amillennialism?

[reg]

What is it?

 

[DeaconDean]

Amillennialism
A belief that the Bible does not predict a period of the perfect rule of Christ on earth before the last judgement. According to this outlook there will be a continuous development of good and evil in the world until the second coming of Christ, when the dead (both righteous and wicked) shall be raised and the judgement conducted. Amillennialists believe that the kingdom of God is now present in the world as the victorious Christ rules his church through the Word and the Spirit. The future, glorious and perfect kingdom refers to the new earth where Christ shall rule eternally.

 

[Dave Taylor]

You'll probably have a plethora of folks show up soon who will attempt villianize Amillennialism because it is an alternate expectation to their own view.

Before that happens, here are a few articles that explains Amillennialism fairly, and in light of the historic view of the Christian church concerning it. Those articles won't distort it or misrepresent it, and should give you a pretty sound understanding of its perspective.

These articles are from the Grace Online Library. If you find these articles worthwhile, you can simply backup at their site, and browse through their eschatology section for other related articles.

Amillennialism: A Present or Future Millennium?

Amillennialism: Part I - Introduction

Amillennialism: Part II - The Interpretation of Old Testament Prophecy

Amillennialism: Part III - A Brief Sketch of Amillennial Eschatology

Amillennialism: Revelation Twenty - The Millenial Reign

 

[pamaris]

Also, read "A Case for Amillennialism" by Kim Riddlebarger. There are quite a few compelling reasons to consider amillennialism. I am personally a convert from dispensationalism. Actually, the author of the book was formerly a dispensationalist, so things are addressed from that perspective.

I am wondering about postmillennialism. It differs from amillennialism mainly in its optimistic outlook of how things end. I would love for that to be true!

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/full.asp?id=9%7C24%7C637

Amillennialism: Part III - A Brief Sketch of Amillennial Eschatology

...Yet, since we know that the victory of Christ over evil was decisive and that Christ is now on the throne, the dominant mood of amillennial eschatology is optimism — Christian optimism. This means that we view no world crisis as totally beyond help and no social trend as absolutely irreversible. It means that we live in hope — a hope that is built on faith and that expresses itself in love....

.........That second death is spiritual rather than physical is apparent from fact that those cast into the lake of fire - which is the second death (Rev 20:24) - are tormented throughout eternity. It is incongruous to have John say that a physical resurrection guarantees against a spiritual punishment. Both are spiritual, both the first resurrection and the second death. Blessed and holy is he that hath part first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power (Rev 20:6).

So Amill's don't believe in a physical resurrection? Perhaps I am not reading this right?
Are going to see these "witnesses" going up into the air?

Reve 11:11 And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life from God did enter into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them, 12 and they heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, `Come up hither;' and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them; [SIZE=+2] [/SIZE]

 

[Dave Taylor]

http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/full.asp?id=9%7C24%7C637
So Amill's don't believe in a physical resurrection? Perhaps I am not reading this right?

No to your first question.
Amillennialism does believe in the physical resurrection of both Jesus Christ, and at the 2nd Advent all of humanity.

Yes to your second question.
You are misunderstanding.
Amillennialism interprets the symbolic apocryphal language of Revelation 20 differently than Premillennialism does, but Amillennialism believes just as fervantly in the bodily resurrection of Christ circa 33 AD, and the future bodily resurrection of humanity.

Amillennialism would cite the following passages specifically as support for the future physical bodily resurrection of mankind.

Job 14:12 "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. "



Job 19:25 "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."



Isaiah 24:23 "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. "



Isaiah 26:19 "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon"



Daniel 12:1b "at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."



Luke 14:14 "And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. "



John 5:28 "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."



John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."



John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."



John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. "



John 6:54 "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. "



John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. "



Acts 23:6 "But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question."



Acts 24:15 "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. "



Romans 6:5 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"



Romans 8:19 "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. "



I Corinthians 15:16 "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power."



I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? "



I Thessalonians 4:15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"

 

[DeaconDean]

Fellows, the Op simply asked what it was, not a discussion on the topic. Please, lets take a break.

 

[applepowerpc]

I used to really like this girl Melanie, and I was sure she was going to be mine. I was Premillennial. Then I asked her out and... I was Amillennial.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Fellows, the Op simply asked what it was, not a discussion on the topic. Please, lets take a break.

Take as long a break as you want Dean.

Explaining that Amillennialism does believe in the future physical, bodily resurrection of humanity is an important part of explaining Amillennialism (as the OP requested), and listing the verses that show that may be quite helpful to the OP.

Perhaps if LLJ want's to question any points of Amill that she is unfamiliar with, she could start another thread, so that the OPs thread questiong what it is, won't get sidetracked into a debate. (like all other threads eventually do anyway).

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

A belief that the Bible does not predict a period of the perfect rule of Christ on earth before the last judgement. According to this outlook there will be a continuous development of good and evil in the world until the second coming of Christ, when the dead (both righteous and wicked) shall be raised and the judgement conducted. Amillennialists believe that the kingdom of God is now present in the world as the victorious Christ rules his church through the Word and the Spirit. The future, glorious and perfect kingdom refers to the new earth where Christ shall rule eternally.

I am confused. Do Amill's believe we are now in the 1000 year period then? If Christ is victorius now, what is the purpose of the 1000 yr period according to Amill's?

reve 21:5 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/come to pass! [#1096] 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.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I am confused. Do Amill's believe we are now in the 1000 year period then? If Christ is victorius now, what is the purpose of the 1000 yr period according to Amill's?

The 1000 yr period describes the outgoing of the gospel to bring the Gentiles into the Light of Christ.

It is the period of time between Christ's 1st Advent, and His 2nd Climactic Advent, which will contain the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the presentation of the eternal state.

(The eternal lake of fire for the wicked who partake of the 2nd Death and no not Christ, and the eternal New Heavens and New Earth for the redeemed who partake of the 1st Resurrection and have been saved by Christ.)

 

[inhisdebt]

How do the amillinial account for gen 15v18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates
As this has not yet been fullfilled, and how do they account for the prophacies of ezekial.

 

[thereselittleflower]

How do the amillinial account for gen 15v18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates
As this has not yet been fullfilled, and how do they account for the prophacies of ezekial.

Oh . . but it has been fulfilled. .

The Kingdoms of David and Solomon encompassed the entire area promised to Abraham.


Peace

 

[thereselittleflower]

I am confused. Do Amill's believe we are now in the 1000 year period then? If Christ is victorius now, what is the purpose of the 1000 yr period according to Amill's?

Yes, we believe we are in the "1000" year period now. The number 1000 is a symbolic number, and does not refer to a literal number. So the number 1000 refers to a long period of time.

In Revelation, before John gets into the actual apocalypse, he tells us that Christ is reigning over the kings of the earth now. Rev 1:5.

reve 21:5 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/come to pass! [#1096] 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.

It is done . . speaking of something already past,

It has come to pass . . arlready done.



Peace

 

[inhisdebt]

Oh . . but it has been fulfilled. .

The Kingdoms of David and Solomon encompassed the entire area promised to Abraham.


Peace

Not according to the maps in the back of my bible they never encompassed any were near the nile or the euphrates rivers.

 

[inhisdebt]

How do the amillionist account for this

Rev 5v 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth

Note the we shall is future tense And indicates a literal kingdom on earth not figurative

 

[thereselittleflower]

Not according to the maps in the back of my bible they never encompassed any were near the nile or the euphrates rivers.

I can't speak to the maps in the back of your bible.

But there is one error in your assumption as to the rivers . . while one is the Euphrates, the other is not the Nile, the other is the River of Egypt, which is between the Nile and Israel.

In a major discussion I had I investigated this more deeply and found that the maps such as what you have do not give the whole picture.

I will try to find the information again for you.


Peace

 

[thereselittleflower]

inhisdebt

Here is some information about the reach of the kingdom of David and the River of Egypt.

God did not promise that they would possess the land from the NILE to the Euphrates .. but from the RIVER OF EGYPT

The River of Egypt is NOT the Nile!

I have a map which shows the River of Egypt coming off the top of the Gulf of Aqaba . . it is called the River (or Brook) of Egypt.

This was the border of the southernmost kingdom at the time of Israel and its kings. . In fact, at the time of David, his authority may have extended past the River of Egypt.

Here is a map that shows the extent of Davids Kingdom, where he exercised his authority, which extended from the River Euphrates to the River of Egypt which arises out of the Gulf of Aqaba . .

http://www.bible-history.com/map-davids-kingdom/map-davids-kingdom_near_east.html

The small arm of water point up towards Davids Kingdom is the Gulf of Aqaba wher we find the River of Egypt

The Great river bordering the north end of David's kingdom is the Euphrates river.



Peace

 

[thereselittleflower]

How do the amillionist account for this

Rev 5v 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth

Note the we shall is future tense And indicates a literal kingdom on earth not figurative

Actually, there is nothing ther that indicates that this speaks of a literal, future kingdom on earth.

As I think I said earlier, John, before he began the apocalypse itself, told us that Jesus is reigning over all the kings of the earth now . . as of 1900 years ago.

Additionally, this is apocalyptic language, which by its very nature is highly symbolic.

When interpreting a writing in the bible, one must take into accout its genre. While it is to be expected that most of what is written in a book of scripture that is historical in nature can be understood literally, one cannot take the same approach (ie one that is appropriate with writings in the historical genre) and apply it to writings in the apocalyptic genre, or one ends up with erroneous results. That is because writings of the apocalytpic genre are HIGHLY symbolic.


If this fact is ignored, then one can easily fall into the mistake of reading something as literal that is actually symbolic.


Peace

 

[ETide]

What is it?

Another important question to ask ourselves is..

WHY IS AMILLENNIALISM..?

What I mean is.. where did it come from and why ?

It's generally thought to be the product of Augustine, who read Revelation chapter 20 in a 'past or present' tense, rather than from a 'futuristic' perspective.

So it basically comes down to how one reads the Revelation of Jesus Christ, specifically chapter 20.

Many in Christendom believe that Rev 20 is going on right now, ie, that we are currently within the thousand year reign of Christ, hence the name amillennialism.. ie, they reject a 'future' thousand year reign, whereas others believe it to be pertaining to the things 'which shall be hereafter' as mentioned in Rev 1:19.

In my estimation, it's future. Revelation 19 speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ coming with His saints (certainly in the future), and taking the beast and the false prophet at that time.. and Revelation 20 is linked with chapter 19 in that it speaks of the beast and false prophet already in the lake of fire.. they were cast there in Revelation 19 when the Lord came.. so do the math..