Do you dare?

[David Lamb]

Usually referred to as the 1,000 year reign of Christ.

The 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ, also known as the Millennium, is a period of peace and righteousness that will occur after the Second Coming of Christ. The Millennium is described in the Bible in Revelation 20:1-4.

During the Millennium, Jesus will rule over the earth as king, and the world will live in peace. The wicked will not remain on earth, but will be resurrected after the Millennium. The main focus during the Millennium will be to continue the work of salvation, helping people come to Christ.

We are to prepare the way and maybe that is what people are talking about in reference to the Kingdom of God. When the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of God. Revelation 11:15

Thank you for the explanation. I think the reason I didn't understand is that I am an amillenialist. I came across this about amillennialism: "Christians have interpreted the “thousand years” in several ways. One of these views is called amillennialism, which was originally suggested by Augustine in the fourth century. This view holds that the “thousand years” of Christ’s reign should be interpreted symbolically rather than as a literal period of one thousand years. Amillennialists believe that the “binding of Satan” took place during Jesus’ earthly ministry: Satan was restrained by God while the good news of Christ’s salvation was announced, and that “restraining order” is still in force today, as the gospel continues to go out. So the “thousand years” in Revelation simply means “that extended period of time during which the gospel is preached to the world.”

 

[Diamond72]

Christ’s reign should be interpreted symbolically

I am not sure if Jesus returns or if the 1,000 years is symbolic. The main thing is the government rests on His shoulders. Isaiah 9:6: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace".

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Are there any donkeys or mules there?

We see here how a literalist view devolves into a concern about donkeys and mules.

A timeline:
In the Enlightenment era of the European West, philosophers and theologians such as Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), Benedict Spinoza (1632–1677), and Richard Simon (1638–1712) began to question the long-established Judeo-Christian tradition that Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch

Instead of interpreting the Bible historically, Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (1752–1827), Johann Philipp Gabler (1753–1826), and Georg Lorenz Bauer (1755–1806) used the concept of myth as a tool for interpreting the Bible. Rudolf Bultmann later used this approach, and it became particularly influential in the early twentieth century.

Karl Barth (1886–1968), Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976), and others moved away from concern over the historical Jesus and concentrated instead on the kerygma: the message of the New Testament.

Most scholars agree that Bultmann is one of the "most influential theologians of the twentieth-century", but that he also had a "notorious reputation for his de-mythologizing" which was debated around the world.Demythologizing refers to the reinterpretation of the biblical myths (stories) in terms of the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger (1889–1976).Bultmann claimed myths are "true" anthropologically and existentially but not cosmologically. As a major proponent of form criticism, Bultmann "set the agenda for a subsequent generation of leading NT [New Testament] scholars".

Of interest to Catholics:
It was not until 1893 that Pope Leo XIII opened there door for higher criticism that had been shut tightly by prior popes. But the next two popes Pius X and Benedict XV closed it again with concerns about Modernism and rationalism. It was not until 1943 and Pope Pius XII that it was more fully embraced.

 

[Diamond72]

Nothing to do with earth being like heaven

I do stretch that more than I should.