A-Mil Only Corinthians and the Millennium

[BobRyan]

As you know, Amils believe that the Millennium has already started with the 1st coming of Christ and the saints already reign with Him in heaven

I assume in the aMill scenario there have been saints living on Earth since the time of Christ so when you say "saints with Christ in heaven" you must mean saints that go to heaven when they die - apart from any resurrection - correct??

 

[BobRyan]

BobRyan said: ↑
This is the only option that I know of in all the various options - where it would even matter if you knew the truth about it before the end simply reveals it to be the case or not.

How so?

In all the scenarios other then my pre-mill-rapture-and-resurrection, post-mill-second-coming -- "not knowing about the right answer - does not appear to matter".

So if I take my view but then we find out that your view is the right one when Jesus appears - I find out at that time that I had guessed wrong and am glad to finally get this late correction to my view at Christ's appearing.

In the same way - no matter which of the other scenarios about the rapture that one picks - I simply "find out about it" when it happens and am happy to finally get that more accurate info even if late.

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Basically guessing which one was correct ahead of time would mean almost nothing - so it makes no difference.

HOWEVER in the pre-mill-rapture-and-resurrection, post-mill-second-coming scenario there is huge risk in not knowing about it ahead of time because of 2 Thess 2:8-12 and 2 Cor 11:14.

This particular result of "it matters if you don't know" is to be expected since this is how Bible history consistently shows the pattern to be. For example:

At the flood - "not knowing" that Noah's prediction was the right one for the end of the world - would have dire consequences.

At the time of John the baptizer - "not knowing" that John was right about the Messiah being the carpenter from Nazareth would have huge consequences for the Jewish nation if they chose to believe John was wrong.

 

[Andrewn]

I assume in the aMill scenario there have been saints living on Earth since the time of Christ so when you say "saints with Christ in heaven" you must mean saints that go to heaven when they die - apart from any resurrection - correct??

Yes, this is what I meant. I realize that you believe in 'soul sleep' and that there is no consciousness without resurrection of the body. But I was trying to see a commonality about the view of a Millennium in heaven.

But both sides see that commonality as only incidental and superficial and stress the significant difference: unembodied spirits vs resurrected bodies and 1st coming vs 2nd coming.

HOWEVER in the pre-mill-rapture-and-resurrection, post-mill-second-coming scenario there is huge risk in not knowing about it ahead of time because of 2 Thess 2:8-12 and 2 Cor 11:14.

In Amil also non-believers may end up following the Antichrist.

 

[Spiritual Jew]

In all the scenarios other then my pre-mill-rapture-and-resurrection, post-mill-second-coming -- "not knowing about the right answer - does not appear to matter".

So if I take my view but then we find out that your view is the right one when Jesus appears - I find out at that time that I had guessed wrong and am glad to finally get this late correction to my view at Christ's appearing.

In the same way - no matter which of the other scenarios about the rapture that one picks - I simply "find out about it" when it happens and am happy to finally get that more accurate info even if late.

======================
Basically guessing which one was correct ahead of time would mean almost nothing - so it makes no difference.

HOWEVER in the pre-mill-rapture-and-resurrection, post-mill-second-coming scenario there is huge risk in not knowing about it ahead of time because of 2 Thess 2:8-12 and 2 Cor 11:14.

This is true for Amill and other views as well, so I'm not getting your point here at all.

 

[BobRyan]

This is true for Amill and other views as well, so I'm not getting your point here at all.

Do you think that in all the scenarios :
1 . it "does not matter" if you don't know about it ahead of time"?
2. "it does matter" if you don't know about it ahead of time? (if so - why?)

I already show that in the case of all the rapture scenarios but 1 -- it does not matter if you know about it or not -- you get the same result as a Christian.

I would also assume that in the aMill scenario if Jesus were to show up tomorrow in the sky with a bunch of shining angels - the aMill people would either say "yep, just as we thought" or "not what we thought but glad to have the correction -- even if late".

 

[Spiritual Jew]

Do you think that in all the scenarios :
1 . it "does not matter" if you don't know about it ahead of time"?

Your double negative here made me have to read this a few times to make sure I understood what you were asking. My answer is no if I'm understanding the question correctly. It does matter if you don't know about it ahead of time.

2. "it does matter" if you don't know about it ahead of time? (if so - why?)

Yes. In my view as an Amil, passages like 2 Peter 3:10-12, 1 Thess 5:1-9, 2 Thess 1:7-10 and 2 Thess 2:1-12 have to do with the time leading up to the return of Christ and they talk about the importance of being spiritually awake and alert before His return when He takes vengeance on His enemies and takes out God's wrath on them. It obviously matters to be constantly aware of your spiritual status to make sure that you are ready for His return.

I already show that in the case of all the rapture scenarios but 1 -- it does not matter if you know about it or not -- you get the same result as a Christian.

Why is that, though? I'm not seeing your point, so you might need to spell it out for me.

I would also assume that in the aMill scenario if Jesus were to show up tomorrow in the sky with a bunch of shining angels - the aMill people would either say "yep, just as we thought" or "not what we thought but glad to have the correction -- even if late".

Hmm. Based on what you said here, I think I may not have been understanding what you were talking about. You're talking about whether it matters or not once Jesus returns and you're not talking about whether it matters or not beforehand? Please clarify.

Obviously, once He actually returns, we can't change what we believe so we have to either see that we were right or that we were wrong. Either way we'd be with Him since our salvation obviously doesn't depend on our eschatological view.