The amillennial position has been the predominant eschatological view of Christianity
since the days of Augustine. It is the position held by vast majority of Reformed and
Lutheran theologians, set forth in all the Reformed and Lutheran confessions.
Amillennialists hold that the promises made to Israel, David, and Abraham in the Old
Testament is fulfilled by Jesus Christ and His church during this present age. The
millennium is the period of time between the two advents of our Lord with the thousand
years of revelation 20 being symbolic of the entire interadvental age. At the first advent
of Jesus Christ, Satan was bound by Christs victory over him at Calvary and the empty
tomb. The effects of this victory continued because of the presence of the kingdom of
God via the preaching of the gospel and as evidenced by Jesus miracles.
The amillennial doctrine posits the idea that both good and evil continue to exist in the
world until the Resurrection and Final Judgment, as indicated in Christ's parable of the
wheat and the tares. The kingdom of God is present in the Church, but is not progressing
towards fulfillment. Christ rules His church, but He does not reign for any specific period
in the world prior to his second advent.
The third view is the one that has probably been held by most Bible-believing Christians
of all time. This view recognizes that Revelation is steeped in symbolism and that if one
takes a literalist view of Revelation 20 one comes to a position, which is not in
agreement with some things, which Christ said. He said, for instance, that the judgment
of all (good and evil) will occur at His return. Matt 25: 31-34. Paul too did not appear to
see a time lapse. More serious is that while Paul painstakingly outlines so much Christian
theology, no concept of a millennium can be found in his writings. (It has been said that
just two verses in all of his theological expositions could be a reference to a
'millennium'.) Amillennialists would see Revelation 20 as referring to the age of the
Church with the 'binding of Satan' being tied in with those Scriptures which also clearly
show a great restriction on the activities of Satan and his demons during the Church age.
Think of Jesus' ministry of casting out demons and note such Scriptures as Luke 10: 17-
20, Mark 16: 17 & John 12: 31-32. Also carefully note Matt 12: 25-29. The 'strong
man' whom Jesus talks about binding here is Satan and the time setting is Jesus'
preaching of the gospel! (His first coming) So this view sees Satan's 'binding' as referring
to the fact that he is unable to directly attack and destroy the Church. It is in this sense
that he is unable to 'deceive the nations' yet he is able to influence them in other ways.
Because Amillennialism has its roots deep in historic Christianity, when it comes to
comparing Amillennialism with Dispensationalism, clearly the burden of proof lies with
dispensationalists to prove their case. Evangelicals often assume the opposite. It should
also be noted that all major thinkers in Christian history have held something akin to the
amillennial position (e.g. Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin). This does not mean
that Amillennialism is true simply because it has historical support within Catholic
Christianity and historic Protestantism.
Many believers have rejected Amillennialism because they presume it emphasizes
interpreting prophecy spiritually or nonliterally. As with postmillennialism,
Amillennialism has suffered greatly from the failure of reformed and Lutheran writers to
defend the position against the barbs of popular prophecy writers such as Dave Hunt,
The battles of Ezekiel 38, 39; Revelation 19:17-21; 20:7-9 all refer to aspects of the
eternal battle between truth and error and right and wrong.
thousand years is literal, but unlike the post-mil view, Amillennialists do not believe that
the thousand years described in Revelation 20 indicates the rule of Christ on earth.
Rather, those who have died in Christ, saved through His righteousness, reign with him in
heaven, and finally in perfection after the Resurrection and the final judgment.
Amillennialism was not recognized as a distinct position until around the turn of the
twentieth century. Until now, amillenarians called themselves postmillennial because
they believed Christ would come back after the millennial age, but they were different
from traditional postmillennians in that they did not believe in an earthly millennial age
yet to dawn. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) a Dutch statesman and theologian may have
been the first person to use the term amillennial.
The amillennial position has been the predominant eschatological view of Christianity
since the days of Augustine. It is the position held by vast majority of Reformed and
Lutheran theologians, set forth in all the Reformed and Lutheran confessions.
Amillennialists hold that the promises made to Israel, David, and Abraham in the Old
Testament is fulfilled by Jesus Christ and His church during this present age. The
millennium is the period of time between the two advents of our Lord with the thousand
years of revelation 20 being symbolic of the entire interadvental age. At the first advent
of Jesus Christ, Satan was bound by Christs victory over him at Calvary and the empty
tomb. The effects of this victory continued because of the presence of the kingdom of
God via the preaching of the gospel and as evidenced by Jesus miracles.
The amillennial doctrine posits the idea that both good and evil continue to exist in the
world until the Resurrection and Final Judgment, as indicated in Christ's parable of the
wheat and the tares. The kingdom of God is present in the Church, but is not progressing
towards fulfillment. Christ rules His church, but He does not reign for any specific period
in the world prior to his second advent.
The third view is the one that has probably been held by most Bible-believing Christians
of all time. This view recognizes that Revelation is steeped in symbolism and that if one
takes a literalist view of Revelation 20 one comes to a position, which is not in
agreement with some things, which Christ said. He said, for instance, that the judgment
of all (good and evil) will occur at His return. Matt 25: 31-34. Paul too did not appear to
see a time lapse. More serious is that while Paul painstakingly outlines so much Christian
theology, no concept of a millennium can be found in his writings. (It has been said that
just two verses in all of his theological expositions could be a reference to a
'millennium'.) Amillennialists would see Revelation 20 as referring to the age of the
Church with the 'binding of Satan' being tied in with those Scriptures which also clearly
show a great restriction on the activities of Satan and his demons during the Church age.
Think of Jesus' ministry of casting out demons and note such Scriptures as Luke 10: 17-
20, Mark 16: 17 & John 12: 31-32. Also carefully note Matt 12: 25-29. The 'strong
man' whom Jesus talks about binding here is Satan and the time setting is Jesus'
preaching of the gospel! (His first coming) So this view sees Satan's 'binding' as referring
to the fact that he is unable to directly attack and destroy the Church. It is in this sense
that he is unable to 'deceive the nations' yet he is able to influence them in other ways.
Because Amillennialism has its roots deep in historic Christianity, when it comes to
comparing Amillennialism with Dispensationalism, clearly the burden of proof lies with
dispensationalists to prove their case. Evangelicals often assume the opposite. It should
also be noted that all major thinkers in Christian history have held something akin to the
amillennial position (e.g. Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin). This does not mean
that Amillennialism is true simply because it has historical support within Catholic
Christianity and historic Protestantism.
Many believers have rejected Amillennialism because they presume it emphasizes
interpreting prophecy spiritually or nonliterally. As with postmillennialism,
Amillennialism has suffered greatly from the failure of reformed and Lutheran writers to
defend the position against the barbs of popular prophecy writers such as Dave Hunt,
The battles of Ezekiel 38, 39; Revelation 19:17-21; 20:7-9 all refer to aspects of the
eternal battle between truth and error and right and wrong.
... it's still an excellent post though.
