The Millennial refers to the period of time after Satan is bound when Christ will reign over the earthly Messianic Kingdom for 1000 years. This is only referred to once in the Bible. “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (Rv 20:6).
Before discussing specific theological views on the Millennial, it is worthwhile to examine the four main approaches to interpreting the book of Revelation in general. These are historicism futurism, preterism, and idealism.[i]
Historicism. The historicism approach understands most of the book of Revelation as referring to past history. The first three chapters refer to first century churches. The next part of the book going up to and including the Millennium are describing the patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern church ages. The Millennium is therefore not a literal thousand-year period, but a long period of time that continues to the present day. The only part of the book of Revelation that refers to the future starts in Rv 20:7 and includes the second coming of Christ, the general resurrection, the white throne of judgement, and the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Futurism. Futurists understand most of the book of Revelation as referring to future events that have not yet happened. The only part of the book that refers to historical events are the letters to the seven churches in the first three chapters. There are two sub-categories of futurism. The first is called historical premillennialism and understands that the Church will be present during the Tribulation. The second is called dispensational premillennialism and understands that the Church will be raptured away before the tribulation. Dispensationalism is treated in more detail in its own section below.
Preterism. Preterism is similar to historicism but believes that much of what is described in the book of Revelation has been fulfilled in the distant past. The seals, trumpets, and witnesses in Chapters 4-11 refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE. The dragon, beasts, bowls, and Armageddon in Chapters 12-19 refer to the fall of Rome in the fourth century. The Millennium is not a literal thousand-year period, but a long period of time that began after the fall of Rome and continues to the present day. As with historicism, preterism holds that the only part of the book of Revelation that refers to the future starts in Rv 20:7 and includes the second coming of Christ, the general resurrection, the white throne of judgement, and the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Idealism. Idealism is similar to historicism in that the first three chapters refer to first century churches and the only future events that are described are the second coming of Christ, the general resurrection, the white throne judgement, and the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth. However, the idealist does not believe that the rest of the visions necessarily represent a sequence of events that have happened throughout history. Instead, most of the book of Revelation symbolically represents the conflict between Christ and Christianity on one hand and Satan and his evil forces on the other hand.
With this general background on interpretive approaches, the specific issue of Millennium views will now be discussed. The biggest division is whether one believes that a future Millennium will actually happen. Those that do represent Millennialism (also called Chiliasm) and those that don’t represent Amillennialism. Millennialism can be further divided based on whether Christ will appear before the Millennium, referred to as Premillennialism, or after the Millennium, referred to as Postmillennialism. To complicate things further, Postmillennialism can be further divided based on whether the Christ will appear before the Tribulation, referred to as Pre-Tribulation Premillennialism, or after the Tribulation, referred to as Post-Tribulation Premillennialism. These divisions correspond to four Millennial views: Post-Tribulation Premillennialism; Pre-Tribulation Premillennialism; Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism.
Post-Tribulation Premillennialism. Post-Tribulation Premillennialism is also called Classic Premillennialism. It believes that the Church will be present for the Tribulation. After the Tribulation, Christ will return to earth, resurrect all deceased believers, and then rule the earthly Messianic Kingdom for 1000 years.
Pre-Tribulation Premillennialism. Pre-Tribulation Premillennialism believes that Christ will appear in the clouds before the Tribulation, resurrect all deceased believers, and then transport all believers to Heaven so that they do not experience the Tribulation. After the Tribulation, all believers will be transported back to earth for the earthly thousand-year rule of Christ. This is the belief of dispensational theology.
Postmillennialism. Postmillennialism is the position that Christ’s second coming will occur after the millennial period. Most holding this view understand the Millennial to be wonderful future time when Satan is bound. During the Millennium, Christ will be in Heaven, but will rule through the Spirit working through the Church. Because Satan is bound, the Gospel can be preached without resistance, resulting in the conversion of all nations and people. At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be released for a short time and unleash an aggressive attack on the Church. But Christ will return to earth to finally defeat Satan, administer the Last Judgement, and create the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Amillennialism. Amillennialism is the belief that there will not be a future literal thousand-year period where Satan is bound. Rather, Satan is already bound as a result of Christ’s death and resurrection, although evil forces are still at work in the world. Christ was victorious and the Gospel is therefore being advanced by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Church. The world is currently in the Millennial period in the sense of Satan being imprisoned, which will persist for a long period of time until Satan is released and Christ returns for His final victory. Christ will physically return to earth, defeat Satan and his evil forces, administer the Last Judgement, and create the New Heaven and the New Earth.
There has been exhaustive debate from every possible perspective with regards to millennial views. This said, Amillennialism has been the predominant view of all of the four major theological systems: Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Reformed, and Arminian. But eschatology in general and Millennialism in particular are not a theological or preaching focus within any of these systems or associated churches. The strongest rejection of millennialist view comes from Roman Catholicism. Its Catechism states:
“The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.”[ii]
The Lutheran rejection of Millennialism is almost as strong and associates it with a false Jewish understanding of the Messianic Kingdom. The Augsburg Confession states that “Our churches also condemn others who are now spreading Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection of the dead the godly will take possession of the kingdom of the world, while the ungodly are suppressed everywhere.”[iii] The Evangelical Lutheran Synod explains this view as follows:
“It seems this false doctrine [Millennialism] was rooted in a Jewish view of an earthly messianic kingdom which was common even in Old Testament times … There are many objections to be raised in refutation of this false teaching so common among the Pentecostals, Baptists, Adventists, Assembly of God churches, as well as Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons … Adhering to the principle “Scripture interprets Scripture,” the Lutheran Church has believed the interpretation of the 1,000 years in Revelation 20 to be taken figuratively, the way that a “vision” (Rev. 9:17) is usually construed. The “1,000 years” very likely refers to the time span between Christ’s death where Satan was defeated and the time shortly before the very end when evil will have a brief rendezvous of enormous proliferation.”[iv]
The Reformed rejection of Millennialism began with John Calvin, who referred to it as puerile fiction and a dishonor to Christ and his Kingdom.[v] The Westminster Confession does not directly address Millennialism but does refer to a single day of resurrection that precludes premillennialism. Louis Berkhof presents the typical Reformed position (though not universal) on premillennialism and postmillennialism as follows:
“The New Testament certainly does not favor the literalism of the Premilleniarians … The so-called postponement theory, which is a necessary link in the premillennial scheme, is devoid of all scriptural basis … There is no positive Scriptural foundation whatsoever for the Premillennial view of a double, or even a three- or fourfold resurrection, as their theory requires … There are some very serious objections to the Postmillennial theory … The fundamental idea of the doctrine … is not in harmony with the picture of the end of the ages found in Scripture … The related idea, that the present age will not end in a great cataclysmic change, but will pass almost imperceptibly into the coming age, is equally unscriptural.”[vi]
There is not strong evidence providing insight into the eschatological beliefs of Jacobus Arminius or John Wesley, but some suggest that their preaching tended towards postmillennialism. However, millennialism was clearly not an emphasis of either and the Methodist Book of Discipline is silent on the matter:
“The Judgment and the Future State We believe all men stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation.”[vii]
The pre-Tribulation belief of dispensational theology is obviously in stark contrast to the predominant view of Amillennialism. This is not just a theological difference but a significant difference in emphasis. Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Reformed, and Arminian theologies do not emphasize prophesy or eschatology nor does preaching in their associated churches. Eschatology and prophesy is absolutely central to dispensational theology and both are strongly emphasized in dispensational preaching.
[i] Excellent treatment on schools of interpretation of the book of Revelation can be found in the ESV Study Bible, published by Crossway, in its Introduction to Revelation. More detailed treatment can be found in Revelation: Four Views, Revised and Updated, by Steve Gregg.
[ii] Catechism of the Catholic Church: Summary, Libraria Editrice Vaticana, 1992: ¶676.
[iii] Augsburg Confession, 1530: Article 17.
[iv] https://els.org/resources/answers/millennialism/
[v] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Ch. 25.
[vi] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Eastford, CT: Martino Fine Books, 1941: 712-718.
[vii] Methodist Book of Discipline, Article XII.
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