Definitions:

Now we return to the last of the four distinct approaches to Christ’s second coming—amillennialism.

Just exactly what is amillennialism?

According to J .G. Vos, amillennialism teaches that there will be a parallel and contemporaneous development of good and evil in this world, which will continue until the second coming of Christ. At the second coming of Christ the resurrection and judgment will take place, followed by the eternal order of things—the absolute, perfect Kingdom of God in which there will be no sin, suffering nor death (Blue Banner Faith and Life, Jan.-Mar., 1951).

   

John F. Walvoord of Dallas Theological Seminary, certainly no friend to the amillennial view, explained this understanding of Christ’s return as follows:

Its most general character is that of denial of a literal reign of Christ upon the earth. Satan is conceived as bound at the first coming of Christ. The present age between the first and the second coming is the fulfillment of the millennium. Its adherents are divided on whether the millennium is being fulfilled now on earth (Augustine) or whether it is being fulfilled by the saints in heaven (Kliefoth). It may be summed up in the idea that there will be no more millennium than there is now, and that the eternal state immediately follows the second coming of Christ. As they freely recognize that their concept of the millennium is quite foreign to the premillennial view they have been given the title amillennial by most writers (The Millennial Kingdom, p. 6).

From these definitions the following facts which describe this view are clear (we do not pla n to look at them in detail right now):

1. “There will be no more millennium than there is right now.” There will be no future millennium as the premillennialists and dispensationalists believe. Nor, for that matter, will there be a millennium like that which the post-mils seek in which there will be a growing righteousness. Rather, as a tract once put it: “The Millenium Is Now.” Thus, this view is called a-millennial. The a is a way of making a word negative. That is, there will be no millennium as is taught by and expected by the other three groups of believers. During this present age, or, the millennium, there will be a “parallel and contemporaneous development of good and evil . . . which will continue until the second coming of Christ.” God is answering our petition, “Thy kingdom come.” At the same time, wickedness is ripening. 3. The millennium began with the binding of satan “at the first coming of Christ.” 4. The millennium is not to be viewed as the time “of a literal reign of Christ upon earth.” 5. The millennium will continue until the end of the present age and will be followed immediately “by the eternal order of things.” 6. Even in amillennialism there is a difference of opinion concerning the precise way things happen. You will remember that of each of the other views of Christ’s return, the same thing was said. Basically, there are two different understandings. One form of amillennialism teaches that the millennium is to be experienced and enjoyed only by believers, and then only those in the intermediate state, at that. The intermediate state, you will recall, is that period of bliss for the believer between death and the coming resurrection at the last day. This view was clearly set forth by the Lutheran theologian Kliefoth—a German, in 1874. The other, older form teaches that all the saints, living or dead, on earth or with the Lord, participate in the millennium.

Representative Writers

While some writers have tried to make amillennialism appear to be a more recent view of the return of Christ, the facts say the precise opposite. Augustine (354–430 A.D.) is to be credited with popularizing this view in the church. In his City ofGod (xx, 6ff.) he proposed an explanation of Revelation 20.

However, this view is even older than Augustine. Traces of amillennialism are found in the Epistle of Barnabas, written somewhere between A.D. 70 and 130. Though as a form of amillennialism it was later proved wrong, it was an amillennialism, nevertheless. Dr. D.H. Kromminga discussed the views of Barnabas in his historical survey The Millennium in the Church. He wrote, “. . . whether we like it or not, the facts look very much indeed as if Amillennialism made its appearance in early extra-canonical Christian literature fully as early as did any chiliasm (p. 33).” (Chiliasm, incidently, is the belief in a bodily reign of Christ on earth for a literal thousand years.)

Through the years, though certainly not as popular as the other views of Christ’s return and especially not as popular as dispensationalism in the more recent years, amillennialism has been maintained as the correct view by many notable theologians and ministers from many different backgrounds.

Amillennialism is the official view of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, according to Dr. Loraine Boettner in his The Millennium, p. 112.

From time to time Lutherans of other synods have contributed to the literature of amillennialism. The verse by verse commentary on the Book of the Revelation by the late Dr. R.C.H. Lenski appearing in his New Testament Commentary series is an excellent example.

While it is not the official position of the Christian Reformed Church, amillennialism might just as well be. With a few exceptions all of the literature published by Christian Reformed writers has been and is amillennial. The late Dr. William Masselink of the Reformed Bible College wrote (1930) Why Thousand Years? The late Dr. William Hendriksen, minister and theological professor, contributed much to the field: More Than Conquerors (a study of the Book of the Revelation, 1939), And So All Israel Shall Be Saved (1945), Three Lectures on the Book ofRevelation (1949), Lectures on the Last Things (1951), The Bible on the Life Hereafter (1959), Israel and the Bible (1968) and Israel in Prophecy (1968). Books by Professor Louis Berkhof, Dr. William Rutgers and Dr. Martin J. Wyngaarden must not be overlooked, either. The latest volume from a Christian Reformed pen is the helpful one by the emeritus professor of Calvin Seminary, Dr. Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (1979).

The late Dr. Albertus Pieters, missionary and seminary professor of the Reformed Church in America produced some notable books in this area: The Seed of Abraham (1950) and Studies In the Revelation of St. John (1937). From the hand of the late Rev. Herman Hoeksema of the Protestant Reformed Churches has come his solid expository sermons on the Book of the Revelation called Behold, He Cometh! (1969). Added to this list should be the works by many Dutch authors including the Drs. Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck.

Presbyterians have made significant contributions to this field of Biblical studies, too. Professor Geerhardus Vos, at first a professor at the Theological School of the Christian Reformed Church (now, Calvin Seminary), but later a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote The Pauline Eschatology (1930), The Kingdom of God and the Church (1903, 1951), along with articles related to the subject. Floyd Hamilton and George Murray, both ministers of the Presbyterian churches wrote The Basis of Millennial Faith (1942) and Millennial Studies (1948), respectively. The Rev. W.J. Grier a n Irish Presbyterian has published The Momentous Event (1945) and Dr. Jay E. Adams of Westminster Theological Seminary has provided The Time Is At Hand (1966).

Baptists have given us some able works from the amillennial perspective. The Rev. Hershel Hobbs, long time Southern Baptist Convention president and minister of the large First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and the Rev. Russel Bradley Jones have both published material. William E. Cox, also a Baptist, has given us a number of valuable studies: Amillennialism Today (1966), Biblical Studies in Final Things (1966) and The Millennium (1964), among others.

In the articles which follow we will consider the events surrounding the return of Christ; that is, we will consider in detail the many aspects of what is called general eschatology. We will be looking at them from the amillennial perspective.

In general, our outline will be as follows: First, we will look at this present age-the millennium. We will see that it began with the binding of satan and that it is characterized by the progressive development of both evil and good. At this point we will consider the “signs of the times’” as they are commonly called. Next, we will consider that short period of time which has been called satan’s Little Season. We will note how it begins with the loosing of satan, what characterizes this period of time and how it comes to its conclusion. We will then move on to the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ and the events which will accompany it. Our final consideration will be the eternal state—heaven and hell.