MEANING OF ESCHATOLOGY
Eschatology is the study of end times. It is a vast and complex subject with many differing views among brothers and sisters in Christ.
Though eschatology is not a primary issue when it comes to sound Christian doctrine, it does affect the way in which Christians live their lives. In this article, we will be looking at three common views of the end times.
The three common views are premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism.
WHAT IS PREMILLENNIALISM?
The premillennial view believes that there will be a literal thousand-year, that there will be a literal tribulation, and that there will be a rapture of those in Christ. The premillennial view is a futurist view. Futurist means that all events in the book of Revelation are future events and not past events. There are those in the other categories who also believe the events in Revelation have not happened yet, but the premillennial view is futurist with little to no exception.
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
The premillennial view holds that the rapture is a future event where God will remove faithful Christians from the earth, and the Great Tribulation is God’s future judgment on the unrepentant sinners of the earth.
Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
The premillennial view believes that this is a literal thousand-year reign of Christ that will happen in the future.
WHAT IS POSTMILLENNIALISM?
Postmillennialism gets its name from the idea that Christ will return after the millennium. It is a position that has an optimistic view of the future. They believe that the Church will continue to spread the word of God to every nation and tongue, creating disciples and churches all over the world. The postmillennial holds to the idea that Christian beliefs and ethics will be dominant in the world before Christ eventually returns. Many of these ideas come from the Great Commission.
Matt 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Most postmillennialists are preterists, which is the idea that the events in Revelation have already taken place. Most of Revelation was about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
WHAT IS AMILLENNIALISM?
Amillennialism is an eschatological view that believes the millennium is not a literal thousand years. Also, they believe the millennium has already begun. The millennium will end when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. After the final judgment, God will create the new heaven and new earth.
Acts 2:17 And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams
Amillennialism has more variance than the premillennial and the postmillennial viewpoints. It has more variance because it looks at most of the events in Revelation as symbolic or believes that the prophecies will be fulfilled in a non-literal sense.
WHICH MINISTERS ARE PRE, POST, OR AMILL
| NAME | PRE, POST, or AMILL | MINISTRY NAME |
| John MacArthur | Premillennialism | Grace Community Church |
| Ray Comfort | Premillennialism | Living Waters Publications |
| Charles Spurgeon | Premillennialism | Metropolitan Tabernacle, London |
| C.I. Scofield | Premillennialism | Scofield Reference Bible |
| James White | Postmillennialism | Alpha Omega Ministries |
| Jeff Durbin | Postmillennialism | Apologia Church |
| Douglas Wilson | Postmillennialism | Christ Church, Moscow, ID |
| St. Augustine of Hippo | Amillennialism | Confessions and City of God, Author |
| Voddie Baucham | Amillennialism | Dean of Theology, African Christian University |
| J.I. Packer | Amillennialism | Knowing God, Author |
WHICH VIEW IS CORRECT?
Christians have been studying and debating the intricacies of eschatology for a long time. In the future, Christians will still be debating these issues. There are times in history when one view is more prevalent than the others.
There are also countries and cultures which predominantly hold a certain view.
Thankfully, the topic of eschatology is an “in-house” secondary issue.
There are so many faithful Christians who hold a combination of all three of these views (and I’m sure there are many other views).
We can still be in fellowship with each other knowing, with confidence, that regardless of our eschatological view, Christ will return.
Thanks be to God!