Postmillennialism

I was profoundly aware of two things I didn't get while I was in
seminary. (Of course, it is the things you don't know you don't know
that will get you, but that is another topic.) One of them was
eschatology. I was determined in my early years after graduating to
close the gap doing some serious self-study into the topic.

I had one serious limitation: I didn't have a particular bias
going in. I can honestly say I was able to look at all the views in
an even-handed way. I listened carefully to the arguments made by all
sides with an open mind. It you really want to come to a conviction
about eschatology, I suggest you do the opposite: decide early what
you believe and only read people who agree with you. ;-)

Here is an overview of the major views of the end times.

Amillennialism

This was the belief held by most of my seminary professors. (I
graduated Southwestern in 1983.) Here is a description from
http://en.wikipedia.org

Amillennialism (Latin:
a- "not" + mille "thousand" + annum "year") is a view in

Christian eschatology named for its denial of a future,
thousand-year, physical reign of
Jesus Christ on the
earth, as espoused in the

premillennial and some

postmillennial views of the
Book of
Revelation,
chapter
20. By contrast, the amillennial view holds that the number of
years in Revelation 20 is a
symbolic
number, not a literal description; that the millennium has already
begun and is identical with the
church age (or
more rarely, that it ended with the

destruction of Jerusalem in
AD 70); and that while
Christ's reign is
spiritual in nature during the millennium, at the end of the
church age, Christ will return in
final judgment
and establish permanent physical reign.

Premillennialism

This is the view held by most preachers and popularized by the
LaHaye series, Left Behind. Again, from Wikipedia:

Premillennialism in

Christian eschatology is the belief that
Christ will
literally reign on the earth for 1,000 years at his
second coming.
The doctrine is called Premillennialism because it views the current
age as prior to
Christ’s kingdom. It is distinct from the other forms of
Christian eschatology such as
amillennialism
or
postmillennialism, which view the millennial rule as either
figurative and non-temporal, or as occurring prior to the
second coming.
Premillennialism is largely based upon a literal interpretation of

Revelation 20:1-6 in the
New Testament
which describes Christ’s coming to the earth and subsequent reign at
the end of an apocalyptic period of
tribulation.
It views this future age as a time of fulfillment for the prophetic
hope of God’s people as given in the
Old Testament.

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialism was explained to me this way. This was the most
popular view of eschatology a hundred years ago. This hope fueled
much of the launch of the beginning of the great world missions
movement. People really did believe what the old hymn says:

We've a story to tell to the nations,

That shall turn their hearts to the right,

A story of truth and mercy,

A story of peace and light,

A story of peace and light.



For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

And the dawning to noonday bright;

And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,

The kingdom of love and light.



We've a song to be sung to the nations,

That shall lift their hearts to the Lord,

A song that shall conquer evil

And shatter the spear and sword,

And shatter the spear and sword.



For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

And the dawning to noonday bright;

And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,

The kingdom of love and light.

We've a Savior to show to the nations,

Who the path of sorrow has trod,

That all of the world’s great peoples

Might come to the truth of God,

Might come to the truth of God.



For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

And the dawning to noonday bright;

And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,

The kingdom of love and light.

Postmillennialism holds that gospel really will spread like yeast
as the Bible says. It really will grow, as Jesus taught, from a tiny
mustard side to a huge plant. The world will not become perfect, but
it will become distinctly and authentically Christian as a good
church is Christian.

You gotta love postmillennialism. Even if you don't believe it,
you have to like it:

That all of the world’s great peoples

Might come to the truth of God,

Might come to the truth of God.

Here is how Wikipedia defines postmillennialism :

In

Christian eschatology, postmillennialism is an interpretation of
chapter 20 of the
Book of
Revelation which sees
Christ's
second coming
as occurring after (Latin post-) the "Millennium",
a Golden Age
or era of Christian prosperity and dominance. The term subsumes
several similar views of the end times, and it stands in contrast to

premillennialism and, to a lesser extent,
amillennialism
(see

Summary of Christian eschatological differences).

Although some postmillennialists hold
to a literal millennium of 1,000 years, most postmillennialists see
the thousand years more as a figurative term for a long period of
time (similar in that respect to
amillennialism).
Among those holding to a non-literal "millennium" it is usually
understood to have already begun, which implies a less obvious and
less dramatic kind of millennium than that typically envisioned by

premillennialists, as well as a more unexpected return of
Christ.

Postmillennialism also teaches that the
forces of Satan
will gradually be defeated by the expansion of the
Kingdom of God
throughout history up until the
second coming
of Christ. This
belief that good will gradually triumph over evil has led proponents
of postmillennialism to label themselves "optimillennialists" in
contrast to "pessimillennial"

premillennialists and

amillennialists.

Many postmillennialists also adopt some form of
preterism,
which holds that many of the end times prophecies in the Bible have
already been fulfilled.

Then, the explanation I got in seminary turned a corner.
"Postmillennialism was the dominant eschatology 100 years ago and
fueled much of the energy of the early world missions movement.
Then, two world wars and a depression came along and pretty much
snuffed out that belief."

That never made a lot of sense to me. It never made any sense that
a couple of world wars and a depression would change our theology.

From what I can tell, Postmillennialism is making a modest
comeback in out times, but that is not actually what i wrote all
this to say.

Oh, and by the way, the progress of the gospel is moving along
quite nicely. See

http://www.missionfrontiers.org/newslinks/statewe.htm

I never did come to a firm belief in my eschatology, but I have
come to one firm belief related to eschatology.

The pessimism that often accompanies some eschatology is both
unbiblical and damaging. I sense a mood from a lot of believers that
suggest, "No, our church is not growing, but, what can we expect? We
are living the last days. The Bible says that scoffers will come and
that is certainly true today. Things are just going to get worse and
worse and we just need to hunker down and hold on till the end."

Whatever your eschatology, we need to be people of great faith
and confidence.

Dawson Trotman said it this way:

http://www.navpress.com/EPubs/DisplayArticle/1/1.61.4.html

What is the need of the hour? That
depends on the person who is thinking about it.

For a beggar with a tin cup, it's a
dime. For a woman being taken to the hospital, it's a doctor.

But what is it in Christian work? I
started to list the things we often feel are the need—those things
which, if supplied, would end our troubles.

Some say, "If I just had a larger
staff." Many a minister would like to have an assistant, and many a
mission would like to have more missionaries.

Others say, "We don't need more
workers, but better facilities. If we just had more office space and
more buildings and a bigger base of operation, then we could do the
job."

In some parts of the world they say
it's better communications we lack, or better transportation, or
better health care, or literature.

Many feel the need is an open door into
some closed country. But the Bible says, "My God shall supply all
your needs." If we need an open door, why doesn't God open it—"he
that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth"?

Some say, "If we just had more time,"
or "If I just weren't so old, if I were only young again." People
have said to me, "Daws, if I had known when I was twenty years old
what I know now, I could have done a hundred times more for the
Lord. Why didn't I?"

Often the biggest need seems to be
money. Money is the answer to a larger staff, more facilities,
better communications and transportation and literature. "If we just
had more money."

An Army of Soldiers

What is the need of the hour? I don't
believe it is any of these. I am convinced that the God of the
universe is in control, and He will supply all these needs in His
own way and in His own time, all else being right.

The need of the hour is an army of
soldiers dedicated to Jesus Christ, who believe that He is God, that
He can fulfill every promise He ever made, and that nothing is too
hard for Him. This is the only way we can accomplish what is on
God's heart—getting the gospel to every creature.

Whatever your eschatology, I trust you will embrace this belief:
God is God and he can fulfill every promise He ever made. God, give
us an army like that.

I am not absolutely sure it is true, but I sure love the
sentiment of the old hymn:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

And the dawning to noonday bright;

And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,

The kingdom of love and light.